On this day in 1979, Pope John Paul II arrived in Ireland...

On this day in 1979, Pope John Paul II arrived in Ireland...

 

I was just ten years old when Pope John Paul II came to Ireland...

 

I remember the 'Alarm Car' waking the neighbourhood up to be in time to join the Parish procession to the Phoenix Park. My mam had our tomato sandwiches and collapsible stools for the Mass. We were shown to the corrals and waited to see the Aer Lingus Boeing 747 EI ASJ as it routed up the River Liffey.

 

I remember myself and my brother Kevin wearing our Snorkel Jackets sprayed with wasp killer to keep the autumnal bees and wasps away.  I remember the cheers of the more than a million people as the Holy Father arrived to begin Mass. "Like St. Patrick, I too have heard the voice of the Irish calling to me..."

 

I remember shouting to the Pope in the Pope Mobile as he wound his way through the cheering crowds after Mass.

 

I recall standing on Thomas Street in the heart of Dublin's Liberties with my mam, my brother and my aunt as the Pope Mobile passed by and the Pope wearing what looked like a big red sombrero...

 

That was 36 years ago...

I'd love if Pope Francis would come to Ireland. It's time...

 

 

 

The Tongue...

Feast of St. Michan. August 25th.

From the banks for the River Jordan, Jesus began his public ministry of preaching the Good News. He called 12 apostles to follow him and he challenged them to "Go and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." (Matt 28) After Jesus died on the cross and rose again, he sent the Holy Spirit to fortify his disciples to continue to preach the gospel.

St. Patrick brought the Faith to Ireland and in his turn, Michan, on the banks of another river, the River Liffey preached the message of Jesus Christ to the faith community of his day. We thank God for the faith of generations of people who have passed on this good news to our time.

Brief History of St. Michan s Church Halston Street

Who St. Michan was, has, until recently, been a mystery to ecclesiastical historians. The old Irish name (Glasmocanoge) of the street now called Constitution Hill, gives a clue to the mystery. Glasmocanoge is the boundary stream of the district that was under the spiritual care of St. MoChanog, namely, St. Michan.

He was the eldest son of the Prince of Brecknock in Wales and lived in the fifth century. He founded the Cill or Church of Cill-mo-Chonog (now Kilmacanoge in Co. Wicklow) and his brother Mocarog founded the cill in Delgany. It seems that having founded the Cill in Kilmacanoge, he then came to Dublin and set up a hostel in the Stoneybatter area.

St. Michan is mentioned in the "A Calendar of Irish Saints" as "Michan of Cill Michan in Atha Cliath" (Michan of the Church of Michan in Dublin) and his feast is 25th August. In fact, his father, the Prince of Brecknock, in Wales was said to have been an Irishman. When Michan set up his Cill in Dublin, he returned to his native Wales and was slain in 496.

Michan s Cill or religious house continued for several centuries and in 1096 the foundation of the Cathedral of St. Michan was laid by the then Bishop. The church remained a Cathedral for a very short time until Christ Church became the Cathedral in 1121. Archbishop Laurence O Toole (1161) introduced Regular Canons into Christ Church to live in community. In support of the Canons he granted various churches, with their tithes, among which was St. Michan s (1178).

After the reformation, the Protestant Government took over the Church of St. Michan (in Church Street) in 1540 and the Catholic priests had to find new ways of providing the Sacraments to their faithful. They had to resort to the back streets for those purposes. St. Michan's Mass House was in a back room of a house and became the first Parish Chapel recorded in Penal Times. The Sacraments continued to be available to the people of the area through the Penal Times and limited Catholic education was provided for boys and girls. Teresa Mullaly founded George s Hill where the Presentation Sisters continue her work to this day.

In 1704, the old building at the corner of Bull Lane and Mary s Lane was transformed into a chapel.  The Novena of Grace in honour of St. Francis Xavier was started in this chapel by the Jesuits in 1712
The Irish name for Michan is Mo-Can-og; the Mo (my) and Og (little) usually added to saints names as terms of affection, and Can was the surname. In Welsh the Mo is rendered My, and so, in the name Michan we have the Welsh pronunciation My-Can. The present day Catholic Church of St. Michan opened in 1817.

Easter Vigil in St. Michan's 2015

 

 

November annual Markets Remembrance Mass for all who have died from Dublin's Fruit and Vegetable Markets and deceased

Moore St/ Henry St/ Cole's Lane dealers and traders.

Pope Francis: Divorced people who remarry aren't excommunicated!

Weekend retreat for Consecrated Religious in All Hallows College, Dublin

I was part of a committee which arranged a weekend retreat in All Hallows College, Dublin for consecrated men and women for this Year of Consecrated Life. The idea came from Sr. Briege McKenna OSC and the key note speaker was Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa ofm.cap. Preacher to the Papal Household. 150 religious came along over the weekend and gave glory to God for the gift of religious life today.

"What attracts vocations is not propaganda, it is hope. People only join orders that are hope-filled." Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa.

 

 

 

On this day 18 years ago I was ordained to the priesthood in St. Kevin's Church, Kilnamanagh, Dublin... #DeoGratias

The Body and Blood of Christ...

Brennan Manning, an American Franciscan priest, tells this story about his mother, a lady in her mid-seventies in Brooklyn. Mrs. Manning’s day centred on her daily Eucharist. Because she began a voluntary stint at a drug detox centre each morning at 7.30 a.m. the only Mass she could go to each day was at 5.30 a.m.

Across the road from her lived a very successful lawyer, mid-thirties, married with children. The man had no religion and was particularly critical of daily church-goers. Driving home from a late night party at 5.00 a.m. one January morning, the roads were glassy with ice, he said to his wife; ‘I bet she won’t be out this morning’ referring to Mrs. Manning. But to his shock, there she was on hands and knees negotiating the hill up to the church.

He went home, tried to sleep but could not. Around 9.00 a.m. he got up, went to the local presbytery and asked to see the priest. ‘Padre,’ he said, ‘I am not one of yours. I have no religion. But can you tell me what do you have in there that can make an old woman crawl on hands and knees on an icy morning?’ Thus began his conversion along with his wife and family.

What do we have in here that makes people come to Mass each week or even each day? And I feel the Sunday Mass obligation or the threat of not going to Mass being a sin is not a runner anymore. I believe that most people who still come to Mass do so because they always did. But there is still some hidden pull or some hidden desire for connection. What is it? And sometimes we can’t find words to explain why.

In conversations about football or sport, I’ve met people who are lifelong supporters of teams that haven’t won a big tournament for years, but they still keep the faith. One day it will come good. The real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist is something that can’t be seen with our physical sight. We need a different sense of vision to see Jesus Christ present on the altar and at Mass; we look at Him with the eyes of faith. We can all identify with someone like Mrs Manning we know who will show us, perhaps without even saying a word, a great example of their strength of faith. In the words of the old Benediction hymn ‘Tantum ergo Sacramentum;’ ‘Sight is blind before God’s glory, faith alone may see His face.

(Story taken from 'The Good News of Mark's Year' by Fr. Silvester O'Flynn. Columba Press, Dublin 1990)