Jun 9, 2020
The Novena of the Sacred Heart is a very special time of the the year for us and with our recent challenges and lifestyle changes now is a great time for us to reflect and pray with each other during the Novena this year which is happening from the 11th-19th June (albeit behind closed doors) and finishing with the celebration of the Feast of the Sacred Heart on the final day. All our MSC’s will be participating in this year’s Novena online and you are more than welcome to join us during by watching our daily Masses live from the Sacred Heart Church in Cork. These Novena Masses will take place daily at 10.00 am and 7.30 pm, with a special Angelus session each day at noon.
SCHEDULE
THURSDAY 11TH JUNE – WELCOME TO THE UNIQUE NOVENAÂ Â Homilist Fr John Finn MSC
FRIDAYÂ 12TH JUNE –Â PRAYER BY YOUR FIRESIDEÂ Homilist Fr John Fitzgerald MSC
SATURDAYÂ 13TH JUNE –Â MARY AS MOTHER AND DISCIPLE Homilist Fr Des Farren MSC
SUNDAYÂ 14TH JUNE –Â CORPUS CHRISTI/PETITIONSÂ Homilist Fr Michael O’Connell MSC
       “Come to me all you who labour and are overburdened” Mt 11:28
          “This is my body given up for you. Do this in memory of me” Lk 22:19
MONDAYÂ Â 15TH JUNE – VOCATION & MISSIONÂ Homilist Fr. Alan Neville MSC
TUESDAY 16TH JUNE – FAMILY Homilist Fr. Seamus Kelly MSC
WEDNESDAY 17TH JUNE – REMEMBERING OUR DEAD Homilist Fr. John Fitzgerald MSC
THURSDAY 18TH JUNE – HEALING AND FORGIVENESS Homilist Fr. John Finn MSC
FRIDAY 19TH JUNE – FEAST OF THE SACRED HEARTHomilist Fr. Alan Neville MSC
Be part of this yearâs Novena to the Sacred Heart
This year’s pandemic has caused a devastating effect on us all and now more than ever is a good time to support those less fortunate and you can help us to help others by supporting our ongoing mission projects, and in gratitude for your contribution, we will be glad to remember your intentions at our daily Novena Masses. You can also submit your personal prayers and intentions online, and our MSC priests will remember your petitions specially throughout the course of the Novena.
Novena Prayer to the Sacred Heart
O Divine Jesus, who said,
“Ask and you shall receive”,
I kneel at your feet.
From whom shall I ask if not form you,
whose heart is the source of all blessings.
With a lively faith in you,
I come to ask…
Share your petitions silently with the Sacred Heart.
I admit I am the most unworthy of your favours, Jesus,
But this is not a reason for me to be discouraged.
You are the God of mercies and you will not refuse a contrite heart.
Look with pity on me,
I beg you, and your compassionate Heart
will find in my weakness a motive for granting my request.
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on me.
Amen.
SUPPORT MSC MISSION PROJECTS
May 26, 2020
Our friends at CroĂ Nua’s schedule for the Novena to the Sacred Heart in Galway.
Thursday 11th 10.00am Opening of the Novena Charles Sweeney MSC.
Theme: âNot our love for God but Godâs Love for us.â How can our faith in that God sustain us and give us hope at this time?
Friday 12th 10.00am Tony Horgan MSC.
Theme: âThe Meaning of the Sacred Heart Devotion in todayâs Covid 19 worldâ
Saturday 13th 10.00am Eileen Kelly
Theme: Our FamilyâMary and her struggles in family life.
Sunday 14th 10.00am Corpus Christi Patsy Kelly MSC
Theme: âChrist has no Body now but yoursâ
Monday 15th 10.00am and 7.30pm Patsy Kelly MSC
Theme: Forgiveness 7.30pm Service of Reconciliation
Tuesday 16th 10.00am Tony Horgan MSC
Theme: âThe picture of the Sacred Heart in the family home is a traditional, established practice.
What meaning and consolation can an image of the Sacred Heart have for a family in todayâs Covid 19 world?
(âto save the family is to save societyâ – Pius X)
Wednesday 17th 10.00am and 7.30pm Charles Sweeney
MSC Theme: Are we being called to see our life, our family, our world in a new way? Can our prayer become âTo see as Christ seesâ.
7.30pm Time for praying for our dead – remembering, forgiving, loving and praying for them.
