Sunday Services
10.00 Eucharist, St Audoen, Cornmarket (free parking, Francis Street, on Sundays).
11.30 Eucharist, St Catherine & St James, Donore Avenue (Service of the Word Second and Fourth Sundays), and Sunday School, in term time.
Get well soon!
We wish Bernard Woods, Diocesan Lay Reader, a complete and a speedy recovery after a fall. While walking along Dawson St Bernard tripped and suffered a double fracture of the upper right arm. Living on his own in Donabate and unable to drive we are glad to know that family and friends have rallied round to help him.
St Audoen’s
Dr Raymond Refaussé of the RCB Library is planning the launch of Maighread Ni Mhurchadha’s edition of the St Audoen’s vestry records in early evening Monday 11.
Christmas and Epiphany in Review
St Catherine & St James’ Church and also St Audoen’s were thronged for the Carol Services, beginning with a combined IX Lessons and Carols including the children of the Sunday School. The Church was decorated and festive fare was provided by volunteers, to whom we say very many thanks. St Catherine’s NS Carol Service was a very happy end-of-term event for 136 children and there was standing room only for many of the adults! A congregation of over eighty on Christmas Day was another indicator of the potential of the Parish. We took the rather bold decision to have St Audoen’s Carol Service at Epiphany, in the post-Christmas lull, using a modern Church of England form. The result was heartening. Pals Singers and the Conservative Club Choir led a larger gathering than we had expected in seasonal hymns and Epiphany carols followed by wine and mince pies in the Visitor Centre, kindly made available by the Office of Public Works.
St Catherine’s Thomas Street
I travelled from St Catherine & St James’ Church Donore Avenue to St Catherine’s Church Thomas Street to meet Paddy Heron, who works with the young people of that Church and the surrounding area. As well as children’s ministry during the Sunday service there is a ‘Kids Club’ on Sunday afternoons. The value of this ministry was brought home to me forcefully as on my way I encountered hundreds of darkly dressed people lining the Avenue and many others following a towering hearse drawn by black horses approaching St Teresa’s Church, next door to St Catherine’s NS where three siblings attended as little children, not long ago, two of them now dead.
At one time it was not acceptable to say that illegal drug use should be legalised, but I think I have heard senior members of the Garda Síochána say something of the sort in response to recent gang warfare. It would seem a constructive way to begin to take the power and the income from those who have become powerful and wealthy through dealing with drugs, and to prevent more and more of our young people from being drawn into a life of crime, a slippery slope for so many whose young lives have been cruelly cut short.
Gáirdín Dóchais
A line from the poem ‘Tháinig long ó Valparaiso’ by Monsignor Pádraig de Brúncame to mind as I read about the young people from Donore Avenue travelling to Darjeeling: ‘Ám an dóchais, tús mo shaoil’ ‘A time of hope, the beginning of my life.’
Mark Gardner
Scouting in Donore Avenue
Scouting has played a big part in the life of the Donore Avenue area for over 80 years. Our group was originally founded in 1928 by a curate in St. Theresa’s Church, Fr Valentine Burke and Mr Jack Giltrap. Over the years hundreds of boys and girls have enjoyed the adventure and friendship that scouting brings.
Our group, the 35th Dublin, Donore Avenue, Scouting Ireland, at present caters for over 120 boys and girls and is a very active multi-denominational group. Anne Browne our Group Leader leads a team of young, fully trained, active and enthusiastic leaders in five sections.
Our Beaver section caters for boys and girls from 6 to 8 years and meets on Wednesday nights from 19.00 to 20.30. Our Cub section meets on Mondays from 19.00 to 20.30 and caters for boys and girls from 8 to 11 or 12 years. The Scout section meets on Thursdays from 19.30 to 21.45 and caters for boy and girls from 11 or 12 to 15 or 16 years. The Venturer section caters for boy and girls from 15 or 16 to 18 or 19 years and meets on Tuesdays from 20.00 to 22.00 and the Rover section, for over 18s and under 25s meets on Wednesdays from 20.30 to 22.00.
All meetings take place in our Scout Den situated off Arbutus Avenue, Parnell Road, and leaders would be happy to meet any parents interested in their children joining our group. The activities in each section are tailored to suit the age groups and range from handicrafts, first aid, hiking, camping, campfires, games and many more as well as outings to many places of interest.
On 27 December last, 13 Venturers and 6 adults from the group travelled to the Darjeeling area of India to work in an orphanage for underprivileged children. They have been fundraising for the last 18 months, to make a contribution to the orphanage and build a sensory garden and play area for the children called Gáirdín Dóchais. You can follow the blog at http://35thflameofhopeproject.wordpress.com/
In 2013 our group will be celebrating our 85th anniversary, that’s 85 years of service to the parish and the community and the group is in such good health there is no reason why the Scouts should not be still flourishing in Donore Avenue in another 85 years!
John Lawlor
