17.03.2017
Cathedral Choirs Sing in Harmony at St Patrick’s Eve Celebration
A celebration of unity on the eve of St Patrick’s Day saw the Church of Ireland and Catholic Archbishops of Dublin lead a Festal Choral Evensong in Christ Church Cathedral. The choirs of Christ Church Cathedral and St Mary’s Pro Cathedral sang together to reflect the theme of a shared desire for Christian unity.
Archbishop Michael Jackson and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin both delivered an address during the service and gave the blessing together at the end.
In his address, Archbishop Jackson noted that St Patrick was trafficked, was a slave and had been taken by brute force from his own country. But he responded to the call of the Irish by returning to the country where he had been humiliated, betrayed and ill used.
He said the service on the Eve of St Patrick’s Day took place faithfully and ecumenically and in recognition that St Patrick’s Day itself is a celebration of Irishness worldwide. The Irish diaspora across the world had often made an impact for good. Other people found their sense of community infectious and this has been our gift to the world, he stated.
“So what has gone so tragically wrong at home, and has been so abjectly wrong as a concealed wrong that has incriminated the victim in the ways that abuse so cruelly and successfully does, in such a way that lives are destroyed, facts are distorted and individuals are depersonalized? We cannot call it anything other than The Mother and Baby Home Scandal,” Archbishop Jackson stated. He said St Patrick’s Day 2017 would be different in Ireland as a result of the recent revelations and said listening must be our voice in St Patrick’s–tide 2017.
You can read the text of Archbishop Jackson’s address here.
In his address, Archbishop Martin said our God is a God of love. Time and time again in Scripture we see God go beyond his own anger, the Archbishop said. He added that God doesn’t react to our turning away from him in sin but recoils and ultimately turns to us to offer his mercy. The same ideas are seen in St Patrick’s writings with St Patrick turning back towards those who sinned against him. When writing to the warrior king Coroticus, who killed many newly converted Christians, he gave him the opportunity of repentance.
“Sadly so often today we are confronted with only a shallow caricature of St Patrick. He was a man of God, a man of prayer and a man with a deep sense of God’s love and forgiveness. There can be no authentic celebration of the feast of St Patrick which fails to see the depth of his life and spirituality,” Archbishop Martin stated.