Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from ‘The Irish Times’
St Laurence celebrated
The heart of St Laurence O’Toole goes on permanent public display in Christ Church cathedral, Dublin, from next Wednesday. This occasion will be marked by free entry to the cathedral from 9.30am to 2.30pm.
A special ecumenical service of dedication and thanksgiving marking this historic occasion will be held that evening at 5.45pm. The Archbishop of Dublin will first bless and dedicate the redesigned grounds incorporating the new stone labyrinth. Following this the Archbishop will preside at a Festal Choral Evensong, sung by the Cathedral Choirs, during which he will bless and dedicate the new resting place of the heart of St Laurence O’Toole. This service will be open to the public and all are welcome to attend.
St Laurence’s heart will be housed in a specially designed art piece, crafted by the renowned Cork–based artist Eoin Turner. The heart relic was stolen from the cathedral in March 2012 but, following a long–running investigation by An Garda Siochana, was recovered, undamaged, and returned to Christ Church earlier this year.
Laurence O’Toole is the Patron Saint of Dublin and is closely associated with the early years of Christ Church cathedral. He died in Normandy on 14 November 1180 and was canonized in 1226. Following the canonisation some relics of his were returned to Dublin where they lay in the cathedral’s relic collection until the Reformation.
Tomorrow (Sunday) morning at 11am RTE 1 will televise live the Remembrance Day service from St Macartin’s Cathedral, Enniskillen, with representatives from the British, Irish, American, Polish governments and the Northern Ireland Assembly. In St Canice’s cathedral, Kilkenny, a Civic Service of Choral Mattins at 11.30am will be preceded at 11am by 35,000 poppies floating down from the vaulted ceiling – one for each of the 35,000 Irish who fell during the Great War. The end of World War 1 will also be remembered in Dublin, where the clergy and choir from St Ann’s parish church will join with the University Church at ‘The Haunting Soldier’ in St Stephen’s Green for a short Act of Remembrance at 10.30a.m. In Sandford parish church at 5pm The Ranelagh World War One Ensemble will pay tribute to the men of Ranelagh in an evening of poetry and music while at 6.30pm the 7th Dublin Co. Boys Brigade will host an event to mark the centenary of the end of World War I in St John the Baptist Church, Drumcondra, with readings, poetry, and music from the BB Steadfast Association Brass Ensemble.
The candle–lit film series at Christ Church cathedral, Dublin, will continue on Monday at 6.30pm in the Music Room. Doors open at 6.15pm and no booking is required. A Brief History of Time (1991) will be introduced by Dr Eric Finch from the TCD School of Physics.
On Wednesday the next lecture in the Featherstonehaugh Series 2018 will be held at 3pm at the CITI. All are welcome to attend. The Revd Dr Andy Angel, Vicar of of St Andrew’s, Burgess Hill, in diocese of Chichester, and formerly Vice Principal of St John’s College, Nottingham, will speak on ‘Negotiating the distance between missional aims and missional reality: Jesus’ own experience in John 4:1–42’.
‘Meeting Christ in Advent: Praying the Advent Antiphons’, a retreat for clergy and laity organized by the Commission on Ministry, will be held in the Dromantine Retreat and Conference Centre, Newry, Co. Down, from next Thursday until the following Saturday. The speaker will be Dr Brigid Nichols, Lecturer in Anglicanism and Liturgy in CITI. Details from judith.m.peters@gmail.com or catherine.smith@rcbcoi.org
Published in the Saturday edition of The Irish Times