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
5th Sunday of Lent, St Parrick's Day (17th March) John 12:20-33
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
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.
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: