Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from ‘The Irish Times’
Prayer Card
The advent of a New Year offers for many new opportunities and fresh challenges – a time to begin something new, a time to build on past experiences. And of course much of this, in popular discourse at least, is bound up with New Year resolutions. One resolution, which has the potential to be positive is regular prayer.
The Liturgical Advisory Committee (LAC) of the Church of Ireland has produced a new resource for simple daily prayer. Called ‘Take a Minute’, the resource is contained in a prayer card which can be kept in a pocket or inside a prayer book or Bible. It is intended to be a way into prayer even in the midst of a busy lifestyle.
Speaking about the resource, the Revd Abigail Sines from the LAC said: “We hope these cards will be a gentle, and accessible reminder, in the midst of busy day–to–day life, to Take a Minute for prayer. In preparing and designing these cards, we had in mind city and town centre churches, cathedrals and parish halls that are in use throughout the week, as well as university chaplaincies – all places where a chance encounter, especially in moments of stress or uncertainty, can create an opportunity for a quiet moment of prayer.
“A simple structure is offered, with prompts for the morning to help commit the day’s activities to God, and in the evening to reflect on the day that has gone. The intention is to quiet the mind and create space for a sense of personal connection with God, and nurture open heartedness to experience God’s guidance, whatever the day or night may bring.”
In due course, the PDF version of this resource will be available on the newly refurbished worship section of the Church of Ireland website. In the interim, it can be accessed through the Church of Ireland’s social media pages.
A service for the first Sunday of the New Year, led by the Revd Dr Andrew Campbell of St Swithin’s church, Magherafelt, in the Diocese of Armagh, will be broadcast on BBC Radio Ulster and Radio Foyle on Sunday just after the 10 o’clock news. The bell of St Swithin’s was one of the first sounds listeners to the new Radio Ulster heard when it began fifty years ago. The broadcast will also be available for listening back on the BBC website.
The Feast of the Epiphany, which falls this year on Monday, will largely be celebrated on Sunday. In Dublin the choir of Christ Church cathedral returns from its post–Christmas break and will sing at the 11am Eucharist and at Evensong at 3.30pm, while in St Patrick’s cathedral there will be an Epiphany Carol Service at 3.15pm followed at 4.30pm by a performance of Olivier Messiaen’s ‘La Nativité du Seigneur’.
But, of course in the Church’s year the Christmas season continues beyond Epiphany and does not conclude until Candlemas in early February.
Published in the Friday edition of The Irish Times