Twelfth Monthly Mass in the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin

The twelfth monthly Mass took place this afternoon in Cill Mhuire, less than 25 minutes late. This month, Mass took place on the first Sunday of the month and not on the second Sunday, as is more usual. It seems that subsequent engagements rate higher in the hierarchy of priorities.

However, the change of weekend seems to have made no significant difference to the attendance. The attendance of 13, including two young children, was only joint second lowest with February and July. Unhappily, if anybody else is unhappy about it, the attendance of local people was the joint lowest with June.

Our Gaelic Christian Heritage (Part 1)

The various Annals of the Gaelic Race attest to the historic devotion of the Irish to Christ. However, if it is an Irish claim worthy of mention is should be an extraordinary one. Such a claim is the claim made for Conor Mac Nessa, King of Ulster about the time of Our Lord and, incidentally, associated with the famous Cattle Raid of Cooley. His death is recounted in the Book of Leinster and referred to in O'Curry's, Lectures on the Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish History

King Conor witnessed, it was said, the pathetic fallacy of the Earth shaken and darkened at the death of Our Lord upon Calvary. He understood through the prism of Natural Religion from Bacrach, his Druid, its true significance. At the cost of his own life, struggled to defend the God-Man.

That a certain knowledge of the supernatural order might also be given to mere pagans is a strange idea but not an impossible one. The Oracle at Delphi and even Virgil in his Eclogues, had some intimation of the Incarnation. Teste David cum Sybilla, as the Dies Irae puts it. That Mankind, who had once walked in the Garden with God and who had been promised a Redeemer as they were expelled, might retain some notion of the Truth is not inconceivable.

The poem of T.D. Sullivan recounts the story as follows:

The Death of King Conor Mac Nessa

I.

'Twas a day full of sorrow for Ulster when Conor Mac Nessa went forth
To punish the clansmen of Connaught who dared to take spoil from the North;
For his men brought him back from the battle scarce better than one that was dead,
With the brain-ball of Mesgedra buried two-thirds of its depth in his head.
His royal physician bent o'er him, great Fingen, who often before
Stanched the war-battered bodies of heroes, and built them for battle once more,
And he looked on the wound of the monarch, and heark'd to his low breathed sighs,
And he said, "In the day when that missile is loosed from his forehead, he dies.

II.

"Yet long midst the people who love him King Conor Mac Nessa may reign,
If always the high pulse of passion be kept from his heart and his brain;
And for this I lay down his restrictions:--no more from this day shall his place
Be with armies, in battles, or hostings, or leading the van of the chase;
At night when the banquet is flashing, his measure of wine must be small,
And take heed that the bright eyes of woman be kept from his sight above all;
For if heart-thrilling joyance or anger awhile o'er his being have power,
The ball will start forth from his forehead, and surely he dies in that hour."

III.

Oh! woe for the valiant King Conor, struck down from the summit of life,
While glory unclouded shone round him, and regal enjoyment was rife-
Shut out from his toils and his duties, condemned to ignoble repose,
No longer to friends a true helper, no longer a scourge to his foes!
He, the strong-handed smiter of champions, the piercer of armor and shields,
The foremost in earth-shaking onsets, the last out of blood-sodden fields-
The mildest, the kindest, the gayest, when revels ran high in his hall-
Oh, well might his true-hearted people feel gloomy and sad for his fall!

IV.

The princes, the chieftains, the nobles, who met, to consult at his board,
Whispered low when their talk was of combats, and wielding the spear and the sword:
The bards from their harps feared to waken the full-pealing sweetness of song,
To give homage to valor or beauty, or praise to the wise and the strong;
The flash of no joy-giving story made cheers or gay laughter resound,
Amid silence constrained and unwonted the seldom-filled wine-cup went round;
And, sadder to all who remembered the glories and joys that had been,
The heart-swaying presence of woman not once shed its light on the scene.

V.

He knew it, he felt it, and sorrow sunk daily more deep in his heart;
He wearied of doleful inaction, from all his loved labors apart.
He sat at his door in the sunlight, sore grieving and weeping to see
The life and the motion around him, and nothing so stricken as he.
Above him the eagle went wheeling, before him the deer galloped by,
And the quick-legged rabbits went skipping from green glades and burrows a-nigh,
The song-birds sang out from the copses, the bees passed on musical wing,
And all things were happy and busy, save Conor Mac Nessa the king!

VI.

So years had passed over, when, sitting mid silence like that of the tomb,
A terror crept through him as sudden the noon-light was blackened with gloom.
One red flare of lighting blazed brightly, illuming the landscape around,
One thunder-peal roared through the mountains, and rumbled and crashed under ground;
He heard the rocks bursting asunder, the trees tearing up by the roots,
And loud through the horrid confusion the howling of terrified brutes.
From the halls of his tottering palace came screamings of terror and pain,
And he saw crowding thickly around him the ghosts of the foes he had slain!

VII.

And as soon as the sudden commotion that shuddered through nature had ceased,
The king sent for Barach, his Druid, and said: "Tell me truly, O priest,
What magical arts have created this scene of wild horror and dread?
What has blotted the blue sky above us, and shaken the earth that we tread?
Are the gods that we worship offended? what crime or what wrong has been done?
Has the fault been committed in Erin, and how may their favor be won?
What rites may avail to appease them? what gifts on their altars should smoke?
Only say, and the offering demanded we lay by your consecrate oak."

VIII.

"O king," said the white-bearded Druid, "the truth unto me has been shown,
There lives but one God, the Eternal; far up in high Heaven is His throne.
He looked upon men with compassion, and sent from His kingdom of light
His Son, in the shape of a mortal, to teach them and guide them aright.
Near the time of your birth, O King Conor, the Savior of mankind was born,
And since then in the kingdoms far eastward He taught, toiled, and prayed, till this morn,
When wicked men seized Him, fast bound Him with nails to a cross, lanced His side,
And that moment of gloom and confusion was earth's cry of dread when He died.

IX.

"O king, He was gracious and gentle, His heart was all pity and love,
And for men He was ever beseeching the grace of His Father above;
He helped them, He healed them, He blessed them, He labored that all might attain
To the true God's high kingdom of glory, where never comes sorrow or pain;
But they rose in their pride and their folly, their hearts filled with merciless rage,
That only the sight of His life-blood fast poured from His heart could assuage:
Yet while on the cross-beams uplifted, His body racked, tortured, and riven,
He prayed--not for justice or vengeance, but asked that His foes be forgiven."

X.

With a bound from his seat rose King Conor, the red flush of rage on his face,
Fast he ran through the hall for his weapons, and snatching his sword from its place,
He rushed to the woods, striking wildly at boughs that dropped down with each blow,
And he cried: "Were I midst the vile rabble, I'd cleave them to earth even so!
With the strokes of a high king of Erinn, the whirls of my keen-tempered sword,
I would save from their horrible fury that mild and that merciful Lord.
"His frame shook and heaved with emotion; the brain-ball leaped forth from his head,
And commending his soul to that Savior, King Conor Mac Nessa fell dead.

