CLONMACNOIS PARISH BULLETIN APRIL 12th 2020
MASSES
EASTER Sunday, 11/ 12 April
The Resurrection of the Lord
[7pm. & 10:30 Mass Live on Facebook with “Tom Cox”]
10:00a.m. RTE 1
11.00 Pope Francis’ Urbi et Orbi blessing on RTE 1
Monday 13th to Friday 17th inclusive
Mass on Facebook Live 10a.m. And archived there & on YouTube
10:30am RTE News Now Channel
[Fri 17th 10a.m. David Macklin Anniv]
April 18/19th Second Sunday of Easter
7pm. & 10:30am Mass Facebook Live & on YouTube
BROADCAST MASSES
RADIO Ferbane 106.5FM 10a.m ATHLONE 88.4FM 9:30a.m.
Radio Maria (Saorview)
WEB www.cloghanbanagherparish.ie livestream & Radio 106.6FM
St. Mel’s Cathedral www.longfordparish.com each day
TV RTE News Now 10:30am. Saorview (channel 21), Sky (521), Virgin Media (200), Eir (517).
I will leave the lights on in Church during Holy Saturday Night– when our Easter Candle is lit. –as a sign of hope & our gratitude to essential workers who pass by on duty
Funeral Regulations
Arising from Government statements 31st March 2020 the following are the current regulations regarding funeral services:
⬧ Immediate family members not exceeding 10 may attend funeral services, burial and cremations.
⬧ The social distancing regulation of 2 metres continues to apply.
⬧ Individual parishes may need to put in place special restrictions to respond to specific local circumstances e.g. a small church.
⬧ At a funeral Mass the sign of peace is not exchanged by a handshake and Holy Communion is not to be distributed.
⬧ These regulations apply to all funerals including those arising out of COVID-19 deaths.
Shannonbridge GAA Club is helping co-ordinate the local response. if you need assistance, you can call 086 8822451 Many thanks to Brosna Press Print & Design for publishing a Covid Fact sheet and local contacts in a widely available sheet
in the Shannonbridge area. Copies being distributed and locally in Morans shop 090-9674124
EASTER SUNDAY
The Resurrection is at the core of the Good News. It is the cornerstone of Christian doctrine. This is the Christians greatest day. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, life is absurd. But the stone is rolled away, the tomb is empty, the linen cloth is lying on the ground, the disciples see and believe and the course of human history is changed. Now the impossible is possible, the unreachable becomes reachable and all our sunsets turn into dawn. The resurrection is why we don’t give up. It assures us that there is more to life than meets the eye. We are going somewhere. There is more beyond. On this Easter Day 2020 we take special note of the fact that He rose at the darkest hour just before the dawn, a timely and welcome reminder to our bruised and troubled world that when all seems lost, resurrection is near. His first words after His resurrection ‘do not be afraid’ are even more pertinent and we take heart anew. Let us own the story again. Let us share it. Let us be excited by it. Let it lift our flagging spirits. Let us find in it a peaceful certainty that our life is in His hands. ‘God may allow us at times to hit rock bottom to show us that He is the rock at the bottom’.
Happy Easter
DID YOU KNOW?....In A.D. 325, the Council of Nicaea was convened by Emperor Constantine. Until then Easter had been celebrated on different days of the week. That Council, however, decreed that Easter be celebrated on a Sunday -- between the dates of March 22nd and April 25th. The pagan festival of Eastre occurred at the same time of year as the Christian observance of the Resurrection of Christ. As Christian converts were slowly won over, it made sense to alter the festival and make it a Christian celebration The early name, Eastre, was eventually changed to its modern spelling, Easter.
FINANCE ARRANGEMENTS Due to the Covid-19 outbreak and the curtailment of travel etc. there is need to look afresh at how parishioners can financially support the parish offertory collection and the priests dues. I’m hesitant in all this as I know directly that families have suffered– my own too.
* To date, some parishioners have held on to their envelopes for a period of time and then dropped the ‘bundle’ into the parochial house. I understand that this is not ve
Thank you again for your support, it is all the more humbling considering that many are themselves financially constrained at this time.
* For those who don’t use the envelope system, you can still contribute using an ordinary envelope.
* In relation to the Trócaire Lenten Boxes, again I ask you to hold on for the time being or alternatively you can send directly to Trócaire using their envelope which is enclosed with their kit. If paying directly, I ask you to enclose a note naming our parish (Clonmacnois) and diocese (Ardagh & Clonmacnois). Thank you.
* Between 15th March and 5th April the total income received was: Offertory €902, Shrine €160 Lenten Alms (to lodge yet), Priests Dues (Shrove) €1627.
PALM & EASTER WATER
One of the negative effects of the coronavirus is that we could not have blessed Palm nor can we have blessed holy water this Easter. This is in order to reduce possible cross infection by many people dipping into the water. Thank you.
Bishop Francis, Easter Message 2020
I send Easter greetings to the people of the diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnois, our parishioners, our priests and religious, those who are isolated at this time, the fearful, people whose employment has been affected, the sick, those who are sadly bereaved and all who work in hospitals and in essential services. The celebration of Easter takes place in a very different way, a virtual way, behind closed doors. The message of Easter is the same as it has been from the beginning, Christ is Risen, Alleluia. In these days it is a proclamation of hope in the midst of restrictions, hope in the midst of fear and unemployment and hope in the midst of illness and death. We have great hope in the risen Jesus Christ, he is with us, to encourage, to strengthen and to console. We also have great hope in humanity. We are grateful to all who have carefully gone out to serve, those on the front line in hospitals and in the variety of essential services, leaders who make wise decisions and researchers who seek a vaccine. Also the many generous acts of neighbourliness. As we face into the uncertainties that lie ahead, out hope shines brightly, and our determination to return to our places of work and to live without fear is strong. The experience of the essential restrictions teaches us that we wish to go out, we wish to be with people, to meet up, to chat and to enjoy company. The Easter Message has its origin in the dark days of Jesus’ suffering and then blossoms into the Good News of resurrection. Our hope is firm; it is based in Jesus Christ and in the goodness of humanity.
Francis Duffy Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnois
Act of Spiritual Communion
“My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You have already come , and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen”
FIRST HOLY COMMUNION AND CONFIRMATION Due to the public health emergency we are unable to confirm dates for the celebration of First Holy Communion or Confirmation. As you know restrictions apply to May 8th for the moment and to arrange the sacraments we would need to be cleared for schools to open and people to be let gather. We hold the young people preparing to receive sacraments and their families in our prayers
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