12th August 2018 - Visit of the relics of Saints Louis & Zélie Martin and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux to Limerick

On this weeks programme (via some very dodgy Skype connections!) John and Shane are joined by Sr Beatrice Cotter from the Dominican Sisters of St Cecilia in Nashville (and also of St Saviours Parish Limerick!) to tell us about the up coming visit of the relics of Saints Louis & Zélie Martin and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux to Limerick and the example of the Martin's to us in our daily lives. We have our regular run through the saints of the week, local notices and of course a short reflection on the Sunday gospel.

You can listen to the podcast of the full programme HERE.

Visit of the relics of Saints Louis & Zélie Martin and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux to Limerick

Sr Beatrice Cotter joins us on this weeks programme with a reflection on the example of the Martin family as saints for us. While one member of the family may be more well known than all the others, the example of St Louis and Zeile Martin cannot but have influenced St Therese of Lisieux and her sisters - three of whom also entered Carmel and one became a Visitation sister.

The Dominican Church, Glentworth St, Limerick will be hosting the relics of Saint Therese of Lisieux, and of her parents, Saints Louis and Zelie Martin, on Saturday 18 August, beginning with the 1pm Mass. Blessing of roses, veneration of relics, and reflections by the Dominicans will follow, with sung Vespers concluding the event at 5pm.


You can listen to Sr Beatrice reflection on the example of the Martin's HERE.

Gospel - John 6:41-51

Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ They were saying, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, “I have come down from heaven”?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, “And they shall all be taught by God.” Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’

Reflections on this weeks gospel:

Word on Fire
English Dominicans
Centre for Liturgy
Sunday Reflections

Liturgical odds and ends

Liturgy of the Hours - Psalter week 3

Saints of the Week

13th August - Bl Con O'Rourke
14th August - St Maximilian Kolbe
15th August - Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
16th August - St Stephen of Hungary
17th August - Our Lady of Knock (as per the revised Irish liturgical calendar)
18th August - St Ronan of Iona

The Relics of Saints Louis & Zélie Martin and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux are visiting Ireland - August 4 to Sept 9 2018

In conjunction with the organisers of the World Meeting of Families, the Irish Order of Carmelites, Order of Discalced Carmelites, Carmelite nuns and Lay/Secular Carmelites have arranged that Relics of Saints Louis, Zélie and Thérèse will come from Lisieux and be in Ireland for the World Meeting of Families. The relics will arrive on August 4 and remain in Ireland until September 9

The Relics of Saints Louis & Zélie Martin and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux visiting Whitefriar Street Church, Dublin

The Relics will be at the Opening Ceremony in the R.D.S., Dublin, on Tuesday, August 21, and they will also be in the sanctuary in the Phoenix Park for the Papal Mass on Sunday, August 26. The Carmelites have also been invited to give a forty-five minute presentation on the spirituality of the Martin family in the Phoenix Park before the Papal Mass. This will consist of interviews with people on aspects of the Martin spirituality, texts from the writings of the saints and intercessions and have engaged the services of Kairos Communications to ensure that this will be done to a professional standard. Music will be provided by the Comhaltas Ceoltóiri Eireann orchestra.

The Relics will also travel to several places across Ireland before and after the World Meeting and this gives a much wider group of people who cannot the Congress in the R.D.S. or the Festival of Families in Croke Park or the Papal Mass at the close of the World Meeting to participate in the Meeting in a different though tangible way. Given the short time the Relics will be in the country it is not possible to visit every diocese and every part of the island, but the hope is that given the time available, that as many people as possible will be able to spend time with the Relics and to consider the life of this saintly family. The journey of the Relics through Ireland is a form of pilgrimage leading up to the World Meeting itself and leading away from it afterwards.

Each place that will receive the Reliquaries will organise their own liturgical celebrations and times for veneration and these will be made known over the coming weeks. Information regarding the preparations in each place can be had direct from each place.

You can find more information from the Carmelites website here.

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The Dominican Church, Glentworth St, Limerick will be hosting the relics of Saint Therese of Lisieux, and of her parents, Saints Louis and Zelie Martin, on Saturday 18 August, beginning with the 1pm Mass. Blessing of roses, veneration of relics, and reflections by the Dominicans will follow, with sung Vespers concluding the event at 5pm.

Visit to Ireland of the Relics of Saints Louis & Zélie Martin and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux August 4 to September 9, 2018

Louise & Zelie Martin

In conjunction with the organisers of the World Meeting of Families, the Irish Carmelites have arranged that Relics of Saints Louis, Zélie and Thérèse will come from Lisieux and be in Ireland for the World Meeting of Families. The organisers consider the presence of the Relics in the country to be an integral part of the Meeting. The Relics will be at the Opening Ceremony in the R.D.S., Dublin, on Tuesday, August 21, and they will also be in the sanctuary in the Phoenix Park for the Papal Mass on Sunday, August 26.

The Relics will also travel to several places across Ireland before and after the World Meeting and this gives a much wider group of people who cannot the Congress in the R.D.S. or the Festival of Families in Croke Park or the Papal Mass at the close of the World Meeting to participate in the Meeting in a different though tangible way. Given the short time the Relics will be in the country it is not possible to visit every diocese and every part of the island, but the hope is that given the time available, that as many people as possible will be able to spend time with the Relics and to consider the life of this saintly family. The journey of the Relics through Ireland is a form of pilgrimage leading up to the World Meeting itself and leading away from it afterwards.

Each place that will receive the Reliquaries will organise their own liturgical celebrations and times for veneration and these will be made known over the coming weeks. Information regarding the preparations in each place can be had direct from each place.

You can find more information from the Carmelites website here.

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The Dominican Church, Glentworth St, Limerick will be hosting the relics of Saint Therese of Lisieux, and of her parents, Saints Louis and Zelie Martin, on Saturday 18 August, beginning with the 1pm Mass. Blessing of roses, veneration of relics, and reflections by the Dominicans will follow, with sung Vespers concluding the event at 5pm.

Thousands venerate the relics of St Nicholas during visit to Russia

St Nicholas
15th century icon in Russian style

Vatican Radio - For the first time in nearly 1,000 years, the major relics of Saint Nicholas, one of the Church's most revered figures, are travelling outside of Italy. The relics were transported to Russia, one of many countries that has a particular devotion to the Saint.

Huge crowds of believers, both Catholics and Russian Orthodox, are expected to venerate the relics. The historic move follows talks between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill.

After reaching Moscow's Vnukovo airport, a glass-topped metallic ark bearing the relics was visited by a long stream of Russian pilgrims who bowed and kissed the container.

It was taken to Christ the Savior Cathedral, the enormous Moscow church that is a reconstruction of a cathedral dynamited in 1931 by officially atheistic Soviet authorities.

Earlier, the relics of Saint Nicholas were brought into the crypt of the Saint Nicholas Basilica in Bari, Italy, before their 3,000 kilometer-long journey to Moscow. It marks the first time in some 10 centuries that the [major relics] of the man who became the inspiration of the legendary figure of Santa Claus were moved from their resting place.

In Moscow churches rang their bells on Sunday to mark the relics arrival. They were sent to Russia after last year's agreement between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill during the first meeting of the heads of the Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches.

The 4th-Century Saint Nicholas was the Bishop of Myra, now the Turkish city of Demre. After his death, Italian merchants brought his body from Myra, in modern-day Turkey, to Italy.

The relics are to be displayed in Moscow's Christ the Savior cathedral until mid-June. They will then be moved to St. Petersburg, Russia's second largest city, before being returned to Bari on July 12.

Both cities are expecting huge crowds of believers to visit the relics, and the Moscow patriarchate has already described it as "an unprecedented event."

It is also appreciated by Russian President Vladimir Putin who keeps close ties with the Russian Orthodox Church. He already visited the St. Nicholas relics in Bari in 2007 and has visited the relics.

Vatican Radio - Major relics of St Nicholas visit Russia

Shrine with particle of holy relics of St Nicholas the Wonderworker brought to Russia

Tass - 930 years of waiting: fragment of St Nicholas’s relics to arrive to Russia from Italy

Reuters - Thousands throng to bow to St Nicholas relics in Moscow

BBC - Why St Nicholas works wonders for Russians

The Apostle to the Apostles gets a liturgical feast!

St. Mary Magdalen's day on the liturgical calendar has now been elevated from memorial to feast.

The reason, according to Archbishop Arthur Roche, is that she “has the honor to be the first witness of the Lord’s resurrection.”

“She is the witness to the risen Christ and announces the message of the Lord’s resurrection just like the rest of the Apostles,” he said, explaining that for this reason “it is right that the liturgical celebration of this woman should have the same rank of Feast as that given to the celebration of the Apostles in the General Roman Calendar.”

Some commentators have also made the point that this is a restoration of the respect given to Mary Magdalene on the liturgical calendar which was changed in 1960 prior to the Vatican Council.

• Vatican - Communique from Vatican
• Aleteia - Mary Magdalene, “Apostle to the Apostles,” Given Equal Dignity in Feast
• Crux - New feast touts Mary Magdalene as ‘paradigm’ for women
• Pilgrims Progress - Mary- Rabbuni!