Annual General Assembly 2009

The Annual General Assembly 2009 met in an air of mourning. One of our founder-members died just a few days ago and the prayers of the meeting were offered by the eleven members present for the repose of her soul.

After the opening prayers and the election of a minute keeper, the Convenor's Report outlined the practical state of the Association under several headings: Advancement of the cause of the Latin Mass in Kildare and Leighlin; Mobilizing souls in the cause of the Latin Mass; the Holy Year of St. Paul and the Holy Year for Priests; Growth in Membership; Blogs and Publications.

Then Mario Corrigan of Kildare County Council gave an excellent talk on the four historic abbeys of Kildare Town: St. Brigid's double monastery/Cathedral; the Black Abbey; the White Abbey; and the Grey Abbey. He began by showing the geographical importance of Kildare and then by looking at the development, first, of the Brigidine Ecclesiastical City and then the Medieval Norman City centred on the Cathedral and surrounded to the West, South West and South East by the three great Abbeys (and to the East by the Castle). He brought us through the history of each, only the Carmelites of the White Abbey being still active, concluding with the present-day buildings that we will see. It is clear that the Ecclesiastical City of Kildare is a major element of our Gaelic Christian Heritage.

Following the Litany of Loreto, we received a report of the finances of the Association and appointed two delegates to represent the Association at the General Assembly of the International Una Voce Federation in Rome in November. Nearly a dozen members intend to make a pilgrimage to Rome to coincide with the General Assembly.

After a few other points of business, the meeting concluded with prayers to Our Lady, St. Joseph and our Guardian Angels and refreshments.

Votive Mass of the Holy Ghost

A Votive Mass of the Holy Ghost was offered for Priests this evening in Cill Mhuire, Ballymany, Newbridge, Co. Kildare, to honour the Holy Year for Priests and as a spiritual preparation for the Annual General Assembly of St. Conleth's Catholic Heritage Association.


The Mass was offered by the Reverend Father Desmond Flanagan, O.Carm., who spoke briefly to the congregation about the spirit in which they should attend the General Assembly. He said that we're all inclined to think that our own view is the only correct view but that we should listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost coming through the voices and views of others. He also encouraged anyone who did not attend Mass regularly to do so and he announced the times of Masses in Cill Mhuire. Fr. Flanagan also announced that Bishop Moriarty had granted the Plenary Indulgence for the Holy Year to all who attended this Mass under the usual conditions and the special conditions that he listed.


A full range of traditional latin and vernacular hymns (Hail Redeemer King Divine, Salve Regina, O Salutaris, Tantum Ergo, Soul of My Saviour, Holy God We Praise Thy Name) complimented the common of the Mass (de Angelis).

The congregation was the smallest of any of the Masses organised by St. Conleth's CHA. 35 people sat in the body of the Church and the Celebrant and two servers made a total of 38 present. 6 p.m. on a Friday evening isn't an easy time to attend Mass. After Mass, Holy Water that Fr. Flanagan had blessed in the traditional way was distributed to those who attended.


The Annual General Assembly followed Mass. The next Mass for the Year of Priests will be at 2 p.m. on Hallowe'en (31 October) in Rathangan.

Making the News (Part 2)

Having looked at the Pathé newsreels for the Bishops of Kildare and Leighlin, I can't leave the subject without drawing your attention to one of their contemporaries, a lesser-known Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Edward J. Byrne, who also features frequently in the collection.

One of Archbishop Byrne's most notable distinctions was that he rose from being a Curate to being Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland in slightly over a year. He had been Vice President of the Irish College, Rome, from 1901 to 1904, when he returned to Ireland to become the Curate of the Pro-Cathedral Parish in Dublin. He remained there until 1920, when he was created Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin (and titular of Pegae, although the Archdiocesan website says Spigaz) and in the following August he succeeded Archbishop William J. Walsh as Archbishop.

Archbishop Byrne was ruled the Diocese of Dublin just as it became the Capital of the new State. The pastoral opportunities were now the greater. Archbishop Byrne was instrumental in efforts to end and to mitigate the disastrous Civil War. He is shown at the Catholic Truth Society conference in 1926.

He witnessed the expansion of the City of Dublin. The newsreels show him blessing five new Churches: the Church of St. MacCullin in Lusk in 1922 (other film here); the Church of St. Brigid in Killester in 1925 (other film here); the Church of St. Vincent de Paul in Marino in 1926 (other film here), by which time his left had has begun to tremble visibly*; the Garrison Church in Arbor Hill in 1927; and at Crooksling Sanitorium (now St. Brigid's Hospital) in 1928.

Also in 1928, he is shown meeting pioneering pilots. The pilots in question, Captain James Fitzmaurice, Captain Hermann Köhl and Baron Ehrenfried von Hünefeld, had just made the first transatlantic aircraft flight from East to West.

In 1929, Archbishop Byrne hosted the celebrations for the centenary of Catholic Emancipation. In 1932, he was responsible for the preparations for the Eucharistic Congress.

His later years were marked by illness - Parkinson's Disease* - and withdrawal from most public appearances. One exception was the Requiem Mass for Pope Pius XI in 1939. As is only fitting, his funeral in 1940 is also covered in the newsreels.

Saint Auxilius of Ireland

Saint Patrick came twice into Kildare. The first occasion was about the year 448. He came south from Meath, passing through Straffan and Clane to Naas. In Naas, he baptised the local Chieftans, Ailill and Illan, sons of Dunling, and Ailill's two daughters, Mogain and Fedelma. The people of the area having converted to the Faith, St. Patrick appointed his nephew, St. Auxilius, as bishop there with his seat at Kilossy, now Kilashee or the Church of Auxilius, a few miles south of Naas.


Continuing his journey to the south, St. Patrick also placed St. Iserninus and Mac Tail as bishops at Old Kilcullen, in the present-day Archdiocese of Dublin. From there he carried on south, founding a Church at Narraghmore and, crossing the River Barrow near Athy, continued his journey as far as Stradbally, in County Laois and the historic Diocese of Leighlin, and then re-crossed the Barrow to the south and west of Rathangan, coming back into the County and Diocese of Kildare, and passing to the North of Newbridge, where a Holy Well is dedicated to him at Barrettstown, he continued to Allen and Kilcock, carrying on north, towards the seat of the High Kings at Tara in Meath.

Thus, although St. Auxilius is not the founder of the Diocese of Kildare - that honour goes to Saint Conleth - he must rank as the first Saint of Kildare.

Rev. Thomas Walsh, in his History of the Irish Hierarchy, states that:

"It is related that Auxilius, Iserninus, and others, received holy orders on the same day that St. Patrick was consecrated - and from the same bishop; these persons are spoken of as his companions on the mission of Ireland. Whether they accompanied him from Rome, or whether they were selected in Gaul, is not easily determined."

"From this district Saint Patrick went to Kildare, where he laid the foundation of several churches, arranged the boundaries of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and left the bishop, Auxilius, at Killossy, and the prelate, Iserninus, at Kilcullen. These transactions are supposed to have taken place about the end of the year 443."

