Review of church services, events and comment including – Armagh broadcast; St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin; Wreath and pilgrimage in Downatrick; Services in Irish; 300th anniversary of the foundation of St Patrick’s church, Slane ; Trim Patronal Festival; Artchbishop’s visit marks DUFEM links with Hong Kong; Bishop of Cork on Irish economy; Irish President’s message; DUP Deputy on UK wide St Patrick’s holiday; and even sheep go green for St Patrick’s day!
Armagh broadcast
On St Patrick’s RTE broadcast Choral Matins for St Patrick’s Day from St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh, where the new dean, the Very Revd Gregory Dunstan, celebrated his first patronal festival in Armagh.
St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin
In St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, there was a celebration of the Eucharist in Irish at 8.30am in the Lady Chapel and at 10.45am Baroness O’Loan gave the address at the Sung Eucharist. In the Lady Chapel at 3pm the Royal Irish Academy launched My name is Patrick: St Patrick’s Confessio which featured a reading of Patrick’s own words, music from the medieval liturgy of St Patrick by the TCD Choir and a discussion of the book by its translator, Padraig McCarthy, www.confessio.ie At 6pm the Dublin Council of Churches hosted‘St Patrick in his own words’ which was an ecumenical service with music directed by harpist, the Revd Anne–Marie O’Farrell.
Wreath and pilgrimage in Downatrick
In Downpatrick there was a Festival Service in Down Cathedral where the Bishop of Down & Dromore presided, followed by a wreath laying ceremony at St Patrick’s Grave and an Irish stew lunch. Prior to the service in Down Cathedral there was a celebration of the Eucharist in St Patrick’s Memorial Church, Saul, followed by a pilgrimage from Saul to Downpatrick. The speaker at both locations was Pete Greig, founder of 24–7 Prayer and Director of Prayer at Holy Trinity, Brompton.
Services in Irish
Encouraged by Cumann Galeach na hEaglaise, on St Patrick’s Day there were services in Irish in the cathedrals in Cashel, Limerick and Waterford and in Dublin in Grangegorman and Sandymount and on Sunday there was Evening Prayer in St George’s, Belfast and bi–lingual Choral Eucharist in Killorglin.
300th anniversary of the foundation of St Patrick’s church, Slane
Yesterday the 300th anniversary of the foundation of St Patrick’s church, Slane was marked with a Service of Thanksgiving at which the preacher was the former Dean of St Patrick’s, Dublin, Dr Robert MacCarthy.
Trim Patronal Festival
In St Patrick’s Cathedral, Trim, the Dean of Ossory, the Very Revd Katharine Poulton, preached yesterday at the Patronal Festival Service.
Archbishop’s visit marks DUFEM links with Hong Kong
On Saturday the Archbishop of Dublin arrived in Hong Kong on his first visit to the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui. Yesterday he preached at the Eucharist in St John’s Cathedral and today gave a lecture in Ming Hua Theological College. Throughout the week he will visit parishes, welfare facilities, shelters and schools throughout the Province. The Archbishop is making this visit on behalf of the Dublin University Far Eastern Mission of which he is Patron. He is accompanied by Dr Kerry Houston, Treasurer of the DUFEM, and the Revd Dr Alan McCormack, London Officer of the DUFEM
‘Necessary’ obsession with finance jeopardises much that we value – Bishop of Cork
Preaching at the Annual Civic Service, attended by the Lord Mayor and City Council of Cork together with civic leaders and voluntary workers, to mark Saint Patrick’s Day in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork, the Right Reverend Paul Colton, Bishop of Cork, said that much that we truly value in Ireland is jeopardised by ‘the current, sadly necessary, obsession with finance. Bishop Colton also said that Irish Christians and institutional churches, in particular, have to ‘get used to the new diversity of believing and non-believing in Ireland.’
Of our current preoccupation with money, Bishop Colton said:
I have a sense that, to our detriment, and very ironically, we are as much preoccupied now – albeit in a different or an inverse way – with money as we were in the Celtic Tiger era. Back then it was about getting more and more; now, in part, it is about spending less and less. We are being asked to live our lives like an income and expenditure account; a balance sheet that sometimes doesn’t seem to have humanity below the line, yet alone intermingled in the story. The current, sadly necessary, obsession with finance is in danger of jeopardising much that we truly value.
Of diversity of belief and outlook in contemporary Ireland, Bishop Colton said:
Every year this day hits the raw nerve of our identity. Traditionally we could simply look to Christianity for the telling of our story. For most Irish people that is still the case. But even for many Christians their telling of their story is based on a very different articulation of Christianity: residual belief, spiritual and personal rather than institutional and traditional. And Ireland is populated by ever-increasing numbers of people of other faiths and substantial numbers of non-believers. My strong sense is that our telling of our own story doesn’t yet know how to accommodate such pluralism and diversity within the unfolding tale. Christians in general and institutional churches, in particular, have to get used to that diversity: having a Christian outlook on things, which naturally we commend to everyone, is not, however, about forcing everyone else to hold to that same outlook or excluding others, within the rule of law, from adhering to their own belief.
A St Patrick’s Day message from the President
TheJournal.ie – President Michael D Higgins gives his St Patrick’s day message today, where he says that in celebrating our Irishness, “we also remember that the Irish are an enterprising and resilient people”.
http://www.thejournal.ie/a-st-patricks-day-message-from-the-president-382776-Mar2012/
DUP deputy leader tells House of Commons: Make St Patrick’s Day a public holiday
TheJournal.ie -The Deputy Leader of Northern Ireland’s largest Unionist party has asked the British government to consider making St Patrick’s Day a public holiday across the United Kingdom. Nigel Dodds asked Sir George Young, the Leader of the House of Commons, whether members could look forward to a statement making March 17 a holiday in the UK, as it currently is in the Republic. Dodds said making the date a public holiday would be an appropriate way to follow “the excellent news that the city of Armagh will be awarded a lord mayoralty in this diamond jubilee year”.
http://www.thejournal.ie/dup-deputy-leader-tells-house-of-commons-make-st-patricks-day-a-public-holiday-386685-Mar2012/
Sheep go green for St Patrick’s Day
Belfast Telegraph – A flock of Scottish sheep have joined some of the most famous landmarks in the world as part of a marketing stunt to mark St Patrick’s Day. Along with the London Eye, Niagara Falls, the Empire State Building and the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Bathgate flock have taken on an emerald hue to celebrate the popular day.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/uk/sheep-go-green-for-st-patricks-day-16132446.html