Press Releases22 Dec 14

Remembering the victims of the Asian Tsunami of 2004 at St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast

From the Dean of St Anne’s Cathedral, The Very Revd John Mann:

On St Stephen’s Day (Boxing Day) 2014 we shall remember the many who died or whose lives were devastated as a result of the Tsunami that occurred ten years ago. Dean Houston McKelvey and the Canons of the Cathedral brought out the black santa barrel once again and the people of Belfast, and beyond, gave an astonishing amount of money for the relief work.

The Cathedral will be open just for one hour on Friday, 26th December 2014: from 8.00 a.m. until 9.00 a.m. As on every weekday of the year, at 8.10 a.m. Morning Prayer will be read in the Chapel of the Holy Spirit and after a five minute break, Holy Communion is to be celebrated in the Chapel of Unity at 8.30 a.m. The whole cathedral is open during the hour for people to come and go, say their own prayers, or light a candle.

Canon Douglas Goddard, who for many years served in the Port of Belfast as a Mission to Seafarers Chaplain, and the Dean, will conduct the services and have special prayers for all who were affected by the disaster of St Stephen’s Day 2004. Why not begin your Boxing Day by driving to the Cathedral at some time during that hour, and either attend one of the services, or spend a few minutes on your own in prayer? You may wish to see the Haiti exhibition too that is in the ambulatory. The rebuilding of that community after disaster is recorded in photographs that will be there until the fifth anniversary in January 2015.