The icon above depicts Mary Magdalene, a complex and thought-provoking woman. The artist, Robert Lentz, ofm, is a Franciscan friar currently stationed in Houston, TX.  His work is known around the world and reflects his experience among the poor in this country and in the Third World. The tradition of associating eggs in the icons of the saint come from the story that following the death and resurrection of Jesus, she used her position to gain an invitation to a banquet given by the Roman Emperor Tiberius. When she met him, she held a plain egg in her hand and exclaimed, "Christ is risen!" The Emperor laughed, and said that Christ rising from the dead was as likely as the egg in her hand turning red while she held it. Before he finished speaking, the egg in her hand turned a bright red and she continued proclaiming the Gospel to the entire imperial house   Mary's support of Jesus' ministry, her presence at the cross, and her witness to His resurrection has led many to call her "equal to the apostles".  However, there is a lot of discussion about the way that Mary has been described as a prostitute and this Sunday's gospel from Luke helps to confuse the situation as it recounts the story of the woman who comes to bath the feet of Jesus with her tears and then anoints them. "The Church’s tradition, particularly Gregory the Great, mostly identified as the same person, Mary Magdalene, the woman with the jar of nard, and the sister of Lazzarus and Martha.  Certainly she was at the foot of the Cross and at the tomb on the morning after the Resurrection.  There’s no evidence that she was a prostitute or the adulteress brought to the Lord in John 7.  In Mark 16:9 we read that the Lord had performed an exorcism for her: “But he rising early the first day of the week, appeared first to Mary Magdalen, out of whom he had cast seven devils.”  This is also in Luke 8:2: “Mary who is called Magdalen, out of whom seven devils were gone forth”.Augustine thought these were perhaps the seven deadly sins or vices.  It may have been on this foundation, along with some ambiguity about various Marys in the Gospels, that she was conglomerated into also being a fallen woman who then repented........"



Reliquary of the skull of St Mary Magdalene

St Mary Magdalene, one of the patron saints of the Dominican Order who celebrate their 800th anniversary this year has her feast day on 22nd July. Her relics are in the small church in St. Maximin in Provence, France. You can also read about them here at EWTN.

Don Bosco’s Relic visit to Limerick – Photo memories

Earlier in the year, listeners and readers may remember that the relics of St John Bosco were brought to Ireland and we covered the visit HERE.

The Salesian community in Ireland have put together a video of photos of the event which is available to view on the Salesian channel on iCatholic.

Pallaskenry

Southill

Milford

Don Bosco is coming to visit Limerick!

No! Not that Bosco!

This one!

St John Bosco more affectionately known as Don Bosco

Well to be precise, Don Bosco's relics are visiting Ireland and will be stopping in four different stops in county Limerick and city! Which is great news to share as of course today Jan 31st is the feast day of this great saint. St John Bosco is the founder of the Salesian family of religious orders including the FMA sisters which Sr Dympna Clancy - a regular contributor of SS102fm - is a member of. It also seems fortuitous that Don Bosco who was so concerned with the education and care of young people is visiting Ireland at a time when the Catholic ethos of schools and education is under threat.

John Bosco was born in 1815 in the village of Becchi in the Piedmont district of northern Italy and grew up on his parents’ small farm. On the death of his father when John was only two years old, his mother Margaret and her three boys found it increasingly difficult to support themselves. Even as a small boy, John had to help his brothers on the farm. In spite of this he was remembered as a happy and imaginative child. He liked to entertain his friends with juggling and walking on a tightrope but would insist on beginning and ending these sessions with a prayer. As he grew older, he began to think of becoming a priest, although poverty and lack of education seemed to rule this out. A kind priest, recognising the boy’s intelligence, taught him to read and write. By taking odd jobs in the village and through the help of his mother and some kind neighbours, John managed to finish his schooling and then was able to enter the diocesan seminary in Turin.

As a seminarian he devoted his spare time to looking after the poor boys who roamed through the slums of the city. Every Sunday he taught them catechism, supervised their games and amused them with stories and tricks. His kindness soon won their confidence and they became regulars at his Sunday School. Upon becoming a priest, Don Bosco knew very clearly in what direction his vocation was to be lived. The Industrial Revolution was spreading into Northern Italy resulting in a great deal of poverty, turmoil and revolution on the streets of the city. Young people lived their awful lives, whatever the cost to themselves or others. He was shocked at the conditions they endured and the things they did to enable them to eat, and to survive. This was the cost of the industrial ‘improvement’ that would eventually produce the high standards people would later enjoy. The young priest, Don Bosco, clearly saw his vocation when he visited the prisons. He wrote: “To see so many children, from 12 to 18 years of age, all healthy, strong, intelligent, lacking spiritual and material food, was something that horrified me.” In the face of such a situation he made his decision: “I must, by any available means, prevent children ending up here.” He knew that a new approach was required. He needed to show there were better ways for these healthy intelligent young people to lead their lives.

