Holy Saturday: Keeping Vigil
Holy Saturday: Today is the day of Holy Waiting. We vigil tonight for the Resurrection of the Lord… But what was Christ doing during the time His sacred body lay in death in the tomb? He was visiting the dead and freeing them from the “limbo”, ( by which we mean the state of peace…
Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion:
Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion: Today the One who is Life itself embraced death and conquered it… Today the One who is Light itself met darkness and illumined it… Today the One who is Being itself touched nothingness and healed it… Today the One who is Eternity itself subjected time and inter-penetrated it… Today…
Holy “Maundy” Thursday:
Holy Thursday: “Maundy” Thursday: Today the Lord bestows His parting gifts The New Commandment of Love, (mandatum novum in latin, from which we get the word Maundy):”Love one another as I have loved you!” The Priesthood and the Holy Eucharist… All three are ways of encountering the presence of God in our lives, all three…
“Spy Wednesday”
Wednesday of Holy Week: “Spy Wednesday” We forget, at our peril, that the sin of Judas was not his betrayal of Christ, (all of the Apostles bar John betrayed Him, and even he stayed at a distance until the Cross.), but that he was so enfolded in his own ego that he could not believe…
Entering Holy Week
We have entered Holy Week… All over the country our friaries are busy getting ready for the great events of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday, statues and crosses have been veiled, churches and friaries are being cleaned, all of the items necessary for the annual observance of this beautiful time are…
Feast of the Annunciation
Feast of the Annunciation today! This is our true Spring day, when the Winter dark and cold of selfishness and sin yields to the green shoot of Mary’s total yes to God. The whole cosmos pauses and stills to listen for the answer to the Angel as God makes Himself dependent on a young girl’s…
Brother Martin conferred with the Ministry of Acolyte
Brother Martin will be conferred with the Ministry of Acolyte at Mass in the Friary today (Saturday 07 March 2015) by Brother Adrian Curran (Provincial Minister). This conferral sees Brother Martin enter into the final stage of preparation for Ordination to Deaconate in the Autumn. ‘Destined as he is in a special way for the…
Child Safeguarding Audit March 2015
AUDIT BY THE NATIONAL BOARD 2015 The National Child Safeguarding Board of the Catholic Church in Ireland will, over several days, in the month of March, 2015, review the manner in which the Irish Capuchin Province has received and dealt with all allegations of child sexual abuse made against its members since 1975. The reviewers…
Novena of Grace: Halston St. March 4-12
The annual Novena of Grace in honour of St. Francis Xavier takes place as usual in our Capuchin run parish of Halston St. Dublin 7 from the 4th to the 12th of March. This wonderful occasion brings people together from all over the city to invoke the intercession of St. Francis Xavier in one of…
God’s Invitation to us (Matt 22:1-14)
Today’s Gospel is a parable about being invited to a wedding, not just any wedding, but the royal wedding of the king’s son. This parable of invitation and rejection was originally addressed to the chief priests and elders of the Jews.
Those who were invited to come to the wedding banquet did not accept. One went off to his farm, another to his business. I’m sure they regarded these as good excuses. Did you ever hear anybody saying, “I have a poor excuse”? It’s always a good excuse! There is great wisdom in the Irish word for an excuse, leathsceal, which literally means half a story. The full truth of this parable is that they were not interested. As the story proceeds, apathy turns into violence as servants of the king were maltreated and killed.
The Joy of the Gospel
Let us move forward to our own time. Pope Francis, in his Apostolic Exhortation called The Joy of the Gospel, begins with God’s invitation to us. “The joy of the Gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus.” As in the parable of the royal wedding, Pope Francis highlights[Silvester1] some excuses causing people to be uninterested in God’s invitation: consumerism, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures and blunted conscience. “Whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own interests and concerns, there is no longer room for others, no place for the poor. God’s voice is no longer heard, the quiet joy of his love is no longer felt, and the desire to do good fades. Many fall prey to it, and end up resentful, angry and listless. That is no way to live a dignified and fulfilled life; it is not God’s will for us, nor is it the life in the Spirit which has its source in the heart of the risen Christ” (Paragraph 2).
A Daily Encounter
Pope Francis proceeds to invite all Christians to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ and to do this every day. “Now is the time to say to Jesus: ‘Lord, I have let myself be deceived; in a thousand ways I have shunned your love, yet here I am once more, to renew my covenant with you. I need you. Save me once again. ... See MoreSee Less
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Our Vicar Provincial and Vocations Director, Br Martin, recently gave an interview to the Faith Alive programme on Midwest Radio speaking about St Francis, the Capuchin vocation and our life in fraternity. Thanks to Monica Morley and Midwest Radio for organising the interview. You can copy the link here to listen on SoundCloud :
on.soundcloud.com/vOCZHWqD4DdSEzZRew ... See MoreSee Less
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Blessings to all on the feast of our Holy Father, St Francis of Assisi. May the Lord bless you and keep you always. St Francis, pray for us, for peace and for our world. ... See MoreSee Less
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Some news from Ards ... See MoreSee Less
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The homily given by our Provincial Minister, Br Richard Hendrick OFM Cap at the celebration of the Transitus of St Francis of Assisi, 2026. ... See MoreSee Less
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Some images from this evening's celebration of the Transitus from the Conventual Franciscan Church in Fairview Dublin. This celebration concludes the three nights of preparation for the feast of St Francis. ... See MoreSee Less
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Details of how St Francis of Assisi Priorswood are celebrating the Feast of St Francis. Jubilee Mass on Sunday at 11.30am celebrated by the Archbishop of Dublin, Dermot Farrell. ... See MoreSee Less
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We gathered this evening in the beautiful setting of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Merchant's Quay for the second night of three in honour of the 800th anniversary of St Francis death in 1226.
The evening began with a pilgrim walk from St Mary of the Angels, Church Street to Merchant's Quay to bring the image of St Francis and our peace candle. These symbols are a focal point for each celebration. It was a powerful experience to walk silently through the streets of Dublin in the pouring rain. Many people stopped on their way to bless themselves, pause a moment or to take a photo of the fifty strong pilgrim group.
Inside the church at Merchant's Quay, we heard readings from the life of St Francis interspersed with beautiful music and song. The ceremony came to a conclusion with the blessing of Dublin City echoing the way in which St Francis blessed Assisi before he died.
A truly blessed evening in so many ways. Thanks to all involved. ... See MoreSee Less
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Thanks to all who joined us in St Mary of the Angels, Church Street for the Mass for the Care of Creation last evening. This was the first night of three nights for St Francis in Dublin City Centre. We were honoured to welcome the Italian Ambassador to Ireland as well as the Italian Minister for Health to Church Street for the celebration. Minister, Professor Orazio Schillaci, spoke of the enduring importance of St Francis in Italian life and culture as well as the deep friendship between Ireland and Italy.
Principal celebrant: Br Richard Hendrick OFM Cap (Provincial Minister).
Homilist: Br. Martin Bennett OFM Cap (Provincial Vicar).
Principal concelebrant: Br Kevin Kiernan OFM Cap (Guardian, Church Street Friary).
Music: Brazilian Catholic Community ... See MoreSee Less
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