Image:www.catholicnewsagency.com This week on Tuesday the 23rd we celebrated the feast day of St Rose of Lima who was the first canonized saint of the Americas. She was born in Lima in 1585, the eleventh child of Spanish Indian parents. From her earliest days, she showed an awareness of God and His Son Jesus. When… Read More
Tag: Dominican Order
The Doctrine of the Holy Trinity
Last Sunday I attended a Mass which was celebrated by the Archbishop of Dublin, Dermot Farrell in the Church of Our Mother of Divine Grace in Ballygall. As required by Covid restrictions the number of people in the congregation was limited. Still, it feels good to be back again in the company of others and… Read More
The Pope to be who saved a young girl’s life
On Thursday of this week, we celebrated the feast day of St Pope John Paul II. This man was the first Polish pope and his election brought great joy to his countrymen and women. When future historians look back on the most influential personalities of the twentieth century his name will unquestionably loom large in… Read More
Mental Health in a Pandemic
I remember a long time ago seeing, perhaps on a poster, the words “Happiness is having something to do, someone to love and something to hope for.” This would also suggest a formula for good mental health. According to the World Health Organization, Mental health is “a state of well-being in which the individual realises… Read More
October: The Month of the Holy Rosary
The Rosary is a much-loved prayer of the Catholic Church and probably the most popular after the Our Father. Its purpose is to help us meditate on the great mysteries of our salvation. In it, we immerse ourselves in Christ’s life from birth, through death, to his glorious Resurrection. It is a celebration of the… Read More
Mary’s Dowry and Our Lady of Walsingham
England is a country that is firmly associated with the Protestant religion because it was its King, Henry VIII who broke from Rome when the pope would not allow him to divorce his wife Catherine of Aragon. It was Henry’s daughter Elizabeth I whose compromise between Protestantism and Catholicism resulted in Anglicanism, a hybrid of… Read More
The Cross: From Shame to Triumph
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
Someone Beautiful For God- Mother Teresa
On the fifth of this month, we celebrated the feast of St Teresa of Calcutta, fondly known to almost everyone as Mother Teresa. The woman who for much of her life was described as “the living saint”, was canonized on September 4, 2010. Teresa, forever associated with India, especially Calcutta (now known by its local… Read More
Monica and Augustine
There is a well-known saying that, ‘Behind every great man there is a great woman.’ This certainly applies to St Monica, whose feast day we celebrate last week. Monica’s son, St Augustine, has been described as the most Significant Christian Thinker after St Paul. His adaptation of classical thought to Christian teaching created a theological… Read More
Religion and Spirituality
When the Taoiseach, Micheāl Martin spoke to the nation on Tuesday evening, at one point he commented that the government did not want to interfere with the spiritual life of people. This was in response to a reporter’s question with regard to people going to Mass. His response was interesting because going to Mass is… Read More
First Preacher of the Gospel-Mary Magdalene
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
Anti-Catholicism, and the last Irish Martyr
This week we celebrated the feast of St Oliver Plunkett, who when canonized in 1975, became the first Irish saint for almost 700 years, as well as the first of the Irish martyrs to be beatified. It was an honour that he had paid for dearly – with a life on the run filled with… Read More
Life after Covid19
This week we saw the beginning of what is referred to as the opening up of our country. Hand in hand with this is the notion of ‘the new normal’, a phrase which strikes fear in the hearts of some, intimating that things have changed irrevocably. I am still getting used to the idea of… Read More
Unsung Heroes- Carers
Following the huge success of the High Hopes Choir and Choir of Age, David Brophy assembled a choir from among Ireland’s 355,000 family carers. He wanted their involvement in the choir to be therapeutic and fun. In a two-part documentary for RTE, the viewers hear the various different stories as they watched the participants prepare… Read More
Nursing at the Front Line
All of us in Ireland and the rest of the world have been affected by the crisis of Covid-19, none more so than the people working on the front line. One such group is, of course, the nurses, those dedicated women, and men, many of whom have lost their lives, in the fight against this… Read More
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