"At this period, our Saint held two synods, in which salutary laws relating to morals and discipline were enacted. The first of these synods is entitled 'The Synod of St. Patrick;' the second bears the title of the Synod of Bishops, of Patrick, Auxilius, and Iserninus."

"In the 24th and 27th canons of the Synod, called that of St. Patrick, Auxilius, and Iserninus, it is ordered that no stranger do baptize, or offer the holy mysteries without the permission of the bishop."

"Killossy, called after St. Auxilius, a nephew of St. Patrick, and son of Restitutus, the Lombard, was bishop here, and assisted St. Patrick in compiling the ordinances by which the Irish church was to be guided. St. Auxilius died on the 27th of August, 455."

The Book of Obits of Christ Church gives the date of his death as: xiv Kal. Nov. S. Auxilius, episcopus et confessor. While he does not appear in the Martyrology of Tallaght, his death is found in the Annals of Ulster for 459 and in the Annals of the Four Masters for the year 454:

"S. Usaille Espucc a Chill Usaille hi Life xxvii August.
Aois Chiost, ceithre céd caocca asé. A hocht fichet do Laoghaire Enda, mac Cathbhadha, décc."

This translates into English as:

"St. Usaille, Bishop of Cill Usaille, in Liffe, on the twenty-seventh of August.
The Age of Christ, 456. The twenty-eight year of Laoghaire. Enda, son of Cathbhadh, died."

To put this into context, at the time that St. Auxilius died at Kilashee, about the year 450, both St. Conleth and St. Brigid were born, St. Patrick would live about another ten years, St. Peter Chrysologus had just died (31st July, 450), Laoghaire II Mac Néill (d. 462) was still High King of Ireland, Valentinian III was Emperor in Constantinople (r. 425-454), and St. Leo the Great was Pope (r. 440-461).

Ecclesia Dei Institutes

A browse around the website of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, now under the aegis of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, can be interesting, especially if you can decypher Italian. For example, here is the list of Institutes currently under the authority of the Pontifical Commission, with the dates of the Canonical Erection as Institutes of Pontifical Right. That is to say, these are the major groups in the Church today using the Traditional Gregorian Rite Liturgy.

LISTA DEGLI ISTITUTI

che sono sotto l’autorità della Pontificia Commissione “Ecclesia Dei” con data della erezione canonica di diritto pontificio.

A . MONASTERI SUI IURIS

1. Canonici Regolari della Madre di Dio

-Abbaye Sainte-Marie de Lagrasse ( Chanoines ) 18.05.1997
F- 11220 LAGRASSE

-Monastère “Mater Dei” (Chanoinesses) 18.12.2000
F – 11700 AZILLE

2. Monaci Benedettini

1. Abbaye Sainte-Madeleine ( Moines ) 26.10.1989
F- 84330 LE BARROUX

Prieuré dépendant:

-Monastère Notre-Dame de la Garde
F – 47270 ST PIERRE DE CLAIRAC

2. Abbaye Notre-Dame de l’Annonciation ( Moniales ) 28.10.1989
La Font de Pertus
F – 84330 LE BARROUX

3. Monastero dell’ Oasis ( Religiose di clausura ) 29.06.2007
Oasis di Gesù Sacerdote
E – 08310 ARGENTONA (Barcelona)

( Totale monasteri: 6.)

B. CONGREGAZIONI ( religiosi e religiose con voti )

1. Fraternité Saint-Vincent Ferrier ( di spiritualità domenicana) 28.10.1988
Couvent Saint-Thomas d’Aquin
F – 54340 CHEMERE-LE-Roi

2. Dominicaines du Saint-Esprit 22.01.1990
Couvent Notre-Dame de la Joie
F – 53340 PONTCALEC en Berne
sei case religiose con scuole.

2. Servi Jesu et Mariae 16.07.1994
Kloster Auhof
A – 3372 BLINDENMARKT

3. Famiglia religiosa dei Missionari della Santa Croce 29.06.1991

- Mothers of the Holy Cross.
Catholic Mission Puma
SINGIDA ( Tanzania )
cinque case: 4 in Tanzania, una in Brasile, una a Monaco di Baviera

- Missionari della Santa Croce
Gehandu ( Tanzania ),
una seconda casa a Anapolis in Brasile

5. Institut Sainte Croix de Riaumont.
F – 62800 LIEVAIN
( Totale Congregazioni : 6 )

C. ISTITUTI DI VITA APOSTOLICA ( membri senza voti )

1. Fraternità Sacerdotale San Pietro 18.10.1988
Casa generalizia : CH - 1700 FRIBOURG

2. Institut Sankt Philipp Neri 26.05.2004
D – 13355 BERLIN

3. Institut du Bon Pasteur 08.09.2006
F – 33000 BORDEAUX

4. Istituto Cristo Re Sommo Sacerdote 07.10.2008
Santa Maria di Gricigliano
I – 50069 SIECI ( Firenze )

(Istituti di Vita Apostolica: 4)

For the sake of clarity, the Abbey of Mariawald wouldn't depend directly upon the Pontifical Commission but forms part of the Order of Cisercians of the Strict Observance. The Pontifical Commission website includes the text of the 'reconciliation' of the Transalpine Redemptorists or Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer but they don't appear to depend directly upon the Pontifical Commission either.

Also, the most significant body of Gregorian Rite Priests, the Apostolic Administration of Saint John Vianney, is not mentioned in this list because, rather than being a Congregation of Pontifical Rite, it is a special kind of structure that is equivalent to a non-territorial Diocese.

Am I the only person who is wondering who the Mothers of the Holy Cross are?

The Great Feast Day of Our Lady in Autumn

Today is known in the Irish Language as Lá Fhéile Mór Naomh Muire san Fhómhar, which is to day, the Great Feast Day of Our Lady in Autumn (or perhaps in Harvest Time).

During the long centuries of persecution, it was necessary for Irishmen to flee from their own country to preserve their Faith and their Culture, a Catholic Gaelic Heritage that was so intimately interwoven that the loss of Christian Gaelic Culture, they felt, would represent the loss of one of the Providential gifts to mankind and to the Church.

They fled abroad to Colleges such as Louvain and Rome, which still maintain links with Ireland to this day. The character of these clerics was not uniform, of course. Many became infected with Jansenism. Discipline was a problem, especially given that one custom was for persecuted Bishops in Ireland to ordain men before sending them to the Continental Seminaries, so that they could support themselves by means of Mass stipends.

One Priest who sought to root out this practice was Fr. Andrew Dunlevy (1680-1746) of the Collège des Lombards, Paris. In 1742, he published An Teagasg Críosduidhe do reir ceasada agus freagartha (The Cathecism or Christian Doctrine by way of question and answer) in order to supply the dire wants of the faithful back in Ireland, who were deprived of Priests, Sacraments, Catholic education and any form of Church organisation under the bitter persecution of English Heretics.

An appendix contained "‘an abridgement of the Christian doctrine in rhymed Irish, composed upwards of an Age ago by the zealous and learned F. Bonaventure Ó hEoghusa of the Order of S. Francis; and also with the elements of the Irish language, in favour of such as would fain learn to read it; and thereby be useful to their Neighbour."

