Diocesan News05 Apr 11

Holy Week 2011 in the diocese of Cashel & Ossory

The Bishop of Cashel and Ossory, the Right Revd Michael Burrows has decided that Holy Week and Easter 2011 should be a time of spiritual renewal and outreach across his parishes all over the South East, from Mountrath to Rosslare and from Cahir to Baltinglass.

Bishop Burrows launches Holy Week of special renewal and regeneration.
L-R: The Very Revd Katharine Poulton Dean of Ossory, Mr Sam Harper, Diocesan Reader, the Rt Revd Michael Burrows Bishop of Cashel & Ossory, Ms Elizabeth Keyes Administrator St Canice’s Cathedral Kilkenny and the Very Revd Dr Philip Knowles Dean of Cashel.

Holy Week and Easter are of course year by year the high point of prayer and worship for Christians.  The Bishop hopes that this year existing traditions will be strengthened and enriched with a view to encouraging individuals to renew their commitments and even to re-engage with their local worshipping community.
 
The emphasis will be on:

• Imaginative and accessible worship
• Intelligent and instructive preaching that addresses the questions of our times
• Personal spirituality
• The use of art, music, drama and a great variety of human talent to enrich the programme.

Brochures concerning the planned events are widely available and full details are included  on a special page on the diocesan website, www.cashel.anglican.org

While the individual parishes will provide the heartbeat of this time of renewal, there will be regional events which it is hoped will draw the dioceses together and engage the wider public particularly in the six cathedrals at Kilkenny, Waterford, Cashel, Leighlin, Lismore and Ferns.


HIGHLIGHTS OF HOLY WEEK 2011           
1.  On Palm Sunday Morning, the Parishes and cathedrals will celebrate Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem with the Litany of the Palms. 
The Bishop will be in Lismore Cathedral.  In the evening in Leighlin Cathedral, the Bishop and the local parishes will gather for “The Way of the Cross” – Liturgy for the Beginning of Holy Week. With the Choir directed by Mark Duley
 
2.  From Monday to Wednesday of Holy Week, the daily events in the climactic final week in the life of Jesus on earth will be recalled. 
Many places will have the  Eucharist each morning. 
On Monday the Bishop will be in Sier Kieran, Co. Offaly (where the Diocese of Ossory began). On Tuesday, the Bishop will be in Baltinglass adjacent to the mediaeval Cistercian Abbey. 
On Wednesday the Bishop will be in St Iberius’ Church in the heart of Wexford.
On the evenings of Holy Week local congregations will gather to listen not least to a wide range of visiting preachers/speakers who will staying in the Dioceses. 
On Wednesday evening the Bishop will be in Waterford Cathedral to provide the spoken meditations during a performance of Haydn’s “Seven Words from the Cross to be led by Musical Director Eric Sweeney.
 
3.  On Maundy Thursday, clergy from all over the dioceses will gather in St Canice’s Cathedral for the annual Renewal of Commitment to Ministry.
That evening, the events of the Last Supper will be recalled in all the parishes at the Liturgy which especially recalls the Institution of Holy Communion. 
The Bishop will preside in Ferns Cathedral.
 
4.  Solemn contemplation of the Cross will be the keynote of Good Friday, although in the morning there will be a diocesan service for children in Leighlin Cathedral to draw them into the atmosphere of the day in an imaginative way.
The cathedrals will, in the afternoon and evening, provide special opportunities for reflection, some offering the traditional three hours devotion. 
The film, “The Passion of Christ” will be shown in  Waterford Cathedral and Gorey
 
5.  At 9 p.m. on Easter Eve, there will be liturgies in all six cathedrals to mark the night when Christ passed from death to life. 
The Bishop will be in Cashel. 
The Easter liturgy, one of the most ancient and evocative of the whole Christian year, will involve the sending of Easter candles from all the cathedrals to the Parishes to be received on Easter Morning.
 
6.  In some places there will be Dawn Eucharists to recall the rising of the Son of God literally at sunrise.   Such occasions remind us of the first witness of the Resurrection who came at first light to the empty tomb. 
The Bishop and members of the Church of Ireland Laois Youth Council are organising a dawn Eucharist at 5.45 a.m. in the grounds of Stradbally Hall. 
Every cathedral and parish church will complete their week of prayer and renewal and rejoice in the joy of the Risen Lord on Easter Morning. 
The Bishop will be in St Canice’s Cathedral.