A Visit to Merchants Quay Ireland On Thursday of last week my colleague and I had the opportunity to do a Donor Tour at Riverbank, which is the home of Merchants Quay Ireland, the outreach and support service for homeless people and drug users in Ireland. On the second Thursday of every month, after their… Read More
Category: General
A Helping Hand – You have helped us to help others
A Helping Hand – St Martin Charities At the St Martin Apostolate we have as our Patron a man who is an inspiration not only because of his humility, but also for his care of the poor and suffering. We still strive to live by his word and example and are very proud to… Read More
A Tale of Two Thomases, More & Cromwell
A Tale of Two Thomases The reign of Henry VIII is always fertile ground for writers partly because of his six wives and, with the exception of Katherine Parr, their decline and fall. Within the last few years two powerful television Series were screened on the BBC, The Tudors and Wolf Hall. The latter… Read More
Cathedrals Anyone? – Things To Do in Dublin
Cathedrals Anyone? Summer is here and many parents will be trying to find ways to entertain their children on holidays from school. It may sound a trifle off-beat but why not consider taking them on a tour of our famous Dublin Cathedrals. They are treasures in their own right as well as testimonies to faith… Read More
Saint Anthony – The Saint of Lost Items
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
Exam Fever & What to Do! – Dealing with Exam Stress
This week on Wednesday the State examinations began; yes it’s that time of year again when so many homes all around the country are caught up, with what may seem a never-ending succession of Paper 1 this, and Paper 2 that. I still remember my own Leaving Cert back in the day and am even… Read More
Why do Catholics wear Medals, Scapulars & Venerate Relics?
In Roman Catholicism we have a tradition of wearing medals and scapulars and venerating relics of the saints. For many Protestants and others, this can seem strange, even alien. At best it may seem like worshipping graven images which is forbidden in the Bible and against the second commandment; at worst seeming to believe such… Read More
Are you suffering with your Mental Health?
Are you suffering with your Mental Health or do you know somebody that is? Thankfully we are living at a time when there is much more awareness of the importance of mental health issues. Adverts on television encourage us to be on the alert for the masks people can wear and there is a realization… Read More
Religion in Schools – Understanding all Beliefs
Religion in Schools While writing the blog last week on Christianity and Buddhism I realised how little I know about other religions. When I was in school, which as they say was not today or yesterday, we had more class discussions about issues and I do remember watching the series Jesus of Nazareth. However, I… Read More
Christianity and Buddhism
This Sunday sees the celebration of the birthday of Buddha according to the Gregorian calendar. The only thing I knew about the Buddhist religion was their respect for all forms of life so I decided to compare it with Christianity and learn a bit more in the process! Buddhism originated in North-East India sometime between… Read More
Is there a need for Exorcism in Ireland? – Freedom From Evil Spirits
PLEASE NOTE:Fr Pat Collins is actually a Priest of the Vincentian Order, if you would like to Contact him you can do so by contacting the Vincentian Order directly at the following details:Call Vincentians Ireland on 01 810 2561 or email parishmissions@vincentians.ie. Request a Mass Light A Candle Browse our online shop Freedom From Evil Spirits... Read More
Do you know of St Richard of Chichester?
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
A Lenten Reflection
A Mid-Lent Reflection As I am writing this we are just half way through Lent and depending on your outlook that can be good news or bad. “Can I keep going?” or “We are nearly there”! Lent is of course that period of time allocated to our preparation for Easter, the most important time in… Read More
Religion and Young People
Religion and Young People Are you a young person aged between fifteen and twenty – nine? If the answer is yes, then there is a good chance that you no longer go to Church on Sunday, or any other day, except for funerals or weddings of course. Any Catholic will tell you the biggest challenge… Read More
To Love and to be Loved by Desmond O’Donnell
The book To Love and to be Loved by Desmond O’Donnell is an in-depth reflection on the deeper meaning of love. Of course the term love is much used and more significantly misused, but the central question here is how do we recognise authentic love? The author is a registered psychologist and an Oblate priest. … Read More
Lent: the journey towards Easter
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