The author mourns that Irish is "on the Brink of Utter Decay, to the great dishonour and shame of the Natives, who shall always pass every where for Irishmen, Although Irishmen without Irish is an incongruity, and a great bull. Besides, the Irish Language is undeniably a very ancient Mother-Language, and one of the smoothest in Europe, no way abounding in monosyllables, nor clogged with rugged consonants ... And there is still extant a great number of old valuable Irish manuscripts, both in publick and private hands, which would, if translated and published, give great light into antiquities of the Country, and furnish some able pen with materials enough, to write a compleat history of the Kingdom; What a discredit then must it be to the whole Nation, to let such a Language go to wrack ..."

In one section of Fr.
Ó hEoghusa's rhymed
catechism, on the subject
of Faith by Scripture alone,
we read:

Bheith d’ go Mhuire riamh ‘na hóigh,
Baisdeach leanbh gur chóir do grés,
Bheith ar an nDomhnach don Cháisg –
San scrioptúir, fós, cáit ‘nar légh?

This translates as:

That Mary was always a virgin;
That a child should always be baptised;
That Easter falls always on a Sunday,
Where did you read this in Scripture?

May the Gaels of today be worthy of their ancestors and their magnificent Gaelic and Catholic Heritage!

*The painting in this post is the Assumption, c. 1655, by Matteo Cerezo (1635-1685) that is today housed in the del Prado in Madrid, where a good deal of his work is to be found.

Happy Birthday, Bishop Jim!

Today is the birthday of the Most Reverend Dr. James Moriarty, Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin. St. Conleth's Catholic Heritage Association joins with all his subjects in wishing him a very happy and blessed birthday.

Ad multos annos!

Eleventh Monthly Mass in the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin

This afternoon a congregation of 16 attended the eleventh monthly Mass. In a remarkable turn-around, this is the first time that there has been an increase in attendance over two consecutive months.

This brings the average monthly attendance down to 21 but, on the positive side, it is the first time that the trend has had to be adjusted upwards.

Making the News

The Pathé newsreels, short movies shown before the main feature in cinemas, are an excellent source of social history. Three Bishops of Kildare and Leighlin from the early twentieth century made the news.

The first is Bishop Patrick Foley. A native of the Diocese, he was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin (and titular Bishop of Amyclae) at the relatively young age of 38 in 1895. He became Ordinary only a year later on the death of Bishop Lynch. Bishop Foley was to occupy the See of Kildare and Leighlin for thirty years, through the struggle for Home Rule, the First World War, the War of Independence and the Civil War. The image above, a still from the newsreel report of the sod-turning ceremony of the Carlow Sugar Factory in 1926.

The second is Bishop Matthew Cullen, also a native of the Diocese. He became bishop in 1927, following the untimely death of Bishop Foley a year earlier. Although his episcopate was relatively short, not quite nine years in fact, he made an outstanding contribution to the Country through his support for Gaelic athletics and language, and also to the Church through his support for the newly founded Saint Patrick's Missionary Society with its headquarters in his own native Parish at Kiltegan. The still above is taken from the newsreel report of the blessing the foundation of the new buildings at Clongowes Wood College in 1929.

The third is Bishop Thomas Keogh, another native of the Diocese, who became Bishop in 1936 in succession to Bishop Cullen. He remained as Bishop until 1967, when he became the first Irish Bishop to resign in accordance with the novel rules that had been established by Pope Paul VI's Motu Proprio Ecclesiae Sanctae in August, 1966. (Please note: sometimes Motu Proprios are taken seriously!)

Bishop Keogh can be seen in the newsreel report of the opening of the Portarlington Power Station in 1950. The newsreel report from which the stills image above is taken is a report of the centenary celebrations of the Dominican College, Newbridge, in 1952. Bishop Keogh is seen standing to the camera's right of Archbishop O'Hara who was then Papal Nuncio to Ireland. After his retirement Bishop Keogh was created titular Bishop of Turris Tamalleni and lived a further two years. The fortieth anniversary of his death (and the centenary of his ordination) were marked by St. Conleth's Catholic Heritage Association with a Requiem Mass in his native Parish.

Annual General Assembly 2009

"A statutory General Assembly of all the members of the Association shall be held every year about the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross." Article 10, Statutes of St. Conleth's Catholic Heritage Association

The Annual General Assembly of St. Conleth's Catholic Heritage Association will take place on Friday, 4th September, 2009, at 7.30 p.m. in St. Anne's Parish Centre, Station Road, Newbridge, Co. Kildare.

The guest speaker this year will be noted local historian, Mr. Mario Corrigan, who has kindly agreed to speak about the Abbeys of Kildare (illustrated above).

The Annual General Assembly will be preceeded by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the Gregorian Rite celebrated at 6 p.m. in Cill Mhuire, Ballymany, Newbridge, Co. Kildare.

St. Manman of Clonaslee

The village of Clonaslee, nestled in the Slieve Bloom Mountains of County Laois, was the site of two seventh century monasteries founded by St. Manman. One was Carrigeen, meaning hermitage of the rocks, and the second, almost two miles north of the village, is Kilmanman, meaning the Church of Manman.

Carrigeen, also know as Lanchoil or Lahoil, is said to have been the hermitage of the Saint. Kilmanman was the larger of the two foundations and is the site of considerable remains of a later fifteenth century Church. Nearby, there is a Holy Well called St. Manman's Well.

Information upon the life of St. Manman is so scarce that even Dr. Comerford in his Collections relating to the Dioceses of Kildare and Leighlin, Vol. 3, 1886, gives the mere fact of his existence and passes on to later times for which more material was available. Likewise, Canon O'Hanlon's History of Queen's County gives but passing information.

His name, at least in the form in which it is known today, does not appear on any of the ancient Irish Calendars but local tradition establishes his pattern day as 5th August. However, that his name survives and that his memory holds the respect that it does is a lesson to us to remember, however dimly, our holy Fathers in the Faith.

St. Manman of Clonaslee, pray for us!

Forthcoming Masses (September & October)

St. Conleth's Catholic Heritage Association is organising two Masses in the Kildare area in the near future. Both Masses will be offered for Priests.

The first is in Cill Mhuire, Ballymany, Newbridge, Co. Kildare, on Friday, 4th September, at 6 p.m.


The second is in the Church of the Assumption and St. Patrick, Rathangan, Co. Kildare, on Saturday, 31st October, at 2 p.m.

The Portrayal of Priests - Part III

As the Boys' Town series ended, another pair of films portraying Priests was released, namely Going My Way (1944) and The Bells of Saint Mary's (1945). In both, the character of Fr. 'Chuck' O'Malley, the somewhat too up-to-date troubleshooter for a Parish in trouble, is played by Bing Crosby. The role came in the middle of the 'Road Movies', a series of comedic films in which he starred. The contrast is distinct and uncomfortable. On the other hand, Crosby was the biggest box office draw during these years and his portrayal of a Priest, while less than dogmatic, can only be regarded as sympathetic.

