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Images for Good Friday to Easter
Two images from our Church here in Esker, from behind the High Altar.
'You have redeemed us, Lord, by your blood'
The Lamb of God, victorious.
The gate leading to the East Pier in Howth, County Dublin. A gate of faith.
And one image from the entrance to the pier in Howth, County Dublin.
Preached Retreat in Esker: June 19 – June 24, 2016.
There will be a preached retreat here in Esker, from Sunday June 19th to Friday June 24th.
Facilitator: Séamus Devitt C.Ss.R.
Dates: Friday June 19th, arriving c. 6pm. Departure Friday 24th, after lunch.
Theme: ‘Tired by the Journey - sitting by the Well’
What will the retreat consist of? There will be two talks daily, also a Eucharist, and the opportunity to talk with a priest on a few occasions through the days.
Is participation in all parts of the programme required? No. Retreatants can choose which parts they wish to attend or avail of.
Where will the retreat take place? In Esker Monastery and Retreat Centre, near Athenry, in County Galway. The spacious and beautiful grounds give participants the chance to walk and rest with nature. This has been a centre of prayer for three hundred years, since the Dominicans moved to this site, from their hiding place int the woods, in 1716.
Why is it worth attending? All of us, at different times and to different degrees, feel ‘tired by the journey’ and need to go apart for a while and be still, and be in the presence of the Lord and of our own true selves. ‘Sitting by the Well’ is choosing to sit with Christ, to meet him face to face in our hearts, and to be given ‘water to drink’. ‘If you only knew what God is offering you and who it is that is saying to you ‘give me a drink’, you would have been the one to ask and he would have given you living water.’ You will have a chance to be still, to gather yourself, and to be in touch with the depths within and beyond yourself. You will go home re-newed, made new again, we hope.
There is the added inspiration of being with others in this silent time, as they too make their own personal journeys, and walk with the Lord.
How will the retreat be conducted? There will a time-table for the day. Apart from two talks of less that 30 minutes each, there will a Eucharist each day at some time agreed. Otherwise, the time is yours to spend in quiet, in prayer, in reading or walking in the woods, – or resting and unwinding. We hope that it will be for you a stress-free zone.
Facilitator: Séamus Devitt is a Redemptorist, a member of the Esker Community. He has worked in Retreat Houses, here and in Belfast, in parishes in US and in Dublin (Jobstown), as Parish Missioner for some years, also in Youth Ministry over many years, and as School Chaplain for eight years in St. Clement’s College, Limerick. You may find some of his writings by logging on to www.emptifulvessels.com.
Cost: €375.
Enquiries to Secretary, Esker 091 844007 or info@redemptoristsesker.ie
Praying in Holy Week for Christians suffering for their faith.
SOLIDARITY/ COMMUNION: We invite one another to be in solidarity in prayer and thoughts with many communities of faith throughout the world, who celebrate the ceremonies of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter, sometimes in fear of their lives.
We pray to the one true God for all people of good will everywhere, who hate to see others being hunted for their beliefs or ways of life, whatever their creed, colour or gender.
We pray for the people of Belgium at this time.
‘Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.’ (Romans 12:21)
St. Clement Hofbauer, Redemptorist: the man who never gave up!
St. Clement Hofbauer, Redemptorist, died on March 15th, 1820, in Vienna. He is known to
us as the Second Founder of the Redemptorists, as he brought this fledgling Congregation of priests and brothers, under the title of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, over the Alps, and into Northern Europe. He is a hero for Redemptorists.
‘Never give up! Never ever give up!’ was a motto of Winston Churchill. Clement met obstacles everywhere along the road. He became a Redemptorist Priest at age 34, and ministered as one for another 34 years, mostly in Poland, but also for his last twelve years, almost under house-arrest, in Vienna.
Born 1852,- about three years before Mozart – he was from a poor family. His father died when John, as he was then known, was only seven. His mother pointed to the crucifix, after his Dad’s death, and said : ‘From now on, HE is your Father.’ Clement never forgot.