Following his ordination to the priesthood in 1841 at the age of 26, he became assistant to the chaplain of an orphanage at Valocco, on the outskirts of Turin. However, he did not stay there very long. When he was refused permission to allow his Sunday School boys to play on the orphanage grounds, he resigned. He began looking for a permanent home for them but no “respectable” neighbourhood would accept the rowdy youngsters. Finally, in a rather rundown part of the city, where no one was likely to protest, the first oratory was established and named after Saint Francis de Sales. At first the boys got their schooling elsewhere but, as more volunteer teachers came forward, it was possible to hold classes at the oratory. Enrolment increased so rapidly that by 1849 there were three oratories in various places in the city. By now Don Bosco had been considering founding a religious congregation to carry on and expand the work. Surprisingly, this proposal was supported by a notoriously anti-clerical cabinet minister named Rattazzi. He had seen the results of John’s apostolate and, even though an Italian law forbade the founding of religious communities at that time, Rattazzi promised government support. Don Bosco went to Rome in 1858 and, at the suggestion of Pope Pius IX, drew up a rule for his new community, the Society of Saint Francis de Sales (more popularly known as the Salesians). Four years later he founded a congregation for women, the Daughters of Mary, Help of Christians, to take care of abandoned girls. Finally, to supplement the work of both congregations, he organized an association of lay people interested in supporting their work.

When others talked to him of his great achievements, he would always interrupt and say “I have done nothing by myself. It is Our Lady who has done everything.’ Exhausted from touring Europe to raise funds for a new church in Rome, Don Bosco died on January 31, 1888 at the age of 73. He was canonised in 1934 by Pope Pius XI. The work of John Bosco continues today in over 1,000 Salesian oratories throughout the world. He is remembered for his warmth of manner and in his belief that to give complete trust and love is the most effective way to nourish virtue in others. His success can be summed up in the words spoken of his chosen patron, St Francis de Sales: “The measure of his love was that he loved without measure.

You can find out more about Don Bosco and the Salesians in Ireland here and here.

UPDATE: Joanne McPortland over at Patheos has a lovely but challenging piece on Showing the Beauty of Virtue: Don Bosco’s Legacy of Care

The Pilgrimage of the relics of Don Bosco

A casket with the relic of Don Bosco has been on pilgrimage throughout the world since the 5th of April 2009 to prepare to celebrate the bi-centenary of Don Bosco’s birth (1815-2015).
The casket will arrive in Ireland on Saturday 23rd February 2013 and will travel throughout the island until the 7th of March 2013. The relics will leave Ireland on 8th March, travelling on to Croatia.

More information about the pilgrimage is available at www.donboscorelics.ie

Below is a video from catholicireland.net about the pilgrimage. 

Itinerary

1. Dublin, Crumlin, St Agnes Church – Sat 23rd & Sun 24th Feb 2013.
2. Celbridge, Co. Kildare, Salesian College – Mon 25th Feb 2013.
3. Ballinakill, Co. Laois, St Brigid’s Church – Tue 26th Feb 2013.
4. Portlaoise, Co. Laois, SS Peter and Paul Church – Tue 26th Feb 2013.
5. Limerick, Milford, Our Lady Help of Christians Church – Wed 27th Feb 2013.
6. Limerick, Southill, Holy Family Church – Thu 28th Feb 2013.
7. Pallaskenry, Co. Limerick, Salesian College – Fri 1st March 2013.
8. Knock, Co. Mayo, Basilica – Sat 2nd & Sun 3rd March 2013. - RTE TV Mass on Sun 3rd at 11am.
9. Navan, Co. Meath, St Mary’s Church – Sun 3rd & Mon 4th March 2013.
10. Belfast, St Peter’s Cathedral – Mon 4th & tue 5th March 2013.
11. Dublin, S. McDermott St, Our Lady of Lourdes – Tue 5th & Wed 6th March 2013.
12. Limerick, Fernbank, Our Lady of the Rosary – Thu 7th March 2013.

International pilgrimage

The casket has already visited Italy, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Perù and Ecuador. It then travelled to Columbia, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Porto Rico, Haiti, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, the United States and Canada. In 2011 it visited Japan, Indonesia, Australia, China, Taiwan, India, Kenya, Ethiopia and Sri Lanka. In 2012 it has visited Uganda, Rwanda, (South?)Sudan, Togo, Mozambique, Ghana and Spain.

Everywhere the arrival of the casket has aroused great interest, participation and involvement and has brought together children, young people and adults to welcome Don Bosco, and to learn more about the Piedmontese saint, his Preventive System and his commitment to working with the young.

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ps:

For our international readers we should clarify that the puppet you see at the top of the post is known as Bosco and any Irish person over the age of 18 and under 40 will generally associate the name Bosco with a very popular children's television character on RTE in the 1970's, 1980's and 1990's.