His relationship with Fr. Fitzgibbon (Barry Fitzgerald) must be one of the most human and generous portrayals of the Priesthood in film. In the clip above, Fr. O'Malley sings the ill and elderly Fr. Fitzgibbon to sleep.

A third Priest, the avuncular Fr. O'Dowd played by Frank McHugh (who played the same character again in 1952 in another Leo McCarey production My Son John), is a classmate of Fr. O'Malley. The pair are engaged in a 'generation gap' plotline in contrast to Fr. Fitzgibbon, although the youngsters are shown taking matters of religion quite as seriously. Golf, of which Crosby was famously fond, is the first testing ground - nothing but a poolroom moved outdoors as Fr. Fitzgibbon has it. Nevertheless, the fraternal charity of brother Priests wins out in the end.

Even the question of Priestly celibacy is dealt with in the film. Genevieve Linden, a star of the Metropolitan Opera in New York (played by Risë Stevens, who was actually a star of the Met and whose famous 'Carmen' is reprised on screen), whose career has interrupted a romance between her and Chuck O'Malley (before he entered the Seminary, mind you), meets O'Malley again without realising that he is a Priest. However, once she realised that he is a Priest she never drops the title 'Father' when addressing him.

In the end, Fr. Fitzgibbon settles the matter: "We're separated by many years, Fr. O'Malley, which may be the reason we haven't seen eye-to-eye in many instances, but 'though we've had many differences, we never differed in fundamentals. 'twas only in method... but never in our hearts." That it might ever be so.

In the second film, Fr. O'Malley crosses wits with another set-in-their ways individual. This time Sr. M. Benedict, played by Ingrid Bergman, who would go on the play St. Joan of Arc a few years later. The dramatic structure is essentially the same - conflict, crisis, resolution.

To traditionalist eyes looking in hindsight, the portrayal of Priests in these films seems to be very close to modernist vs. traditionalist, with the modernist having all the best songs - and the writer on his side. Viewed in that light, they are offensive to pious eyes. However, viewed with a certain artistic license and with a suspension of dis-disbelief, they portray the Priest as a human with sympathy and as a Priest of God with due respect.

The Priest in these films is always put into context. His relationships with layfolk, with brother Priests, with women, and even with himself and with God are balanced, articulated and decent. These relationships are not always easy but are always portrayed in a proper and reverent way.

Fota II - Summary Report

The following Summary of the proceedings of the Second Fota International Liturgy Conference organised by St. Colman’s Society for Catholic Liturgy on 12th and 13th July, 2009, was received recently.

A word is also in order about the superlatively well organised and well executed liturgies in the Gregorian Rite in Ss. Peter and Paul's Church, Cork City, and in Cobh Cathedral during the weekend.

Part of the Te Deum in Ss. Peter and Paul's

The Summary is reproduced here in full:

SUMMARY REPORT

The Second Fota International Liturgy Conference was held in Fota, Co. Cork, from 12 – 13 July 2009 on the topic: “Benedict XVI on Church Art and Architecture”. It was organized by the St Colman’s Society for Catholic Liturgy. His Eminence, George Cardinal Pell, Archbishop of Sydney gave the keynote address.

In his introduction, Prof. D. Vincent Twomey, SVD (Maynooth, Ireland), who chaired conference, decried the iconoclasm that wrought havoc on so many church buildings in the name of the conciliar reform of the liturgy and suggested a number of theological causes. He pointed to the difference between treating beauty as something peripheral, a matter of taste or a decoration, and (following Ratzinger) seeing beauty as being as integral to liturgy as truth and goodness are. The utilitarianism of the age favours the former, as was manifest in the reform. Benedict XVI, on the other hand, is acutely aware of the necessity for reason to combine with aesthetic and intuitive sensibility, both in liturgy and art. Twomey also pointed to the profound theological implications of the reordering of the liturgical space in the wake of the recent liturgical reforms, something that few adverted to at the time. To quote the English philosopher, Roger Scruton: “Changes in the liturgy take on a momentous significance for the believer, for they are changes in his experience of God …” Once such change was the removal of the tabernacle from its former position on the altar to a side-altar. The theory of Francis Rowland, mentioned by Twomey, that the post-conciliar liturgical reforms, with their stress on reducing everything to the essentials, were inspired a kind of neo-Scholasticism that was a historical and a cultural was hotly disputed later in the discussion.

All the papers were inspired by Pope Benedict XVI’s aesthetics, i.e. his understanding of the nature of beauty. This was the topic of the opening paper by Monsignor Joseph Murphy (Rome) and the keynote address by Cardinal Pell. Mons. Murphy’s paper was entitled: “The Fairest and the Formless: The Face of Christ as Criterion for Christian Beauty according to Joseph Ratzinger”. For the Pope, the most persuasive proof of the truth of the Christian message, offsetting everything that may appear negative, “are the saints on the one hand, and the beauty that the faith has generated, on the other”. Hence, for faith to grow today, “we must lead ourselves and the persons we meet to encounter the saints and to come in contact with the beautiful”. After outlining the patristic debate with regard to how Jesus Christ could be said to be beautiful, Murphy describes the way beauty wounds the soul and so awakens man to his higher destiny. The beauty of truth appears in Christ, the beauty of God himself, who powerfully draws us and inflicts on us the wound of Love, as it were, “a holy Eros that enables us to go forth, with and in the Church, his Bride, to meet the Love who calls us.” His beauty is the manifestation of his love, a love poured out for others. Finally, addressing one of Ratzinger’s favourite themes, seeking the face of God, itself one of the primordial themes of Scripture, Murphy points out how seeing Christ is only possible to those who follow Him. As in much else, here Ratzinger takes his inspiration from the Fathers of the Church.

Cardinal Pell, in his paper entitled: “Benedict XVI on Beauty: Issues in the Tradition of Christian Aesthetics” took up several of the themes mentioned by Murphy and developed them. He stress that, for Ratzinger, the truth of love can transform the ugliness of the world – manifested in its extreme on the Cross – into the beauty of the Resurrection. According to Plato beauty is profoundly realistic: it wounds man and so makes him desire the Transcendent. Thus beauty causes a painful longing of the human heart for God. By way of contrast, falsehood suggests that reality is ugly and so promotes either a cult of the ugly or the craving for transient pleasure to escape from the ugliness. Addressing the question of the interaction of the Gospel and culture, Ratzinger argues that the Logos purifies and heals all cultures – and so enables them to achieve their full potential as culture. Though the Hebrew and Greek cultures retain their unique significance for the faith – as the linguistic vehicles of Salvation History – the Gospel itself transcends all cultures. Pell also examined Ratzinger’s theology of music. One of the points he makes is that music is the place where the clash between good and evil is played out at a certain level of society. Ratzinger rejects pop-music, the music equivalent of kitsch, because through it the soul is swallowed up in the senses. Finally, Pell pointed out that, for Ratzinger, there must be a proper understanding of Church, of liturgy, and of music. The Church is not simply the local community but is always Catholic, that is, the whole Church universal, including the cosmic dimension of salvation. Liturgy must be understood as the work of God, not some human fabrication or action. Each rite, therefore, is an objective form of the Church’s worship. And when the languages of Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic are put to music, they should evoke awe and receptivity for what is beyond sense. Sacred music should be a synthesis of sense, sensibility and sound. Finally, Cardinal Pell stressed that simple, orthodox faith remains the single most important factor in the celebration of the liturgy.

