Charity Number CHY 00076 | Registered Charity Number (RCN): 20000172
OUR SPIRITAN FAMILY
One Heart, One Spirit
The Spiritan Rule of Life
by Fr Martin Kelly, Irish Provincial of the Spiritans (16th Nov 2022)
Sunday 19th November 2023
4th Sunday of Easter (21st April) John 10:11-18
Latest: Our Missions Overseas Kenya – Insight from Fr. Brendan Carr C.S.Sp
Venerable Francis Libermann embarked on an extraordinary faith journey. Born in 1802 into an orthodox Jewish family in France's Alsace region and given the name Jacob, he was destined to follow in his father's footsteps as a rabbi. However, his pathtook an unexpected turn when his studies led him to the New Testament and Christianity. At Christmas 1826, he was baptized Francis Mary Paul.
Delayed by illness,his pursuit of the Catholic priesthood took a total of no less than fifteenyears. He was finally ordained in 1841. The years leadingto his ordination served as a period of grace and maturation for him. He becamea trusted advisor to many seminarians and others seeking spiritual growth.Through his own trials, and joys, he developed unwavering confidence and aprofound belief that the Holy Spirit was guiding human affairs.
Libermann's concept of "practical union with God" empowered him and others to recognize the divine in everyday life, facing challenges with confidence and faith.
His spirituality, rooted in responsiveness to the Spirit, proved invaluable during the development of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit under the protection of the Immaculate Heart of Mary as well as obtaining official approval from Rome for their apostolate to people of the margins.
Spiritan Mission Ireland
The Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Spiritans), in collaboration with the IrishEpiscopal Conference, is delighted to announce that once again we are offering the Orientation Course for Incoming Pastoral Ministry Workers, through the Spiritan Mission Ireland office. This course has been instrumental in recent years in helping overseas personnel adapt to the challenges and nuances of ministry in Ireland.
Buildingon the positive feedback from previous participants and fruitful discussions with stakeholders, we're excited to present the programme to you. As in previous years, the course will run at the end of August and the beginning of September. The residential aspect of the programme remains unchanged, as it hasproven highly beneficial for participants.
The upcoming course is scheduled for two weeks, from August 26th to 30th and from September 2nd to 6th, 2024, inclusive. It willbe held at 'An Tobar' Spiritan Retreat and Spirituality Centre, Ardbraccan, Navan, Co. Meath.
We believe that the residential format fosters deeper engagement with the course content and is less disruptive to participants' current pastoral responsibilities. To ensure the effectiveness of the programme, we plan for an engagement with a minimum of 12 participants and a maximum of 15. This will enable optimal participant engagement using an Adult Education methodology.
For detailed information on content, cost and the application process, interested participants are encouraged to contact me by email: ronan.barry@spiritanplt.ie or phone: 0879419826 (WhatsApp) for application details.
For more details, please download the Brochure.
The deadline for receipt of applications is June 30th 2024.
Shouldyou have any queries or require further information about the programme, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Ronan Barry
Course Coordinator
Sunday 19th November 2023 marks the 7thAnnual World Day of the Poor (WDP).
The theme for World Day of the Poor 2023 is from the Book of Tobit: “Do not turn your face away from anyone who is poor.” (Tob 4:7). “When we encounter a poor person, we cannot look away, for that would prevent us from encountering the face of the Lord Jesus,” Pope Francis wrote.
In his message for the World Day of the Poor 2023 Pope Francis listed an array of cultural phenomena that prevent people from caring for the poor: greater pressure to live affluently, a tendency to disregard suffering, virtual reality overtaking real life and a sense of haste that prevents people from stopping to care for others. He offered the parable of the Good Samaritan, who stops to help a man in the street beaten by robbers, to counter the hangups many people have against helping the poor.
The parable “is not simply a story from the past; it continues to challenge each of us in the here and now of our daily lives,” he said. “It is easy to delegate charity to others, yet the calling of every Christian is to become personally involved.”
Pope Francis’ full message is available here from the Vatican website.
- March 11, 2024
- January 15, 2024
Fr Alain Mayama C.S.Sp. (above), who succeeded Fr John Fogarty C.S.Sp. as Superior General of the Spiritans in late 2021, was in Ireland from 30th December 2023 to 4th January 2024.
Born in Brazzaville and a member of the Province of Congo, Fr Alain was ordained a priest in 2000, and served in Cameroon, Gabon and the US before returning as Provincial…
- December 10, 2023
The Spiritans have secured two emergency grants, each to the value of €15,000, from Misean Cara for support to pastoralist and farmer families in Kenya who have been affected by recent flood damage. The floods follow El Niño rains that began in early November and which have now affected a number of countries in east Africa.
- December 4, 2023
Welcome to Abraham Akpen Jov (Nigeria NNE) and Maxwell Atuguba (Ghana), doing MA studies in International Peacebuilding, Security & Development Practice, and Crispin Mbumba Kawanga (DRC) doing English language studies. All three are resident in St Mary’s community.
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Participating, along with a total of sixteen others, in this two-week course was a wonderful opportunity for me to learn and to share. It increased my motivation and satisfaction as a minister of God and has pushed me to serve. The course enabled me to accept the complexity of the Irish Church, integrating myself into this new reality so that my ministry in Ireland is the mission of God and not ‘the mission of oneself.’…
- November 20, 2023
‘Sheryar’* sought international protection in Ireland in 2012 due to fears of his for his life in his native Pakistan. He spent the next six years living in different ‘Direct Provision’ centres. I was introduced to him in 2018 by Spirasi’s befriending office. By then he had left his accommodation to stay with friends in Dublin as his appeal against a deportation order, which meant that he might be deported at any time, had been rejected by the Irish Supreme Court. (* Not his real name)
- July 21, 2023
Annmarie Reid and Gráinne O’Rourke represented The Spiritans at the annual summit of The Wheel in Croke Park, Dublin in May 2023. The day was filled with interesting sessions exploring the big topics currently affecting the voluntary and community (charity) sector.
We have 17 en-suite bedrooms 13 single and 4 twin rooms. We supply bedlinen and towels in all rooms and hair dryer and iron on request. Houses are non-smoking, but there is a designated smoking area.
Workshops at An Tobar focus on wellbeing (meditation, mindfulness, ecology and holistic living etc.). Retreats focus on spiritual accompaniment, school retreats, and prayer and spirituality.
Every Sunday the Spiritan Community celebrate a reflective Eucharist at 10:30am - all are welcome. There are also ritual celebrations at key moments in the Liturgical year and in the cosmic cycle.
An Tobar regularly offers ecology focused workshops and courses. As well as this, groups/individuals can expect to find welcome, hospitality and healing & hope in our beautiful woodlands & walkways.
An Tobar is the Retreat & Spirituality Centre of the Irish Spiritan Province. It is located in Ardbraccan near Navan where the novitiate for Spiritan Brothers was based in the 1950s / ’60s and where the Province maintained a working farm for many years. Today the grounds form a pleasant backdrop to the Centre which is overseen by a small Spiritan community and team.
The Centre, which has been operational since the 1980s, offers:
