The Parish of Saint Catherine & Saint James with Saint Audoen
Canon Mark Gardner Tel: 01 454 2274 Mobile 087 266 0228
Email: markgardner@eircom.net
Review Distribution: Margery Bell Tel: 01 4542067
Website: cja.dublin.anglican.org
Organist: Derek Moylan

Service times every Sunday
10.00 Eucharist, St Audoen, Cornmarket. (Parking in Francis Street is free on Sundays)
11.30 Eucharist (and Sunday School, in term time) St Catherine & St James, Donore Avenue.
(Family Service and Church Coffee, usually Second Sundays)

Fish-shambles Street
Fish used to be sold from stalls set up in this historic street below Christ Church Cathedral. At one time the Deanery was here. Lamentably every old building westward to Winetavern Street has been destroyed. Happily on the eastern side a very ancient house has survived in the care of the Casey family. Pat and Ena used to make their way up the hill to events in the Cathedral in the early days of the ecumenical movement, an exceptional move on the part of this remarkable family. They greatly regretted the closure of St Michael’s and St John’s Catholic Church, now the Smock Alley Theatre. Daniel O’Connell rang the bell there to mark Catholic Emancipation in 1829. Their daughters became ringers at St Patrick’s cathedral, where the funeral service for Patricia Casey took place when she died at a young age, as did her husband Edward Murphy, after whom the library at the National College of Art and Design is named. On both occasions Canon Mark Gardner officiated, and more recently attended the requiem for the last of the older generation, Mícheál Casey, in Adam & Eve’s, which he quietly but strongly supported.
The historic house is now occupied by a much younger member of the family, James Casey, Architect. ‘Having grown up on Dublin’s Henrietta Street and having spent a considerable portion of his childhood on Fishamble Street, James has developed a keen interest in conservation works and, in particular, how sensitive and contemporary interventions can greatly contribute to the survival of the historic fabric of the city.’ jamescaseyarchitect.ie

Yea the sparrow hath found her an house.
There was a memorial service for Major Donald Mills at St Laserian’s Cathedral Old Leighlin recently, and I officiated with the Dean, Tom Gordon, who is married to Mark Duley who used to be Director of Music at Christ Church. The crusty old Major thought very highly of Tom, unexpectedly so. His adult children were there, and his second wife. Lovely sunshine and great warmth in the hoary old Cathedral and in the Churchyard where his ashes were interred next to the burial place of his first wife. The river running by has been reduced to a trickle among the bare rocks. A colourful House Martin flew about the Church. It settled on the flowers encircling the urn containing the ashes on a small table in front of me. Someone observed that this was the Major set free to fly. Another thought that this was his first wife come to greet him!
Mark Gardner

Estelle Nic Éannaí is on Facebook
I’m a yoga teacher and mother of four, living and working in the Donore Avenue area, running the RocknRoll Dublin Half-Marathon in aid of Donore Community Drug & Alcohol Team. This fundraising goes towards programmes like Art Therapy, Acupuncture and even Yoga for DCDAT participants. DCDAT is free and welcomes everyone and anyone who wants to drop in even just for a cuppa. It’s at the heart of our community, which has been ravaged by drugs and social deprivation. So, I’m looking for sponsorship, as much as you’re able to afford. No amount is too little. Thank you!
Update: We’re now at €1,010. Huge thanks to each and every one of you for donating.

Praise for Choral Evensong
Meredee Berg of Outreach magazine whose interests include the church and culture, singles and marriage ministry, and a passionate pro-life advocate, writes.
Despite growing secularism, the church has seen attendance grow over the past several years with the help of this centuries-old liturgical tradition. Choral Evensong is delivered mostly through song, offering a restful, reflective time to worship God and pause from the busy-ness of life. The choir performs live and is often highly skilled and well-trained.
Many cathedrals and churches like Westminster Abbey recorded a thirty-percent or more increase in Evensong attendance since 2008. The website ChoralEvensong.org was even launched in order to facilitate the growing desire to learn about evensong and find church services that offer the weekly prayers. Guy Hayward, editor of the Choral Evensong website, told Religion News Service, “A lot of people don’t want to directly engage with the church, they don’t want to go in through the front door, as it were. They are looking for a side entrance and choral evensong provides that.” The widespread appeal could also be due to a much-needed slowing down that many millennials and others crave in a fast-paced, instant-gratification culture. Its origins, being rooted in the Scripture, doctrine and poetry, give worshippers a sense of history and reverence for tradition; something that can be lacking in many worship services we find today.
Neil McCleery, assistant chaplain at one of Oxford’s oldest chapels, recently said it is rare to see attendance below 150 at a weekend evensong, contradicting the idea that church is facing inevitable decline. “We get a lot of people who perhaps come to faith or return to faith by being drawn into that worship experience,” he said. “I do wonder if it might be related to the trend for mindfulness in this era where we are constantly bombarded from the Internet, from media, from mobile, which are hard to get away from.” The varied musical forms and passages of spoken liturgy mixed with moments of contemplative silence lends balance and completeness to the form of the service, according to ChoralEvensong.org. The high percentage of music is what distinguishes it from other church services for most people and appeals to locals and tourists alike.
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