Lent in Time of Lockdown

• You will find Pope Francis's Message for Lent here.
• See our diocesan resources for prayer and reflection here and here.
  
• IN OUR PARISH  Fr Colin will be holding a Lenten Holy Hour (online) in Saggart Church every Friday from 3 to 4 pm. Further information here.
  

We will all be looking for places of refreshment as we continue to make our slow way through Lockdown 3. One such place is our own Rathcoole Park (see photo below). There we can let our thoughts flow while enjoying the view of the birds, the distant mountains and even, glimpsed through the trees on the horizon, the spire of Saggart church. The poet-priest Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889) might come to mind (especially to young people preparing for this year's Leaving Certificate!) as someone who thought deeply about the natural world. When I see a chaffinch in the back garden, for instance, I remember his reference in Pied Beauty to "finches' wings". He dedicates a poem about another bird, the kestrel (far rarer than the chaffinch!), to "Christ Our Lord": The Windhover. As regards our Lenten theme here, one of his final poems (written in Dublin) has as subtitle, The Comfort of the Resurrection. So let your thoughts wander freely and see where they take you.

At various moments and in various places over the period of Lent and in the company of those we find ourselves placed among (providentially? -- there's a theme for meditation!), may we rise above our trying circumstances (be "[brought] out of ourselves", in the Pope's words) to a higher plane of serenity and peace.

You might like to read another issue of our occasional newsletter containing the names of those who died in January as well as some material on Saggart church:  J4 Newsletter.

 

• Message from Archbishop Farrell to Parents of Children due to receive the sacraments of First Holy Communion and Confirmation this year: see YouTube video here.
  

Holy Week and Easter 2020

Archbishop Martin issued the following statement on Wednesday, 1st April (full text here) :

"Regrettably, I feel that it will not be possible to have any public celebration of the Liturgies of Holy Week. It would be very difficult to limit the number of those attending, especially on Good Friday, when many vulnerable people might feel obliged to come to our Churches.

"This makes it all the more urgent to ensure that people are made aware of the manner in which they can access the ceremonies by television or online and to ensure that parishioners are made aware of the dates and times of transmissions."  ('Making people aware' is what this website is now doing.)

Archbishop Martin's statement includes many suggestions for an alternative way of attending the Easter ceremonies this year. Another document, from the Bishops' Conference (here and look too at the video of Bishop Nulty, Being Church Online for One Another) is also full of useful information on how to do things differently -- since we have to -- this year.  In fact, there is so much choice that this writer, anyway, feels the need to choose just one main source and maybe sample one or two others. So we'll follow the ceremonies at home in our own parishes (here), with a occasional visit maybe to our cathedral in Dublin (streaming here, with timetable here), or even one to the Vatican itself (here).

Dates and Times of Live-Stream Transmission from Saggart (click Mass Live on menu-bar above)

HOLY THURSDAY LITURGY

GOOD FRIDAY LITURGY

HOLY SATURDAY LITURGY

READINGS FOR EASTER SUNDAY

Timetable for Easter Ceremonies

Panel from the Monument to St Patrick
 Westport, Co. Mayo

RISE 

WE WILL 

DAY
ON THAT 

MUS
SURGE-


ILLA RE-
IN DIE 



WE WILL RISE ON THAT DAY in the brightness of the sun, that is, in the glory of Christ Jesus our redeemer. We shall be like children of the living God and co-heirs of Christ and to be fashioned in his image, since it is from him and through him and in him that we are to reign. (St Patrick, Confession, 59)

We will be lighting our own Easter fire as usual outside our parish churches and invite you to come and be with us. You will find the times of all the Easter ceremonies here.

Timetable for Easter Ceremonies

St Patrick Lights Paschal Fire on Hill of Slane
(From the Monument to the Saint in Westport)

The words at the top IN DIE ILLA RESURGEMUS are taken from St Patrick's Confession (Par.59) and mean ON THAT DAY WE WILL RISE AGAIN.

Please click here to read our Newsletter giving (p.2) the timetable of the Easter Ceremonies.

Remembering 1916 in Our Parishes

An t-Uasal Seán Keane ag seinm píosa cheoil in ómós

Our two parishes held ceremonies of remembrance in honour of all those who took part in their different ways in the events of Easter 1916. They were conducted in the spirit of inclusiveness advocated, among others, by the two archbishops of Ireland.  Below you will find a selection of photo-slides as a souvenir of the ceremonies which took place in Rathcoole on Easter Monday, 28 March 2016, and in Newcastle Lyons on Sunday, 24 April 2016. The photos were taken by Liam Roche (S/R/B) and Bridget Breen (NL) and captions/presentation are by Donal McMahon (WebSec).

