The ones that got away - Mayo

Green Scapular of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

Another scapular widely adopted and reverenced is that of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. It has its origins in the little emblem consisting of a picture of the Sacred Heart sewn on white wollen cloth, which Blessed Margaret Mary Alacoque so fervently advocated shoudl be constantly carried on the person. This humble emblem was eagerly sought and worn during the French Revolution, and fervently cherished by the miserable victims of the plague at Marseilles. Pope Pius IX granted indulgences to wearers of this badge in 1872, but it was not until 1900 that the real scapular of the Sacred Heart was approved by the Congregation of Rites.

It is made up of two segments of white cloth, one having an image of the Sacred Heart, the other that of the Blessed Virgin, Mother of Mercy. Numerous indulgences are the privilege of those who wear it.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in Thee!

Gloria

Our good friend Tim Thurston, presenter of Lyric FM's excellent Sunday morning programme of Sacred Music Gloria, is launching a book entitled Gloria An Introduction to 1,000 Years of Sacred Music.

With a special Christmas theme it tells the story of European Sacred Music from earliest times to the present day, interspersed with 20 pen portraits of the key composers. It also incorporates a CD featuring the best of their Christmas music from the renowned Hyperion catalogue and is sumptuously illustrated with Sacred Art for Christmas from Irish collections, some published for the first time.

Pre-order online now from:
www.rte.ie/lyricfm/gloria or
www.associatededitions.ie

Back on the Rails II - All Rails Lead To Cork

1832 Map of Cork City

1852 Map of Cork City

1872 Map of Cork City

1893 Map of Cork City

When work began on Dargan's Great Southern and Western Railway line from Dublin to Cork in 1844 Cork was the most populous as well as the largest County in Ireland. By the time it arrived in 1849, the devastation of the Great Famine had reduced it to second most populous after Dublin. Cork's first train ran from Ballinhassig to Bandon a few months earlier.

Over the next 20 years the Cork, Bandon and South West Railway (1845), the Cork, Blackrock and Passage Railway (1850), the Cork, Youghal and Queenstown Railway (1854), and the Cork and Macroom Direct Railway (1861) started to throw out routes from Cork City across the County. Lines from Mallow to Kerry and Limerick to the west and to Tipperary and Waterford to the east and the Cork and Muskerry Railway (1883) complete the network, which is slowly reasserting itself through the redevelopment of closed lines and the reopening of closed stations.

Dublin City was circled by railway termini, Broadstone near St. Mary of the Angels, Amiens Street near the Pro-Cathedral, Westland Row near St. Andrew's, Harcourt Street near Whitefriar Street, and Kingsbridge near St. Paul's.

Likewise, as you can see on the above maps, Cork City was gradually circled by up to six railway termini. The first, at Glanmire Road, near St. Patrick's, for the Cork, Youghal and Queenstown Railway, and later also for the Great Southern and Western Railway, Albert Quay near Holy Trinity for the Cork, Bandon and Southern Coast Railway, nearby Albert Street for the Cork, Blackrock and Passage Railway, Capwell the South Chapel for the Cork Macroom Direct Railway, and Western Road near the Franciscans in Liberty Street for the Cork and Muskerry Light Railway. In this post I'll look briefly at Albert Quay, Albert Road and Holy Trinity.

Albert Quay Terminus

Albert Quay was re-named in 1849 in honour of the Consort of Queen Victoria of England on the occasion of the same visit when Cobh was re-named Queenstown. Now known as MacSweeney Quay in honour of the Republican Lord Mayor of Cork, the Quay contains the City Hall re-built after the Burning of Cork by British Crown Forces in 1921, and the terminus of the Cork, Bandon and Southern Coast Railway, opened in 1861. The station was linked to the Glanmire Road terminus by trams that ran over the iron bridge that you can see in the pictures. Trains stopped running into Albert Quay in 1961.

Albert Road Terminus

Just around the corner from the Albert Quay terminus is the Albert Road terminus of the Cork, Blackrock and Passage Railway, which was formerly a little further to the East, as you can see in the 1852, 1872 and 1893 maps. The Albert Road terminus opened in 1873 but closed to trains in 1932. While the Albert Quay building looks to me very like Broadstone Station in Dublin, the Albert Road building looks like a mix between the building that is now the Railway History Society at Heuston Station and some of the 'blind' platform walls on St. John's Road at Heuston Station.

Holy Trinity Church

A few minutes walk down the river from Albert (MacSweeney) Quay is the Capuchin House in Cork where the famous Fr. Theobald Mathew (1790–1856), the Apostle of Temperance, lived and laboured. The Church, which you can see from in front of the Albert Quay terminus, in a very un-Capuchin flamboyant Gothic, is the memorial to Fr. Mathew. The original church was more simple and the soaring facade was added in 1899. Hogan's great statue to Fr. Mathew at the start of Patrick's Street was unveiled in his honour in 1864. Interestingly, the Cork statue portrays him in the kind of street clothes that he would have worn but the statue in Dublin's O'Connell Street has him in his Capuchin habit.

White Scapular of the Most Blessed Trinity

An angel clad in white with a cross on its breast, is believed to have appeared to Innocent III who scantioned the foundation of the Order of the Trinitarians on 28th January, 1198. The scapular of the Confraternity of the Most Blessed Trinity, enjoying indulgences approved by decree of the Congregation of Indulgences on 12th August, 1899, is white with blue and red cross on its front protion, the longditudinal shaft of which is in red, and is ow wollen cloth. In order to obtain the indulgences of the scapular must be worn consistently. It may be blessed and invested by priests who have received the faculty from the General of the Trinitarians.

Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us!

The Child of Prague

Its replicas found in many Irish homes, the Child or Infant of Prague is an essential part of Irish Catholic Heritage and part of varied local customs for years, but more of that later. I recently joined the many pilgrims from all over the world and paid my first visit to the Child of Prague, in the Church of Our Lady of Victory. The Church is dedicated to Our Lady of Victory and St. Anthony of Padua and is the keeping of the Discalced Carmelites who returned to Church in 1993 after an absence of two hundred years.

The statue of the Infant Jesus originates in Spain and various legends surround it origins. It arrived in 1556 in Bohemia with Duchess Maria Manrique de Lara. It was gifted to her at the time of her marriage to a local noble. It was subsequently presented to the Discalced Carmelites in 1628 by her daughter.

In 1637, having suffered from the vagaries of war the Child was discovered in a corner of the Church minus his hands by Father Cyril of the Mother of God.  He is reputed to have heard the Child saying to him:

"Have mercy on me and I will have mercy on you. Give me hands and I will give you peace. The more you honour me, the more I will bless you."

New hands were made for the statue and the Church and people of Prague began to benefit from its blessings.

The statue represents Our Lord when a few years old. It has a wooden core with the surface made of modelled wax. One hand is raised in blessing whilst the other holds an orb with a cross. Its gold crown is a later addition. It has an extensive wardrobe of beautiful clothes and is dressed for the liturgical season by Carmelite Sisters of the Child Jesus. A coronation feast is held on the first Sunday of May each year.

 

Every souvenir store in Prague offers a plethora of copies of the statue but if you do visit please wait and support the the shop in the Church which offers a range of statues, medals, prayer cards and other goods. There is also a small museum in which you can see some of the stunning costumes with their amazing workmanship.

Irish Customs
The first copy of the statue was brought to Ireland in 1890 to St Joseph’s Monastery at Mount Carmel, Loughrea in County Galway and there are a number of Irish customs relating to the Child of Prague.

One custom was to keep a coin under a replica of the statue to ensure that the house was never without money. The second relates to the weather. Burying a statue or putting it under a hedge was considered to bring good weather and so was often done by brides the night before their wedding. In some areas custom said that the statue had to have lost its head before it would become effective in ensuring good weather, however, the decapitation had to happen by accident!

The Traditional Irish Wedding book gives three customs in connection with the Child of Prague. Firstly to place the statue under a bush and if when taken it out its head is missing the next day will bring good weather. The second is for it to be placed in the hallway of the bride's house with paper money underneath and finally to place it to one side of the door of the Church on the wedding morning.

 

It would be interesting to hear if readers are aware of other customs relating to the Child of Prague.

Mass for the Month of the Holy Rosary

The magnificent Church of the Most Holy Rosary, Abbeyleix, Co. Laois, was the scene of Mass in the Gregorian Rite this morning, the first day of the Month of the Holy Rosary. Last year, the Gregorian Rite was celebrated for the first time in the Church since the promulgation of the Missal of Pope Paul VI. A report of that Mass is available here.





The Parish Church of Abbeyleix is set on a hill above the village over-looking the old main Cork-Dublin road. Its architectural merit is remarkable, especially in the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin, although that part of Laois is particularly blessed with fine Churches. The most striking features of the Church are the Altars and rails; a series of stained glass windows representing the Joyful Mysteries (south transept), Sorrowful Mysteries (apse), and the Second Glorious Mystery (geographical eastern gable); and a cycle of frescos including decorative elements and lettering 'Hoc Est Corpus Meum' in the apse and most notably the figure of Christ in Glory surrounded by His Evangelists recumbent upon the Sanctuary arch and the apparition of the Sacred Heart over the Sacred Heart Altar and the apparition of Our Lady to St. Dominic to give him the Holy Rosary over Our Lady's Altar. Notably, over each of the Altars cherubs are painted by the artist, Peter Rogers, supposedly using his children as models.

The Church also contains one of the most remarkable items of ecclesiastical furnishing in the Diocese, a set of curved Sanctuary rails in carrara marble installed in the 1990s to facilitate passage around the new Altar. They are certainly the only set of Sanctuary rails in the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin, probably the only set in Ireland that have been installed since the publication of the Missal of Pope Paul VI.

Red Scapular of the Most Precious Blood

No special indulgences attach to the wearing of the Scapular of the Most Precious Blood, and in fact, members of the Confraternity may dispense with the wearing of it if they wish. The Scapular is red, one segment portraying the adoration of the Precious Blood by angels; the other portion, at the back, is merely a smaller piece of red cloth.

Blood of Christ, most worthy of all glory and honour, save us!