He was an apprentice baker around age 16, in a nearby Monastery. Here, in his spare hours outside the kitchen, he was taught Latin by the monks. He went to work in Vienna, as a baker, and then went to University there, helped financially by a few senior ladies whom he helped on one occasion. Young Mozart lived a few streets away.
With a friend he walked to Rome from Vienna. He did so more than once. He became a hermit near Rome, and took the name ‘Clement’ at that time. Age 34, he applied to the new order of the Redemptorists, was accepted, did some training and was ordained. He and his friend, Thaddaeus (Thady in Ireland) were sent back north, to see if they could set up the Redemptorists there.
No room in Vienna. They went to Warsaw, in 1887, took over a small disused church called St. Benno’s, and there began to minister. Masses were said, sermons given, in Polish, German, French and Russian,- such was the mix of peoples in Warsaw then. Soon after, the French Revolution took place, and in the decades following, Europe was engulfed in wars. Within a short time, up to 30 young men had joined Clement in his ministry in St. Benno’s. With all the orphans of war then in Warsaw, Clement set up schools and training centres for boys and for girls.
Clement wanted to set up communities elsewhere. He walked with companions all the way to Switzerland, to Bavaria, even to the edges of France. He set up communities. They soon dissolved, usually from local opposition of Freemasons. No matter what he tried, it ended in failure.
Then Napoleon’s army came to Warsaw in 1806. The Redemptorist community, priests and brothers, were all arrested, and locked up in a castle for some weeks, then ordered to disband and go back to their own home places. Clement and one companion left and went to Vienna. Here, the secret police watched him constantly, listened to his sermons. Eventually, he was silenced. He was allowed to be chaplain to the Ursuline Nuns in John’s Street (Johannes Gasse, where McDonalds can be found!). His house became his ‘chapel’, here people of all walks of life came to talk to him, many of the University students, also artists and writers.
But still, the Emperor would not allow him to set up the Redemptorists. Clement died on March 15th, 1820. The city turned out in great numbers for the funeral of this humble priest. The Emperor came to realise that his own advisers had poisoned his ears about Fr. Clement, the Redemptorist. Two weeks after Clement’s death, the Emperor gave permission for a disused church to be given over to this new congregation, and gave permission for them to begin training students to be Redemptorists.
One of those students, who carried Fr. Clement’s coffin, was a Frederic deHeld. He preached the first Redemptorist mission in Ireland in 1851, in Limerick. Shortly after that, the first Redemptorist community in Ireland was set up on Bank St. in Limerick. The rest is history.
‘Never give up! Never ever give up!’ – that was Clement Hofbauer’s motto as well. Only after his death did his dream come true.
Death of Brother John Augustine (‘Senan’) Forrie, C.Ss.R.
Please pray for the happy repose of the soul of Brother John Augustine (‘Senan’) Forrie,
Brother Senan, on his 90th Birthday, August 31, 2015
C.Ss.R., of this Esker Community.
Brother Senan died peacefully on Thursday night, February 11th, 2016, at about 9.30pm, in Galway University Hospital, where he had been since Christmas Eve. May he rest in peace.
Born in Ballyhaunis, Co. Mayo, on 31st August 1925, he was professed as a Redemptorist on February 11th, 1948. He died on the 68th anniversary of his Profession, on the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.
Bro. Senan first came to Limerick as a Postulant Brother in 1946, where, after two years, he was Professed. In his early years, he worked as Cook at different times between Esker, Limerick and Cluain Mhuire Galway. In Cluain Mhuire, he would have had to feed up to 120 people each day, between students, brothers and priests.
About 1958, he went to Clonard Belfast, and worked between there and the new Retreat House of St. Clement’s and the community of St. Gerard’s, on the Antrim Road. He returned for a short time to Limerick about 1966, then transferred to St. Joseph’s Dundalk in 1968, where he worked for twelve years. In 1980, he moved to Limerick where he remained for nearly ten years, working as Bursar/Minister in the community and also working closely with the Novena Team, there.
About 1989, he moved to Esker and has been a member of our community here since then. He was very involved in the development of the Youth Village in Esker, through the ’90′s.