Thursday 18th 10.00am and 7.30pm Tony Horgan MSC
Theme: âUnderneath the present dark world of Covid 19, healing continues to happen because of our continually changing relationship with Self, Others, God and Creation.
7.30pm An hour before the Blessed Sacrament. We bring to consciousness the healing power of Godâs presence in our lives and our world.
Friday 19th 10.00am Feast of the Sacred Heart Patsy Kelly MSC
Closing of the NovenaâTheme: âThe Human Heart of Christâ.
Jan 16, 2020
âThe invitation is open to all, so whatâs keeping you?â
As we begin to settle into the rhythms and routines of 2020, we look ahead to a year full of potential, with new opportunities just waiting to be discovered. Many of us will decide that this will be the year to do something different â and what better way to embrace the spirit of faith, hope, and love than by joining us on one of our 2020 MSC pilgrimages? This year, we will be going on pilgrimage to Fatima in May/June, and to Lourdes in September.
Every year, people travel with us on pilgrimage for different reasons. Some may be struggling with illness, grief, stress, or other personal challenges. Other wish to take part in a traditional pilgrimage journey with like-minded travellers, sharing stories, experiences, and reflections on life. Many wish to simply pray, reflect, and offer thanksgiving for their blessings.
The experience of pilgrimage is different for every individual; the major common denominator, however, is joy, and an awareness of something bigger, of something more. A sense of something special comes into being on a pilgrimage; the Holy Spirit moves amongst those making the journey, while strangers become friends and unite in the solidarity of faith. Community spirit comes out in force â no matter where you may find yourself in the world, the message of Godâs love overcomes all cultural barriers in a true celebration of faith, togetherness, and intimacy with God.
âA powerful, life-changing experience.â
Historically, pilgrims would leave their homes, their families, and all of their creature comforts, embarking on journeys that could stretch to hundreds of miles with nothing but what they could carry on their backs. Today, the circumstances of pilgrimage may be less extreme, but they are nonetheless powerful for it, and modern-day pilgrims continue to leave their homes and their daily comforts behind in the quest for spiritual fulfillment.
âPilgrimage is about freedom,â says Fr Alan Neville MSC. âItâs about walking to the horizon â and when you get there, you keep on going. Itâs about taking part in something that is at the same time enjoyable and profound. Iâve yet to meet one person who regretted making the trip. For every one of them it has been a powerful, even life-changing experience. The invitation is open to all, so whatâs keeping you?â
If youâd like to find out more about the pilgrimage experience, you are welcome to read all about our 2019 pilgrimages to Fatima and Lourdes. All are welcome to take the first steps towards another wonderful pilgrimage journey with us over the coming months, and make 2020 a year to remember.
******This yearâs Pilgrimages have been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic we hope to resume in 2021.******
Read more about our MSC Pilgrimages
Oct 14, 2019
The end of September marked the beginning of the 25th MSC General Conference, which took place in the city of Busan, South Korea.
Due to start on September 23rd, the opening of the Conference was postponed by a day due to a tropical typhoon passing through the south of the peninsula, which was the cause of a number of delayed and cancelled flights into Korea. Many Provincial Leaders were affected and had to find alternative means of transport as a result of the storm, including the Irish Provincial, Fr Carl Tranter MSC, who was fortunate enough to be able to get a bus from Seoul to Busan when his connecting flight was cancelled.
The Ametur MSC Facebook page shared a collection of âHEARTbitsâ from the Conference, snippets of prayer, meditation, and reflection from the gathering.
âOur being MSC doesnât call us to come out of ourselves. Coming out of ourselves is why we are MSC. This is the ecstatic nature of religious vocation, to go out beyond ourselves, as did Jesus, following him,â reflected Fr Chris Chaplin MSC.
