Irish news digest June 2

Down Cathedral opens for private prayer

As the lockdown restrictions gradually relax, the Monday after Pentecost sees the doors of Down Cathedral opening for private prayer for the first time since St Patrick’s Day.

The Dean of Down, the Very Revd Henry Hull (pictured), said, ‘We are very thankful that the doors of the Cathedral can open for private prayer. In a normal year, as many as 70,000 people visit Down Cathedral – a mixture of tourists, pilgrims and worshippers. While it may be some time before things are back to normal, Down Cathedral has been a site for prayer and worship since the formation of a Benedictine Abbey here over 1000 years ago. Even when the Cathedral lay in ruins for two centuries, important acts of worship like the enthronement of Bishops of Down still took place here.

Although it is such a blessing to be joined by people from across the world as we continue to offer daily prayer and broadcast this through the Cathedral Webcam, it has been truly painful for us as a community to see the doors of the Cathedral closed every day. Usually the opposite is true – the Cathedral is open daily in normal circumstances.

Of course, we will be taking precautions to make sure that it will be as safe as possible to come to the Cathedral and pray. It will not be possible to accommodate tourists for some time and only specific areas will be open, exclusively for private prayer (although we will make sure there are periods during the week when members of our ministry team are present, should anyone wish to have a pastoral conversation). It will be necessary to apply rigorous social distancing and robust cleaning protocols. Indeed, a special team of cleaners had already been in to spray and clean surfaces in preparation for our reopening.

We pray regularly that visitors to the Cathedral will know God’s blessing. We will redouble those prayers, and we hope that people will continue to be enriched as they pray in this place.’

Down Cathedral will be open for private prayer on weekdays from 2–4.00 pm.

Outgoing Moderator thanks his family and prayer supporters

Most Rev Dr. Henry tweeted – Looking over my prayer card I want thank all those who have supported and prayed for me over the past year. I’m forever thankful for my own family- Nora, Bethany,Megan & Connor for their constant love. It’s been a pleasure to serve God and his church this year.

10 Days Pilgrimage around LAMP churches

The clergy of Lecale Area Mission Partnership have been marking this season of 10 Days of Prayer in our Diocese with a pilgrimage around the 14 Churches of LAMP.

The Rector of LAMP, the Very Revd Henry Hull (who is also the Dean of Down) along with his Team Vicars the Revd Capt Scott McDonald and the Revd Adrian Dorrian, set off from Down Cathedral on the Ascension Day. Between Ascension and Pentecost, they will walk around 50 miles between the 14 Churches of LAMP, stopping at each one to pray through the Thy Kingdom Come Daily Offices. Thy Kingdom Come is a global movement of prayer which was initiated by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York.

Dean Hull explained the background to the pilgrimage, as well as the significance of some of the places it passes through:

“LAMP is a relatively new grouping of churches. A few years ago, Canon Cecil Wilson had the idea of walking to and praying in each church during the 10 Days between Ascension and Pentecost as a symbolic ‘beating of the bounds’. The following year, we actively connected our prayers in these ten days with Thy Kingdom Come. In previous years we’ve had several hundred people join in across the various legs of the pilgrimage. Obviously, that was impossible this year but we decided as a team, practising social distancing, that we would walk the route together. As well as praying in each of our parish churches, we take time to bless the towns and villages through which we travel, and stop at every church we pass to pray blessings upon our ecumenical neighbours as well.

“Indeed, we felt our journey of pilgrimage was particularly significant this year. The last major act of public worship in the Diocese before lockdown was to mark St Patrick’s Day on 17 March in Down Cathedral. It is through Patrick that God gave to Ireland ‘the benediction of [His] Holy Church’ when the saint landed at Saul nearly 1600 years ago.

“We’ve been praying each weekday, and of course every Sunday, in Down Cathedral since lockdown began; it is a privilege to be able to broadcast worship through the Cathedral’s webcam, but it is a great sadness that only two or three of us are able to be present in the Cathedral.

“These ten days have been a time for us to continue the work of prayer in all of our churches here in LAMP. We are also looking forward to making space in the Cathedral available for private prayer from 1 June.”

On the web

Saint Fin Barres Cathedral Cork
The Day of Pentecost: 11.15am – Sung Eucharist (plainchant setting & organ voluntary) Order of Service can be found here
[ http://corkcathedral.webs.com ]
[ http://youtube.com/c/SaintFinBarresCathedral ]

The Shankill Parish Lurgan Blessing
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjNCkgLSuLI]

Food for thought

Opening and changing hearts does not happen overnight. The Christian race is not a sprint; it is a marathon. Bishop Michael Curry – See news report today on this site

Points for Prayer

A beautiful Pentecost Sunday Prayer written by Fr. Pat Sayles SSC and shared by our friends in Australia, St. Columbans Mission Society.

God in Creation