The philosophical implications of the above understanding of beauty were the subject of Fr Daniel Gallagher (Rome) paper: “The Liturgical Consequences of Thomistic Aesthetics: exploring some philosophical aspects of Joseph Ratzinger’s Aesthetics.” Gallagher formulated the basic question as follows: “what has reason to do with beauty”. This led to a discussion of Thomistic aesthetics (is beauty for Thomas a transcendental?) and the subsequent theory of Emmanuel Kant. For Thomas, beauty, though originating in subjective experience, is a form of objective knowledge. Kant sets out to find what he considered to be objective criteria to determine the validity of the subjective experience of beauty. The basic question was resolved with the help of Jacques Maritain (in the Thomist tradition) and in opposition to Umberto Eco (in the Kantian tradition). “Maritain seamlessly connects aesthetic beauty to transcendental beauty, whereas Eco despairs of finding a passage from transcendental beauty to aesthetic beauty.” Gallagher drew out some of the implications of this for liturgy: Beauty is not instrumental, but the very way of experiencing the Triune God in the liturgy. Thus beauty engages the intellect such that God’s Word and life are apprehended in a way that transcends the imparting of information. Most importantly, if beauty is most especially related to the good, then the beauty of the liturgy is directly connected with moral life – and thus concerned with culture as the context for the promotion of virtue. This paper provoked perhaps the most lively discussion of all the papers.

Dr Janet Rutherford (Castelpollard, Co. Westmeath, Ireland) in her paper, “Eastern Iconoclasm and the Defence of Divine Beauty” outlined the turbulent political background to, and profound theological issues at stake in, the first major iconoclastic controversy in the Church, which culminated in the Seventh Ecumenical Council, the Second Council of Nicaea (AD 787). At stake was nothing less than the unity of divine-human nature of Christ as defended above all by St Maximus the Confessor. For the latter, the icon was not a sign of absent realities; the realities themselves were made present to the beholder of the icon. The icons are thus for the believer windows onto eternity. For the East, Second Nicaea is the “orthodox” Council par excellence, an indication not only of their appreciation for the teaching of the Council but also of the centrality of the icon in the life, liturgy, and theology of Easter Christians. According to Maximus, icons, by stressing the humanity of Christ, evoke the possibility of our humanity being divinized, theosis, whereby, according to Rutherford, the Greek notion of theosis is other than the Western notion of divinization. With deft strokes of the brush Rutherford sketched the rich theology of the icon developed by medieval Orthodox theologians such as Nicholas Cabasilas and modern theologians like Paul Evdokimov. These were inspired by the great Fathers of the Church, such as St John of Damascus, who stressed that the Incarnation restored material humanity to its original innocence, and St Germanus, Patriarch of Constantinople, who defended the veneration of images and paid for it by resigning and going into exile to die in obscurity – until his reputation was restored at Second Nicaea. Rutherford eloquently demonstrated what Ratzinger once claimed in one of his writings, when he wrote that, with regard to the liturgy, we have a lot to learn from the East.

Tu Es Petrus at the Mass in Ss. Peter and Paul's

One of the most fascinating papers was delivered by Dr Helen Ratner Dietz (Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A): “The Nuptial Meaning of Classic Church Architecture”. She described how, after Constantine, the Roman basilica was transformed by the inheritance of Judaism. The main influence here reached back to Sinai, which was understood in terms of the bridal covenant between God and Israel. This in turn led to Israel’s expectation that, in the final days, God the Bridegroom would consummate his union with Israel, His Bride. This final consummation was anticipated in the Temple liturgy, which determined the architecture of the Temple of Solomon. There the Holy of Holies was understood in terms of the Bridal Chamber – in imitation of the wedding canopy used in the Jewish wedding ceremonies (as was used up to the Christian Middle Ages). The High Priest represented not only the Bridegroom, but, when he entered the Holy of Holies, the Bride, Israel. The Jerusalem Temple was divided into three, with three sets of steps leading up to the Holy of Holies. The Temple Veil represented this world, or rather the whole of creation, symbolized by the colours of the elements (white, blue, red and purple), which also have bridal significance. These colours were likewise those of external vestments of the High Priest who represented Israel’s God, the Creator of heaven and earth. The Holy of Holies was a perfect cube, symbol of the spiritual world, the heavens above the heavens. As in the Jewish tradition, the bridegroom takes on the vulnerability of the bride to protect her from the dangers inherent in child-bearing (and is vested accordingly), the High Priest, divesting himself of his glorious vestments and clad in a simply linen tunic, takes on the vulnerability of the Bride Israel when he entered the Holy of Holies once a year on Yom Kippur (cf. Is 61:10).. Christ called himself the Bridegroom and so claimed to be the High Priest. What is less noticed is that, when he took on the vulnerability of humanity in the incarnation, he identified Himself with the Bride when he into the Temple not made of human hands through his Death on the Cross. Dietz stressed that for the Jewish – and later the Christian – tradition God is totally hetero, other, and Israel is hetero to God. Only in this way, can we understand the “role-exchange” between bridegroom and bride that is characteristic of both Jewish nuptial ceremonies and the Temple liturgy. The form of Christian church-buildings was profoundly shaped by this Jewish tradition, which itself was rooted in the pagan Semitic traditions of the ancient Near East. The Church took over the tripartite division of the Temple and, in the place of the Holy of Holies, the wedding canopy or baldachin over the altar that, like the nuptial chamber, was surrounded by curtains that were only opened to reveal the elevated Host and Chalice. Like the Temple it faced east, but now with a new meaning: the rising sun represented the return of the Bridegroom in glory at the end of time for the final consummation now anticipated each time the Sacrifice of the Mass is celebrated on the altar.