Easter Rising Centenary Photos   Note: move from slide to slide by clicking anywhere on the screen. Press 'Escape' to return to this page.
                                                                                           

    Centenary Prayer of Remembrance  

(From Dublin diocesan website here)

Lord, Merciful and Kind,
I remember the men, women and children

who died during 1916 and throughout the

troubled journey of our island’s history.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a n-anamacha.

Look kindly I pray, on the people of Ireland

from all traditions, at home and abroad.

To you O God, we long to sing a new song of

compassion, inclusion and engagement in a

spirit of true freedom.

1916 Exhibition, Tallaght Library : Detail from Illustration of Activity in South County Dublin.
Saggart Area:  Paper Mill,  De Selby Quarry,  Church.  Click to enlarge.

Easter Ceremonies

Panel from the Monument to St Patrick, Westport, Co. Mayo

Since, this year, the Easter ceremonies come so soon after St Patrick's Day (Holy Thursday being on the 24th, a mere week later), our illustration for Easter has a Patrician theme. One of the panels of the monument in Westport represents St Patrick lighting a fire on Holy Saturday on the hill of Slane, in defiance of the High King whose prerogative it was to light the first fire that evening on the nearby hill of Tara. The words at the top IN DIE ILLA RESURGEMUS are a quotation from the Confession (Par.59):
 
If I have ever imitated anything good for the sake of my God whom I love, I ask that he grant me to be able to shed my blood with these converts and captives – even were I to lack a grave for burial, or my dead body were to be miserably torn apart limb from limb by dogs or wild beasts, or were the birds of heaven to devour it. I declare with certainty that if this were to happen, I would have gained both my soul and my body. There is no doubt whatever that WE WILL RISE ON THAT DAY in the brightness of the sun, that is, in the glory of Christ Jesus our redeemer. We shall be like children of the living God and co-heirs of Christ and to be fashioned in his image, since it is from him and through him and in him that we are to reign. 

We will be lighting our own Easter fire as usual outside our parish churches and invite you to come and be with us. You will find the times of all the Easter ceremonies in the parish newsletter (p.2) by clicking here.

Times of Services for Holy Week

 All details for the services of Holy Week are given in this week's Newsletter (here).

William Blake, The Resurrection (c.1808)
Angel Rolling Away the Stone from the Sepulchre

                Regina cæli, lætare                     Alleluia.
                Quia quem meruisti portare         Alleluia.
                Resurrexit, sicut dixit.                  Alleluia.
                Ora pro nobis Deum.                   Alleluia
 
                Queen of heaven, rejoice            Alleluia.
For He whom thou wast worthy to bear      Alleluia 
                 Has risen, as he promised.        Alleluia            
                 Pray for us to God.                     Alleluia.

Newsletter for 6th April.  The Newsletter for the 13th gives the times of the ceremonies for Holy Week.

 A Host of Golden Daffodils

The daffodils shown here are those blooming on the Green in Newcastle, outside St Finian's (CoI), and were photographed last Sunday. They are to be seen in the background of the photo below, growing along the wall. The day before, three pupils from second class in St Finian's National School appeared on the front page of the Irish Times in their 'Daffodil Day' outfits: twins Sophie and Isabella Whyte O'Connor and Roisin Van Son.


 

Here is the Newsletter for the 23 March.

A Poem/Hymn for Easter   

  

 

Window from St Patrick's Cathedral,  Dublin

Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem 

This time of year always brings to mind the poem by Katharine Tynan, 'Sheep and Lambs', which you can listen to on YouTube as a hymn. When we're out in the lovely countryside so near us here at the limits of the city, we can see the lambs in the fields, and, especially this week, think of what that poem says about the Lamb of God. Katharine Tynan grew up in Clondalkin, and there is a fine collection of her works in Tallaght Library.                                                                                                                                 

        The sheep with their lambs   

    Passed me by on the road

All in the April evening

             I thought on the Lamb of God.

             Up in the blue, blue mountains

        Dewy pastures were sweet:

   Rest for the little bodies,

Rest for the little feet.

      But for the Lamb of God,

    Up on the hill-top green,

 Only a Cross of shame

               Two stark crosses between.      

For times of ceremonies, please see Newsletter below under 'Older Post'.