On September 14 we celebrated the feast day of the Exaltation of the Cross. This is a commemoration of two historical events: the Finding of the True Cross and the dedication in 335 of the basilica and shrine built on Calvary by Constantine, which mark the site of the Crucifixion. The Roman Emperor Hadrian (117-38… Read More
The Coronavirus and resulting Lockdown have taken their toll on many areas of life, including religious practice. Religion and its meaning in peoples’ lives have been the subject of much comment as places of worship across the country were closed for weeks on end. Such a state of affairs was unprecedented in modern times. What… Read More
On July 22, we celebrated the feast day of St Mary Magdalene, a woman who has been both fascinating and controversial in equal measure. Magdalene is not a surname but rather identifies the place Mary came from, Magdala, a city in Galilee, located in the northernmost region of ancient Palestine, (now northern Israel). It lies… Read More
On Tuesday, July 15 we celebrated St Swithun’s Day. He was even mentioned on the RTE news, not an accolade afforded to too many saints in these times of religious indifference! However, this saint may be an exception because of his association with a topic close to the hearts of us Irish, namely the weather…. Read More
The news from the Vatican this week was a reminder that we are living in a unique period of history because we have a reigning pope Francis, and a retired pope Benedict both alive at the same time. Benedict was the first pontiff to resign in 600 years and still lives within the walls of… Read More
One day last week I noticed that the doors of my parish church were open so I decided to go in and see what was happening. I discovered that a small section of the church was in use for people to make a visit, just to light a candle and say a prayer. There was… Read More
October The Special month for the Missions. Two years ago on World Mission Sunday, Pope Francis said: “For the month of October 2019 I ask the whole Church to live an extraordinary time of missionary activity”. He also explained that it would mark the hundredth anniversary of Pope Benedict XV’s Apostolic letter, Maximum Illud, a… Read More
Celebrating Pope St John Paul II This month on Tuesday 22nd, we celebrate the feast day of St Pope John Paul II. From the beginning of his reign, he captured public imagination coming as he did from Poland, long under the jackboot of a Communist regime. His election was a symbol of the Church triumphant… Read More
Mary as a Role – Model The Catholic Church has traditionally dedicated the month of September to Our Lady of Sorrows and on the 8th of this month, we celebrate Mary’s Nativity. Educated by the nuns, I had devotion to her instilled in me from very early days and I remember decorating the May altars… Read More
The Election of a Pope. This time last year we were awaiting the visit of Pope Francis to Ireland. Where has the time gone? Those twelve months seem to have flown by. In this blog we focus on Election of a Pope in the Vatican nd how this works when another Pope dies or resigns…. Read More
An English Saint for the Irish Earlier this week the Vatican made the announcement that Cardinal John Henry Newman is due to be canonised on 13th October by Pope Francis. The elevation to sainthood of Newman, who converted from Anglicanism to Catholicism in 1845 comes after the Vatican announced that it had successfully attributed a… Read More
Yesterday, June 13th marked the feast day of one of the best loved saints in the Roman Catholic Church, Saint Anthony of Padua. He is often invoked by the faithful to help them find lost or missing items. A little jingle goes like this: “St Anthony, please look around; something is lost and something must… Read More
Please note: Fr Pat Collins is a priest of the Vincentian order, if you would like to contact him please call Vincentians Ireland on 01 810 2561 or email parishmissions@vincentians.ie. Freedom From Evil Spirits Mention the word exorcism and most people will probably think of the famous film The Exorcist but there is much more… Read More
Looking at the Liturgical Calendar this week one saint stood out for me – St Richard of Chichester. On a personal level I like the name and an English friend of mine, now deceased was called Richard. An interesting aspect of this particular saint is that he is also venerated in the Anglican Church as… Read More
Did you notice anything unusual about some of the people you encountered on your travels on Wednesday of this week? Many of you might have wondered why they had a big black smudge on their foreheads; others among us will be familiar with the ashes which are distributed every Ash Wednesday during Mass. This is… Read More
On November 3rd we celebrate the feast of St Martin de Porres. But who is this saint and why is he so popular? When I first began working in St Martin Apostolate I did not really know very much at all about St Martin’s life. Over the years however I have become very familiar with… Read More