Perhaps one of the most radical changes in the liturgy after the Council – though not recommended, or even mentioned, by Sacrosanctum concilium – was the change in the position of the celebrant, who now faces the congregation, instead of facing East with the congregation. Facing East was the common practice (with some notable exceptions, such as St Peter’s in Rome due to space problems caused by building the Constantinian basilica over the tomb of Peter) at least since the second century. Christian worship was in the direction of the Rising Sun and no longer in the direction of the Jerusalem Temple, as in the Jewish synagogue. This was a central topic taken up Dr Michael Uwe Lang, Cong. Or., in his paper entitled: “Louis Bouyer and Church Architecture: Resourcing Benedict XVI’s Introduction to the Spirit of the Liturgy”. Lang showed both the indebtedness of Ratzinger to Bouyer but also the selective use the former made of the latter by avoiding Bouyer’s more controversial and polemical points. Lang showed how Ratzinger took up and developed Bouyer’s insight into the cosmic and eschatological significance of the liturgical call after the liturgy of the Word around the bema (a raised platform for the liturgy of the Word in the centre of the basilica): “Conversi ad orientem”. Moving to the altar in the apse, priest and people faced the East, acknowledging the cosmic dimension of Christian worship. But in the first place, the rising sun symbolizes the final Return of the Risen Lord now anticipated in the Sacrifice of the Mass. Lang pointed out that celebrating the Sacrifice facing the people tends to eclipse the transcendental dimension of the liturgy. God tends to be absorbed into the community whereas in facing East what is expressed is the dialogue between the People of God and God Himself. Further, the sacrificial character of the Mass tends to be downplayed while the Mass tends to be seen primarily as a sacred banquet. In the discussion, the Chair pointed out that, according to the English anthropologist, Mary Douglas, in her book, Natural Symbols, one of the reasons why this radical change found immediate acceptance was because it found a resonance in the contemporary culture which, in terms of the different categories of cultural expression, has a close affinity to the culture of nomads, for whom the focus of their gatherings is the fire. Huddled around the fire, they find comfort from the darkness and alienation of the surrounding world.

Dr Alcuin Reid (London, England) read a though-provoking paper entitled “Noble Simplicity Revisited” on one of the central recommendation of the Sacrosanctum concilium for the reform of the liturgy (SC 34). He traced the origins of the term “noble simplicity” back to Edmund Bishop (1899) who described the genius of the Roman Rite in terms of sobriety, simplicity and austerity. This was further developed by Dr Adrian Fortescue (1912), though modified significantly in 1945, by the Anglican Dom Gregory Dix. According to the latter, there was no squalor in the pre-Nicene liturgy (as we know from Eusebius), which in fact was marked dignity and splendour. Reid concludes that there was “noble simplicity” should not be understood as distaste for ritual itself or its later embellishments. Though some liturgist called for “a certain spiritual unction” in the Rites, the reference to the didactic and pastoral nature of the liturgy became one of the central preoccupations of the Bugnini Commission, which was primarily concerned with the principle of what Reid claims was the translation of participatio actuosa as “active participation” instead of “actual participation”. The latter implies interiority and promotes contemplation. In this context, “noble simplicity”, which is a practical policy and not a dogmatic statement (and thus open to disagreement), takes on a rather more radical meaning that that perhaps originally intended. Is this principle not in need of a critical reappraisal? According to McManus, the principle should be evangelical and not render the liturgy banal. Unfortunately, some, perhaps influenced by Jungmann’s theory of the corruption of the liturgical tradition and his distinction between the essentials and the non-essentials, understand “noble simplicity” to mean a rupture with tradition. Thus a new Puritanism arose (K. Flanagan). The irony is that the reforms satisfied none of the constituents which the reforms were supposed to appeal to (youth, educated, etc.), who find the liturgy mostly boring. Katherine Pipstock and David Torvelle have produced trenchant criticisms of the reforms. Interestingly, Sacramentum caritatis does not even mention the terms “noble simplicity”. The main question today is; to what extent do the rites contribute to the true “actual participation” of the faithful in worship.

Mr Ethan Anthony (Boston, USA), a practicing church architect in the tradition established by Ralph Adams Cram (1889-1942), gave an illustrated talk on the topic: “The Third Revival: New Gothic and Romanesque Catholic Architecture in North America”. Cram’s basic policy as an architect was summed up in his statement: “I want people who come into church to be taken out of themselves”. For him, beauty is a manifestation of the divine. We simply need beauty to be human. However, as in all art so too with architecture, inspiration can only be received not fabricated. “We need architects who see though the eyes of faith”. According to Anthony, the First Revival was inspired by Newman and Pugin. The Second was under the influence of Willam Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement. Under the influence of Gropius and the Bauhaus movement that flourished in the Weimar Republic and came to the USA from 1939, there was a period in the 1950s in the suburban Catholic Church when concrete-block churches became fashionable. The Third Revival began with work on the restoration of older churches, which in turn required the re-learning of older skills more akin to the building of the medieval churches. Soon congregations wanted new churches built in the older style, a more distinctly sacral style than found in the modern buildings. The question was raised: could we build churches in the traditional styles, where faith was expressed through the medium of stone and glass. In dialogue with the pastors and their congregations, architects began to design new church buildings under the inspiration of those medieval masterpieces scattered around Europe and using new materials that were both cost-effective and, in terms of design, modern. Anthony’s power-point presentation of many of these magnificent churches of the Third Revival captivated the audience.

In another fascinating power-point presentation, Professor Duncan G. Stroik (Notre Dame, USA) addressed the topic “All the great works of art are a manifestation of God: Pope Benedict XVI and the Architecture of Beauty”. Stroik used the magnificent church buildings of Bavaria that formed the background to Ratzinger’s theory of beauty and gave it its existential depth. Here in particular the meaning of the Baroque period was made accessible to an audience that has little experience of that style – and indeed are often rather sceptical of its value.

All of the papers highlighted new aspects of the theme. However the final paper was the most surprising of all. Dr Neil J. Roy (Peterborough, Canada) discussed the topic “The Galilee Chapel: A Medieval Notion Comes of Age”, which certainly opened up new vistas for the participants. The Galilee Chapel has its origins in the Cluniac monasteries, where it formed the place where processions started in memory of the beginning of the public ministry of Our Lord in Galilee. From thence, the procession moved to Jerusalem, the sanctuary area. Using Durham’s monastic Cathedral as his starting point, Roy described the development of the Galilee Chapel, in particular in Cluny, before making some important suggestions about restoring the institution – and with it the baptistery – to the front of the church and decorating it with suitable motives. With this paper, the conference looked to the future and the possibility if innovation based on the inspiration taken from the Cluniac tradition.

The Portrayal of Priests - Part II

Two years after San Francisco and the same year as Boys' Town, Angels with Dirty Faces was released, starring Jimmy Cagney as gangster Rocky Sullivan, Pat O'Brien as his boyhood friend, Fr. Jerry Connolly, Anne Sheridan as Laury Ferguson, Cagney/Sullivan's childhood sweetheart, and Humphrey Bogart as James Frazier, Cagney/Sullivan's partner in crime and general villain of the piece.

The plot bears striking resemblance to that in San Francisco as regards the relationships between the three principal characters. However, the portrayal of the Priest is now deeper and the spiritual conflict stronger. This is a fight for souls, not only for the soul of Cagney but also for the young hoodlums who idolize him. It should also be noted that Hollywood makes some amends in this film for the glorification of violence in so many of its other films - especially those starring Cagney himself.

At the climax of the film, Cagney faces the death penalty. Unrepentent and hard-nosed to the end, he refuses O'Briens plea to 'turn yellow', that is, to show cowardice as he goes to the chair to break the heroic image the young hoodlums have of him. He remains unrepentant to the end... almost. In the end, it seems, he met eternity making a sacrifice of his own reputation for the sake of others.

