Ordination of seven deacons a sign of hope for Irish Catholic church

In a time of great uncertainty around vocations in Ireland, the ordination to the diaconate of seven men on Sunday last in the National Seminary in Maynooth is a sign of hope. The seven (six of whom are pictured above) were ordained by the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin. They come from six dioceses around Ireland (Ferns, Meath, Tuam, Armagh, Kilmore and Dublin) and one from the Irish Redemptorist Province. A further six men were ordained deacons in the Irish College in Rome at Easter time.

Having these thirteen men prepare for priesthood in the next number of months will certainly give optimism and hope to others who might feel called to religious life and priesthood. This number, however, masks an underlying worrying trend in vocation numbers in Ireland. In a number of weeks we will become aware of the numbers who will begin seminary training and formation for the dioceses of Ireland and for religious congregations. It now looks likely that the numbers will be down again - for a second year in a row. While it is impossible to draw conclusions from statistics over such a short period, it should really focus the mind once again of those charged with promoting vocations in Ireland to immediately look seriously at their vocations strategies. Clearly, there is much work to be done because the strategies employed are not working very well and in some cases not at all.

It seems clear to me that there is a case to be made for all the interested parties concered with promoting vocations in Ireland (religious and diocesan) to come together and discuss planning for the future. It does not require a further 'Year of Vocation', but a planned, strategic and professional response to trends now becoming clearer.

See the full text of Archbishop Martin's homily at the diaconate ordinations here. A good analysis of the homily and the ceremony by journalist Sarah McDonald appears on the cinews website here.

Vocations Ireland launch 'ExploreAway'.

Any new initiative (especially in Ireland) that sets out to help people discern their call towards a religious vocation is to be heartily welcomed. So I am delighted to hear of the new project of Vocations Ireland who have launched a new programme which offers an opportunity to men and women aged between 21 and 40 years to explore religious life in a prayerful and reflective environment over a number of residential weekends throughout the year. Entitled 'exploreAway' the programme envisages that those considering the vocation of a sister, brother, priest, nun or monk would spend some time in quality discernment with the assistance of trained professionals in the field. The project has a website that is simple, helpful and clear and can be accessed here.

This new initiative is based loosely on the 'Compass' programme, based in the UK and which has been quite successful in attracting candidates to various forms of priesthood and religious life over the past number of years.

This new project deserves our prayerful support, and hopefully this venture will enourage all the various religious orders in Ireland to redouble their efforts at vocation promotion and discernment.

Glimpses of Dominicans from around the world...

Below are some images of Dominican provinces around the world, promoting the life and vocation of the Dominican friars in that region or country. These videos will give you a glimpse of the universality of the Dominican Order.

Firstly, a video clip made by the Argentinian Dominican friars:




The next video below shows the new Dominican pastor of St. Catherine of Alexandria Parish in St. Petersburg, the oldest Catholic parish in the city, celebrating the Easter Vigil and singing the exultet in Russian. The parish was founded in 1783, closed in 1938, and reopened only in 1992. The new pastor, Father Hyacinthe Destivelle, O.P., named after Blessed Hyacinthe Cormier, O.P., is a French Dominican and an expert in Orthodox theology.



The friars of the Saint Joseph province of Dominicans in the United States celebrate the feast of the translation of the relics of Saint Dominic in this extract below:



An unusual video from the Croatian Dominican friars!:

Irish Dominican friars to launch new 'prayer for vocations' initiative.

Irish Dominican Vocations is happy to announce a new prayer initiative which will be launched during the summer. Having commissioned an icon of Saint Dominic (pictured above) some time back, it is now complete and will provide the focus for this new prayer effort. The hope is to bring the icon to all the various churches and centres that that the Dominican friars have in Ireland for approximately a month at a time, inviting those who attend to set aside a period of time to pray specifically for Dominican vocations. It will also get our supporters and those attending our churches to think of praying regularly for vocations to the Order.

New prayer cards for vocations and posters will be available in the various locations as a help and guide for those involved in this new prayer initiative.

Irish Dominican Vocations is deeply indebted to the Redemptoristine nuns in Drumcondra, Dublin who accepted the commissioning of the icon and also to renowned iconographer Mihai Cucu.

Through the intercession of Saint Dominic, may this new initiative bear fruit.

Irish Dominican contemplative nun speaks about her vocation

Sr Mary Teresa Dunphy OP is a member of the community of the contemplative Dominican nuns in Drogheda, Co. Louth. She is preparing to make her solemn (perptual) profession next month (June 29th, 2011). In this video, she speaks about her vocation story, with a particular emphasis on discernment. In listening to her reasons for wanting to join the Domincan nuns, you will note that there is a universality about the vocational call, while everyone has a very different story to tell as to how they get there in the end. This talk was given as part of the annual Dominican family vocations day held in March of this year.

For more information on the Dominican contemplative nuns, please visit their website www.dominicannuns.ie or their blog www.dominicannunsireland.blogspot.com Irish Dominican Vocations asks you to remember Sr Teresa in your prayers as she continues her preparation for her solemn profession.

New vocations website for Irish Dominican friars - Vocations Sunday 2011

To coincide with Vocations Sunday 2011 and as part of our ongoing engagement with an internet presence, an (almost complete) dedicated vocations website has been launched for our province. DominicanFriars.ie is a traditional website with information about vocation and the Dominican Order, a collection of video and still images of important events of the province, with rolling news on the homepage to give browsers a live picture of what's happening or has been happening in our province. We will develop the website further in the near future adding history pages, more still image and video galleries, connections to our social media presences and so on.

Visit the website http://www.dominicanfriars.ie/ and let us know what you think. Irish Dominican Vocations thanks all who were involved in the setting up of this new website, and hopes that it will attract many new enquirers who are interested in the vocation of the Dominican friars in Ireland.

Lay Dominicans Ireland re-elect President at AGM

The annual general meeting of the Lay Dominicans in Ireland took place in Dublin this past weekend. During the meeting the delegates elected for a second term their outgoing president Geraldine Flanagan. Geraldine is a teacher by profession and has been a member of the Lay Dominicans for some years. During her first term as President, there has been growth in the number of enquiries about the vocation of the Dominican laity, and as evidenced by the number of new members at the AGM, there has also been significant growth. There are a number of chapters of Lay Dominicans throughout Ireland. Please refer to their website above for locations if you are interested.

Irish Dominican Vocations would like to congratulate Geraldine (pictured above) on her re-election, along with the new members of the Provincial Council. Geraldine has been a driving force behind the many instances of collaboration between the members of the Dominican family in Ireland and we look forward to strengthening that relationship into the future.