Mass for Persecuted Christians in the Middle East 2015

For the second year a Mass for Persecuted Christians in the Middle East was organised by the Catholic Heritage Association in Cill Mhuire, Newbridge, Co. Kildare.

 

 

National Latin Mass Pilgrimage to Knock 2015

The National Latin Mass Pilgrimage is a special event in Knock.  Unique among Latin Mass pilgrimages around the Country, His Grace, the Archbishop of Tuam has designated this pilgrimage under his own authority and appointed a chaplain, Fr. John Loftus of the Diocese of Killala.

The organisation of the National Pilgrimage was undertaken by Our Lady's Catholic Heritage Association in co-ordination with the other Catholic Heritage Associations around the Country but all Latin Mass Communities, Chaplaincies, Associations and groups around the Country are invited to participate each year.

As usual, the main exercises of the pilgrimage took place in the old Parish Church of Knock, whish stood when the apparitions took place.  The apparitions are uniquely Eucharistic in that the Blessed Sacrament was present in the form of the Lamb of God with Our Lady, St. Joseph and St. John, during the whole of the apparition.  That may be the reason for the silence of the apparition and perhaps the key to it's central message, the importance of silence in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament - very appropriate for the Traditional Latin Mass.

There was a tremendous turn out from all parts of the Country for a Missa Cantata of Our Lady celebrated by Fr. Loftus.  In keeping with the exercises of the official pilgrimages to the Shrine, the Missa Cantata was followed by the Stations of the Cross and the pilgrimage concluded with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

Latin Mass Pilgrimage to Carlow Cathedral 2015

Members and friends of St. Conleth's Catholic Heritage Association and other Catholic Heritage Associations were delighted to make another annual pilgrimage to the Cathedral of the Assumption, Carlow, in the Month of the Assumption.  Reports of previous pilgrimages can be found here: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 (May), 2013 (December), 2014. 

There is something special about making a pilgrimage to a Cathedral.  Ireland has its ancient sites and its holy wells (too often left only to the locals), Ireland has the sites associated with our National Apostle (although Armagh never became the place of pilgrimage it deserves), its apparition shrine in Knock and National Shrines (too often neglected by pilgrims) to various Saints.  However, Ireland, after long centuries of dispossession and persecution has begun again to have her Cathedrals.  It is a special duty of love to make a pilgrimage to the Mother Church of one's own Diocese and a special privilege to make pilgrimages to other Cathedrals around the Country.  Our first Cathedral pilgrimage was to Carlow, one of our oldest extant Cathedrals still in the hands of the Catholic Church.

While the Cathedrals in Waterford (1793), Cork (1808) and Dublin (1825) may be older, Carlow Cathedral is the first fruits of Catholic Emancipation that came in 1829.  Completed in 1833, with its near contemporary in Tuam (1836) it stands in contrast to the soaring confidence of its younger sisters of the 19th and 20th Centuries.  It is the more to be treasured for all that. 

National Latin Mass Pilgrimage to Armagh 2015

The Irish are very devoted to pilgrimage.  In the Golden Age of Faith the Saints of Ireland undertook Peregrinatio Pro Christo to Heaven-knew-where to bring them the Catholic Faith.  It is a startlingly rare thing to make a pilgrimage to Armagh, the seat of Saint Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland, and his successor the Primate of All Ireland, and, in a sense, the spiritual heart and ecclesiastical capital of Ireland.

The present Cathedral, the National Cathedral, as Cardinal Logue called it, was built between 1840 and 1904, the medieval Cathedral having been confiscated during the 16th century.  Historic images of the Cathedral can be seen here.

Latin Mass Pilgrimage to Goresbridge 2014

This was our first pilgrimage to the beautiful village of Goresbridge, although we have had Masses in most of the surrounding Parishes. Perched on the borders of Carlow and Kilkenny, Goresbridge, as you can imagine, was named for the Gore family who, according to Dr. Comerford’s Collections, received a grant from Charles II of lands that had been confiscated from Catholics. The Gores were replaced at the beginning of the 19th Century by the Clifdens as the big people in the place.

Dr. Comerford also tells us that Fr. John Murphy led the men of Wexford to cross the Barrow at Goresbridge (also known as Newbridge) on 23rd June, 1798, where they met with and defeated a body of mounted and foot troops. They got as far as Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny but finding no local support retreated back across the Barrow at Goresbridge on 26th.

 As is usual, the Church of Ireland building stands prominent and proudly, while the Catholic Church on 'Chapel Lane' is more modest of aspect. The Church of the Holy Trinity is a small simple country Church with galleries in the transepts. It has the unusual arrangement of having the organ pipes in a gallery over the Altar.

 The Church also contains fine stained glass windows, with central plaques depicting an emblem of the Holy Trinity, Christ the King, the Sacred Heart, St. Joseph, St. Patrick, St. Brigid, St. Laserian and St. Oliver Plunkett.

Dr. Comerford gives 1822 at the date of the present Church, built by Fr. Lewis Moore, R.I.P. Frs. Michael Brennan, P.P., d. 1851, and Matthew O’Connell, who had served in America, are buried in the Church. Requiescant in Pace.

Latin Mass Pilgrimage to Allen 2015

This morning members and friends of St. Conleth's Catholic Heritage Association gathered at the Church of the Most Holy Trinity, Allen, County Kildare, for an Anniversary Mass in the Gregorian Rite for one of their founder members, Miss Gertrude Hyland. After Mass, some of the members went to Crosspatrick Grave Yard nearby to pray at her graveside, and then to Father Moore's Well, a shrine to a saintly Parish Priest of Allen.

The spire of Allen Church can be seen on the horizon, as can the hill of Allen, the palace of Fionn Mac Cumhail, the warrior chieftan of ancient Ireland.  This parish was the hiding place of the Bishops of Kildare during the centuries of persecution.  A history of the Parish can be found in Dr. Comerford's Collections.