Pat O'Brien was known as 'the Irishman in residence' in Hollywood. He was also a regular in the role of a Priest, most famously as the eponimous Fighting Father Dunne. The plot, based upon the true story of a Fr. Dunne of St. Louis, MO, the founder of a Paperboys' Home, is in the mould of Boys' Town, and similarly portrays the Priest as friend of the poor and hero of the children abandoned by Society. He would also go on to play Fr. Francis P. Duffy next to Cagney in The Fighting 69th. O'Brien was part of the so-called Hollywood Irish Mafia, which also included Spencer Tracy, Jimmy Cagney and Frank McHugh.

Tenth Monthly Mass in the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin

The tenth monthly Mass organised by the FSSP took place this afternoon in Cill Mhuire, Ballymany, Newbridge, Co. Kildare, Ireland. A congregation of 13 was present, including three young children with their parents, that is, only joint second lowest attendance with February.


The FSSP's English newsletter for Summer 2009 (pages 12/13) presents an optimistic outlook on their journeys in the "Irish Republic" of "Eire", including stopping off at "Ballimany" along the way. No doubt Erse will become ever more commonplace on its pages in years to come.

The Portrayal of Priests - Part I

Mention of Fr. Edward J. Flanagan and the film Boys' Town brings to mind the portrayal of Catholic Priests in popular culture. During what was known as 'the golden age of Hollywood', that portrayal was generally sympathetic. While the addage that Hollywood consisted of Jews making Catholic films for Protestants must be taken with a grain of salt, the grain of truth is there already. We must exercise a critical faculty with such movies, and exercise right judgement both with the work itself and in regard to those who appeared in and worked on it, generally there is much edification in many of them.

Spencer Tracy, himself a Catholic, although not always an exemplary one, played the part of a Priest four times. First in San Francisco in 1936 and then in Boys' Town in 1938 and its sequal, Men of Boys' Town, in 1941, as well as in The Devil at 4 o'clock, in 1961.

San Francisco is set in that city about the time of the Great Earthquake and consequent Great Fire of 1906. The plot follows a familiar pattern of two childhood friends, one who has chosen a life of goodness (Tracy as Fr. Tim Mullen), the other a life of wickedness (Clarke Gable as 'Blackie' Norton, together with the lady (Jeanette MacDonald as Mary Blake) who helps to reawaken the good that was always within him.

In the first clip, we see MacDonald/Blake singing in Church at Christmas. The second clip, the final scene, shows Gable/Norton's final conversion in thanksgiving for the survival of MacDonald/Blake. The admixture of piety and materialism can be viewed in a favourable or an unfavourable light. One is tempted to see Americanism there, except that these movies are the world glancing at the Faith rather than the other way around.

Although they can be seen with a Catholic eye, the themes are not overtly Catholic. However, the film is essentially respectful, edifying and, which is not to be dismissed, a good opportunity to see Jeanette MacDonald at the peak of her talent!

Interest in the Gregorian Rite in the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin

Table 1 - Actual to June 2009

Over the past fifteen years, St. Conleth's Catholic Heritage Association has campaigned ceaselessly for the provision of the Gregorian Rite in the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin. Hardly a month went by without a letter falling on the mat at Bishop's House. It wasn't unknown for dozens of letters to have fallen on that mat over the course of some of those months. Writing letters and signing petitions is one thing but a genuine interest in - and a pastoral need for - the Gregorian Rite is another.

Over the past year, this blog has traced the actual state of interest in the Gregorian Rite in the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin. The picture is not one of universal success, but it is also not a picture without some basis for hope.

The monthly Masses that the Diocese has organised have faced their difficulties. 1 p.m. isn't an ideal time (although there seems no difficulty in filling a much larger Church in the same parish for a Mass at 12.30 p.m.). The Church isn't of a traditional design. The Parish has only a population of c. 30,000 and Mass attendances seem to be lower than the National average. However, those difficulties do not entirely explain a constantly falling attendance.

On the other hand, the monthly Masses have had immense support from the Diocese and the Parish. It hasn't always been easy - nor is it always easy - nor will it always be easy - to love the Gregorian Rite and to work for its provision in this Diocese. Nevertheless, publicity, facilities, and practical support are all given generously and extensively to the monthly Masses by the Diocese and the Parish. In this regard, the Diocese and the Parish have covered themselves in glory - and this is no hyperbole. In hoc laudo.

Likewise, the occasional Masses organised by St. Conleth's Catholic Heritage Association have had their difficulties too. The locations have often been rural. The sacristy was occasionally locked. Publicity was informal and sporadic in most cases. The Masses were once-off events.

On the other hand, the locals always turned out in force to join us in prayer. This is the strongest basis for hope. There is prayerful interest in the Gregorian Rite in the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin. Time after time, when people have the opportunity to attend this form of Mass in their own Parish, they take that opportunity.

We must take into account the artificially high attendance at the first monthly Mass in Newbridge. The attendance at that first Mass (including a Bishop, celebrant, four servers, and a professional choir of 11, as well as a bus party from Dublin), was 57. This raises the average monthly attendance at the nine monthly Masses to 24. Excluding the first Mass, the average attendance at the remaining eight monthly Masses was 19.

If we exclude those coming from other Dioceses, notably Dublin, which has several Gregorian Rite locations, including one more-than-daily-Mass location, the average attendance of people from the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin (that is, the indicator for pastoral need within the Diocese) at those nine Masses was 14. Excluding the first Mass, the average attendance of local people at the remaining either monthly Masses was 12. However, it wouldn't be unusual to see a similar number of locals from Kildare and Leighlin at Sunday Masses in the Gregorian Rite in Dublin.

On the other hand, the average attendance at the six occasional Masses organised by St. Conleth's Catholic Heritage Association during the Holy Year of St. Paul was 58. The average attendance of local people, each in their own locality, excluding members of St. Conleth's Catholic Heritage Association, at the six occasional Masses was 45.

Table 2 - Trends to June 2009

It could be suggested that there is greater interest for the Gregorian Rite in rural areas (Emo, Vicarstown, Skeoghvosteen) than in more urban areas (Newbridge, Arran Quay, Kilcock). The figures bear this interpretation. It could equally be suggested that the Gregorian Rite has novelty value in the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin and people will attend once for mixed motives but that their interest is not sustained or sustainable.

However, it is equally tenable to argue that one failure, albeit a fairly clear one, in the face of increasing attendances elsewhere in the Diocese, doesn't justify the condemnation of the Gregorian Rite to the history books of the Diocese for a second time.

Table 3 - Trends at May 2010

[UPDATE MAY 2010] Lies, dashed lies and statistics. To be sure, statistics only tell us one side of the story. Since this post was composed in July, 2009, eleven further monthly Masses have been held and a mere five occasional Masses have been held in that time. The occasional Masses in Vicarstown, Newbridge, Rathangan, Arran Quay, Kildare Town and Carlow Town were a mixed bag in terms of attendances. The attendance in Carlow in May, 2010, exceeding 200 persons, was, even by the limited standards of these surveys, an exception. However, what has, at least, been demonstrated is that there is a consistent appetite for the provision of the Gregorian Rite within the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin.

St. Conleth of Kildare, pray for us!