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.

'I thought I heard the voice of the Irish' (St Patrick's Confession)

Panel from monument to St Patrick, Westport, Co. Mayo

I thought I heard in my mind the voice of those who were beside the wood of Foclut, near the western sea, calling out “We beg you, holy boy, to come and walk again among us” . This touched my heart deeply. (Confession, Par. 23)

Rogamus te (abbreviated in photo, top left - click on photo to enlarge it) sancte puer ut venias et adhuc ambules inter nos. To read this sentence in the original manuscript now in TCD and dating all the way back to c.807, click here.  Use button top left to get full-screen view, and then use zoom in/out buttons as desired. Our sentence is at lines 23-4, second column.  How wonderful to be able to see this early Irish manuscript up close on your very own desktop, laptop or even smartphone!  (To select another page, press ‘Escape’ on your keyboard to return to the small-screen version with the page-selector on top.)

For a description of the scenes depicted on the other panels, see here.  For the life of Ken Thompson who designed this monument, see here, and here for an article on the Stations of the Cross which he designed for the recently restored cathedral of St Mel's, Longford.

For Mass times and more readings for St Patrick's Day, see the Newsletter (right sidebar).

Renovation of St Mary's : A Pictorial Record, 2015

Before we bid farewell to last year, let us recall the significant year it was for our parish church. For the first time since its construction in the late 1840s it underwent major renovation, especially on the outside. The documentary record can be followed by clicking on 'St Mary's Renovation' on the menu-bar above. The pictorial record, or rather one person's such record (Donal McMahon's), can be viewed here: Photographic Record.

We saw a new initiative being introduced in the diocese to fund this renovation. 'Living the Joy of the Gospel' was a fund-raising venture designed to provide finance for major capital undertakings such as ours, as well as current expenditure requirements such as salaries for parish pastoral workers. Parishioners donated what they could afford to this fund. More information will no doubt be provided in due course on 'Living the Joy of the Gospel' but in the meantime these photos will bring home to parishioners the great work their generous contributions have made possible.

There are controls for back/pause/forward at the bottom left-hand side of the screen. The slides proceed automatically at a 5-second interval. If you want to change slide yourself at your own pace, press pause (the double lines become an arrow) and then press the right-hand forward arrow (not the middle one). You can then stay as long as you want on any slide.

A kind of premiere in its own small way, this first-ever slide show of our parish church allows us to ponder on each scene, focusing on whatever detail catches our attention. In a way, we are paying an imaginary visit to this familiar 'house of prayer', free to explore each scene as we wish and let our mind wander at will   . . . the workmen busy at their work ('laborare est orare')  . . . the parishioners coming out from Mass on St Patrick's Day . . . this old village we live in or near, Saggart . . . our lives here and now, those gone before us whom we remember, at rest across the road . . . God there, somehow, in all this  . . .