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
Feast of Christ the King (26th Nov) Matthew 25:31-46
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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.
- November 27, 2023
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Libermann Spiritan School, Templeogue – the newest of the 10 Spiritan schools in Ireland which cater for over 5,000 students – opened its doors on 4th September 2023. With a further intake of students the following month, the co-educational school, catering for autistic children (aged 4-18 years) with complex needs, now has a total of 30 students (in 5 classes)…
- 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.
- June 28, 2023
A Mass in the Church of the Holy Spirit, Kimmage Manor on 10th June 2023 marked the Silver (25th), Golden (50th) and Diamond (60th) jubilees of Ordination of thirteen Spiritans.
- March 15, 2023
Holy Ghost Mission Boxes were first used in Ireland in the 1930s. In the early 1950s they began to be distributed widely around the country, primarily to family-owned shops, chemists and pubs. In a sign of the times, mission boxes that served us so well for so long are now all but a thing of the past, due in part to the demise of many family-owned businesses…
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The Mission Awareness Programme (formerly known as ‘Mission Appeals’) has been an important aspect of the Province’s work for many years, giving us the opportunity to let parish communities in Ireland know about the work in overseas mission of confrères.
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:
