ALL SAINTS OF IRELAND - 6 NOVEMBER

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN NOVEMBER

Saints celebrated on the 6th of November

WELCOME!

ALL SAINTS OF IRELAND

Feast in Ireland

ENTRANCE ANTIPHON

Let the peoples proclaim the wisdom of the saints: Let the assembly announce their praises: their name shall be remembered for ever. 

Holy Mass readings: Ecclesiasticus 44:1-15; Psalm 14, response: "Happy the man who has placed his trust in the Lord"; Gospel: Luke 6:17-23

HE WAS NOT CANONISED

Fr John Murphy who in 1798 was martyred and buried in Ferns and many other Irish martyrs and saintly Christians were not canonised. A great part of the answer may lie in the fact that the canonisation process is so long and complex that only a very small percentage of saintly people are canonised.

GOOD AND SAINTLY LIVES

In canonising this relatively small number the Church is not saying that these are the holiest or only holy people in the world. Over the centuries a countless number of people have lead good and saintly lives, their faith and love known only to the small Christian community of which they were members. We ourselves may have encountered them in our own lives and indeed been influenced by their faith and the evident goodness of their lives.

The Church has always been aware of the many martyrs and saintly people who were never canonised and in an effort to remedy this to some small extent, representative groups in different parts of the world have been beatified. One such representative group was the seventeen Irish martyrs from the 16th and 17th centuries. They were beatified by Pope John Paul II. The amount of information we know about these seventeen varies. About some, such as Archbishop Dermot O’Hurley of Cashel, we know quite a lot; about others, such as the Wexford Martyrs, we know little more than their names and the fact of their death. These Wexford Martyrs were named as Matthew Lambert and sailors – Robert Tyler, Edward Cheevers and Patrick Cavanagh who died in Wexford 1581.

This article was published in “Saint Martin Magazine”, paper edition, issue May 2014 - 📷 Dingle, Co. Kerry, Ireland, c. 1918

PRAYER:

Lord God, as we celebrate the power of the Gospel that you displayed in the Saints of our land, work for us, we pray, new wonders of your grace: that the faith may grow stronger among us, and true charity bind us in peace. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

⬅️ List: Irish Confessors and Martyrs