For the past few years, he has been in ill-health. He has been wonderfully cared for here by our nursing and carers team, and wonderfully cared for in UHG since Christmas Eve.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis. May he rest in peace.
FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS:
His remains arrive in Esker 3pm tomorrow Saturday February 13th, where he will repose in the Monastery. At 5.30pm, removal to Esker Church. Funeral Mass on Sunday 14th will be at 2pm.
Blessing of St. Dominic’s Well, Esker, took place on January 5th, 6th, 2016
Blessing of St. Dominic’s Well, Esker, took place on January 5th, 6th, 2016, following the 11am Mass.
TG4 came and recorded a piece for Nuacht on Tuesday, January 5th, at 7pm. We will try to find the link for this. They were present that morning at the Blessing of the Well.
The following link on the TG4 television news programme, 5th January, has the report on the blessing of St. Dominic’s Well; it is 17.50 minutes into the programme which will be available for another month of so: Click here, or below
http://www.tg4.ie/ga/player/baile/?pid=4686480569001
The water from St. Dominic’s Well is traditionally blessed on these two days each year. People come from near and far to take water from the well, for use on their farms and for their farm animals.
The origins of this custom are lost in history, but obviously date from the time of the Dominican Presence in Esker, between the early 1700′s and the late 1800′s.
A local legend had it that, when the friars had to flee for their lives from the Abbey in Athenry, ( and they fled several times, before, during and after Cromwell’s time) they forgot about their pet dog. A day later, the dog is supposed to have arrived at the hiding place of the friars near Esker, and that it carried in its mouth the Ritual, the Book of Prayers and Blessings used for different occasions – and that it was opened at the prayers for the Blessing of Wells! After which the Friars decided that it was a sign that they should bless the well, and named it after their founder, St. Dominic. As we say in irish, ‘sin an scéal’,- that’s the story.
You are invited to join us for the 11am Mass on the mornings of January 5th, or on the Feast of Epiphany, January 6th. We then process to the well for the blessing. And bring your canisters with you.
Meantime, we with you and your families a truly Happy New Year. Pray for us Redemptorists in Esker, and pray for young men to join us in the coming year, to continue the work of spreading the joy of the Gospel of Christ.
Tá Dia láidir, agus Máthair maith Aige! God is strong and has a good Mother!
Ná tréig Muire Máthair Dé! Do not abandon Mary, the Mother of God.
The Adoration of the Magi's: - a painting, in Esker Monastery: Artist unknown. Can anyone tell us?
The Jubilee Year of Mercy: No matter how battered, bruised or broken…
'You have redeemed us, Lord, with your blood' Image of the Most Holy Redeemer, Esker Church
‘THE FACE OF MERCY’ is the name of the document of Pope Francis, announcing this special year of Jubilee in the whole Church. We will include more information on this, in the coming days, in order to help us to understand what this special Holy Year is about. (Ed.)
(While writing this, I hear in the background ‘All are Welcome’ by Marty Haugen, a hymn of great welcome. It fits in with the Jubilee of Mercy beginning now. Listen to it here on Youtube, even as you read on, below.)
Hot off the lips of Pope Francis: On December 8th, Feast of the Immaculate Conception of
Mary, the Jubilee of Mercy Year was launched by Pope Francis, in St. Peter’s Square, with the opening of the Holy Door, – a custom reserved for years of Jubilee in the Church. Among other things, he said:
This Extraordinary Year is itself a gift of grace. To pass through the Holy Door means to rediscover the infinite mercy of the Father who welcomes everyone and goes out personally to encounter each of them. It is he who seeks us! It is he who comes to encounter us! This will be a year in which we grow ever more convinced of God’s mercy. How much wrong we do to God and his grace when we speak of sins being punished by his judgment before we speak of their being forgiven by his mercy (cf. Saint Augustine, De Praedestinatione Sanctorum, 12, 24)! But that is the truth. We have to put mercy before judgment, and in any event God’s judgement will always be in the light of his mercy. In passing through the Holy Door, then, may we feel that we ourselves are part of this mystery of love, of tenderness. Let us set aside all fear and dread, for these do not befit men and women who are loved. Instead, let us experience the joy of encountering that grace which transforms all things.
