Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland notes from the Irish Times
Easter Celebrations
This evening (Saturday) and tomorrow (Sunday) the church’s year reaches its climax with the celebration of Easter. The grim days of Lent are gone, the waiting of Holy Week has passed and the sombreness of Good Friday is replaced with the joyful hope of the resurrection.
In Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, tonight (Saturday) at 9.00 pm the Archbishop of Dublin will be the celebrant at the Easter Vigil at which the preacher will be the Dean of Christ Church, the Very Revd John Paterson. The Bishop of Cashel and Ossory will preside at an Easter Service of Light in St Canice’s Cathedral, Kilkenny, while in St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church, Galway, the Bishop of Tuam will confirm, baptise and preside at the Easter Vigil.
Tomorrow (Sunday), morning RTE will broadcast Morning Prayer for Easter Day from St Paul’s Church, Glenageary, where the rector is the Archdeacon of Dublin, the Ven. Gordon Linney, while on RTE 1 a celebration of the Eucharist from The King’s Hospital, Dublin, will be televised. At 6.00 am the Archbishop of Armagh will celebrate the Eucharist at the annual Dawn Service which is organized by the Diocesan Youth Council in the grounds of the Argory Estate. Later he will preach in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh, while the Archbishop of Dublin will preach in Christ Church. The former Bishop of Connor, Dr Samuel Poyntz, will preach in St George’s Church, Belfast, while in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, Easter is one of the occasions when the pulpit is occupied by the Dean, Dr Robert MacCarthy.
Traditionally the bishops preach in their diocesan cathedrals on Easter Day but for the Bishop of Connor, this Easter will be different for he will preside at the Eucharist on Rathlin Island. Rathlin is part of the Ballintoy group of parishes, where the rector is Archdeacon Jack Patterson, and is the only off shore island parish in Northern Ireland. St Thomas’ Church was destroyed by the Vikings in the 12th century and was not rebuilt until 1722. A renovation project was completed in 1822 and plans are in hand for a further refurbishment of the building.
Members of Dublin inner-city parishes will recall the attempt, some years ago, to enforce parking charges on Sunday mornings. There may be an opportunity to reflect on this on Tuesday when the lunchtime history lecture in City Hall, by Bob Montgomery of the RIAC, will be on motoring in Dublin. There will be an added piquancy to the occasion in that the chairman will be the Director of Traffic, Mr Owen Keegan.
On Wednesday the Girls’ Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, will leave for a four day visit to England where they will sing the services in Lichfield Cathedral.
In the Chapel of Trinity College, Dublin, on Thursday the preacher at the Annual Service for the Gift of Sport will be the Bishop of Cashel and Ossory. Bishop Barret is a former College Chaplain and, while an undergraduate, was a distinguished member of Dublin University Hockey Club. On Friday he, together with the Dean of Ossory, the Very Revd Norman Lynas, will travel to Sweden for a visit to the Diocese of Lund with which Cashel and Ossory is linked.
The Archbishops of Armagh and Dublin have urged the international community to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Iraq. Prompted by the realization of the increasingly urgent nature of the emerging humanitarian crisis, the Archbishops have contacted all clergy to urge them to make a collection at Easter to help alleviate this distress.