Click here for full text of his homily on December 8th, 2015.
———-
(A few extracts from the letter of Pope Francis declaring an Extraordinary Year of Mercy, -beginning December 8th 2015, ending on Feast of Christ the King, 2016.)
1. Jesus Christ is the face of the Father’s mercy. These words might well sum up the mystery of the Christian faith. Mercy has become living and visible in Jesus of Nazareth, reaching its culmination in him. The Father, “rich in mercy” (Eph 2:4), after having revealed his name to Moses as “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Ex 34:6), has never ceased to show, in various ways throughout history, his divine nature. In the “fullness of time” (Gal 4:4), when everything had been arranged according to his plan of salvation, he sent his only Son into the world, born of the Virgin Mary, to reveal his love for us in a definitive way. Whoever sees Jesus sees the Father (cf. Jn 14:9). Jesus of Nazareth, by his words, his actions, and his entire person[1] reveals the mercy of God.
2. We need constantly to contemplate the mystery of mercy. It is a wellspring of joy,
Not matter how battered, bruised or broken... !
serenity, and peace. Our salvation depends on it. Mercy: the word reveals the very mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. Mercy: the ultimate and supreme act by which God comes to meet us. Mercy: the fundamental law that dwells in the heart of every person who looks sincerely into the eyes of his brothers and sisters on the path of life. Mercy: the bridge that connects God and man, opening our hearts to the hope of being loved forever despite our sinfulness.
3. At times we are called to gaze even more attentively on mercy so that we may become a
more effective sign of the Father’s action in our lives. For this reason I have proclaimed an Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy as a special time for the Church, a time when the witness of believers might grow stronger and more effective.
The Holy Year will open on 8 December 2015, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.
'With God there is fullness of Redemption' (Ps.130) Jesus knocks at our door, and waits for us to open up. (From St. Colmcille Church, Glencolmcille, Co. Donegal)
…When faced with the gravity of sin, God responds with the fullness of mercy. Mercy will always be greater than any sin, and no one can place limits on the love of God who is ever ready to forgive. I will have the joy of opening the Holy Door on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. On that day, the Holy Door will become a
'See, I stand at the door, knocking' (Revelations 3:20) - On a room door in Esker Monastery
Door of Mercy through which anyone who enters will experience the love of God who consoles, pardons, and instills hope…
May the Holy Spirit, who guides the steps of believers in cooperating with the work of
The Holy Spirit, The Alpha & the Omega: Glencolmcille Church, Donegal.
salvation wrought by Christ, lead the way and support the People of God so that they may contemplate the face of mercy…
With our eyes fixed on Jesus and his merciful gaze, we experience the love of the Most Holy Trinity. The mission Jesus received from the Father was that of revealing the mystery of divine love in its fullness. “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8,16), John affirms for the first and only time in all of Holy Scripture. This love has now been made visible and tangible in Jesus’ entire life. His person is nothing but love, a love given gratuitously. The relationships he forms with the people who approach him manifest something entirely unique and unrepeatable. The signs he works, especially in favour of sinners, the poor, the marginalized, the sick, and the suffering, are all meant to teach mercy. Everything in him speaks of mercy. Nothing in him is devoid of compassion.
Jesus, seeing the crowds of people who followed him, realized that they were tired and exhausted, lost and without a guide, and he felt deep compassion for them (cf. Mt 9:36)…
We are called to show mercy because mercy has first been shown to us. Pardoning offences becomes the clearest expression of merciful love, and for us Christians it is an imperative from which we cannot excuse ourselves. At times how hard it seems to forgive! And yet pardon is the instrument placed into our fragile hands to attain serenity of heart. To let go of anger, wrath, violence, and revenge are necessary conditions to living joyfully. Let us therefore heed the Apostle’s exhortation: “Do not let the sun go down on your anger” (Ephesians 4:26).
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