âEveryone needs support from each other. Even leaders are not self-sufficient,â noted Br McKee, following a discussion on leadership. âEveryone has to engage in the transforming process so as to open up new possibilities and listening attitude is requirement.â
âWe should meditate in the gospel but that is not enough, we have to put it into effect. Look into the depths of the hearts, the inner depth of the heart.â
Renewed focus and energy for mission was another topic of discussion, with a focus on Pope Francisâ invitation to missionaries. âFrancis wrote letter to the members of the consecrated life, he told us to wake up the world; we have to be expert of communion, to go forth, to live the gospel radically and sincerely. We should meditate in the gospel but that is not enough, we have to put it into effect. Look into the depths of the hearts, the inner depth of the heart.â
âWe have a common mission,â it was noted, and âthe spirit that we are one big family. We need to LISTEN and not be AFRAID.â
âIn todayâs world, generative listening is prophetic. Let us make it a reality for all of us.â
The closing remarks of the Superior General, Fr AbzalĂłn Alvarado MSC, reinforced the sense of unity and mission that shone through during the Conference proceedings:
âThis morning the Gospel invited us to be leaders, but different from the leaders of a world that is often manipulative and inhuman. To be humble servants, forming ourselves and offering formation to be leaders according to the Heart of Jesus.
We have gathered here together, and we have listened to each other. Together we have co-created the atmosphere of this conference. We have tried to practice not only factual but empathic listening that has opened our hearts. And we have also experienced moments of generative listening, when we opened our will to listen to the life that was emerging from the depths of our confreres, and in this way we listened to the life that is emerging from within each MSC Entity, the older and the younger entities.
Here we have shared and deepened the need to live a leadership that must be for the present moment, with all that this present moment has to offer. Not a leadership lived out of nostalgia for a past that, although valuable, no longer exists. A leadership that listens more than it speaks. When it does speak, it should be the fruit of empathic and generative listening, and not simply after downloading.
We need to build bridges of communication and trust between us and among our entities. We would offer a great witness if we could learn in all our Provinces to feel that we are a WHOLE that is not simply the sum of the parts. My entity is neither better nor worse than any other.
We do not love what we donât know. How can we come to love each other more, to love the brother who comes to my province if I donât know anything about his culture?
We are aware that we are returning to our different realities, realities which today are lived in uncertainty and chaos.
In todayâs world, generative listening is prophetic. Let us make it a reality for all of us.â
Ahead of the Conference, Irish Provincial Leader Fr Carl Tranter wrote, âWe pray that this Conference will be a moment of grace for our entire Congregationâ â and indeed, it truly was, as our MSCs look ahead to the future with renewed hope.
Images via Ametur MSC on Facebook.
Read more about the 25th MSC General Conference from the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart Australia.
Oct 3, 2019
Each year, the arrival of September heralds an exciting time for the Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, as we embark on our annual pilgrimage to Lourdes.
This year saw another wonderful pilgrimage group embark on the well-trodden path to Lourdes on September 14th, for a five-night trip undertaken by the familiar faces of friends and new acquaintances alike. A total of 86 pilgrims travelled from Cork and Dublin, and the group swelled in numbers even more in Lourdes, as friends both old and new joined our MSC party.
The groupâs spiritual leader on this yearâs journey was Fr Charles Sweeney MSC, and he was joined by MSCs Fr Des Farren, Fr John Finn, Fr Timothy Gleeson, and Fr Michael OâConnell.
The pilgrimage began on Saturday with prayers at the High Stations of the Cross, led by Fr John Finn. Different pilgrims carried our banner from station to station in a lovely afternoon of peaceful reflection. Evening prayer took place in the Church of Seven Dolours.
Sunday morning dawned with a 7.30am Mass at the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, which was celebrated with English-speaking pilgrims from the USA and India. âThis was a very special time to be at the Grotto, as dawn broke and we watched the sun rise,â says Fr Michael. This was followed by breakfast, and a guided tour of special places connected with St Bernadette of Lourdes.
This yearâs pilgrimage was a special one, celebrating the 175th anniversary of the birth of St Bernadette of Lourdes, who was both on January 7th 1844. St Bernadette is widely known and loved for her experience of apparitions from Our Lady of Lourdes â âa small young ladyâ who appeared to Bernadette on 17 occasions in a niche in the rock at Massabielle, while Bernadette, aged 14 at the time, was caring for her familyâs flock of sheep. The Lady requested that Bernadette âgo to the priests and tell them to build a chapel hereâ, but it was not until their seventeenth meeting that âthe beautiful ladyâ identified herself to Bernadette. That chapel was to become what is now the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, the site of miracles visited by millions of people every year.
âIt was lovely to see the improvements made to the domain area,â notes Fr Michael. âThere have been new trees planted near the Grotto, improvements at the baths, new taps to wash your hands and face, and the candles have been moved to the opposite side of the river. There is also a special emphasis on prayerful silence.â
Holy Hour on Sunday night was led by Fr Charles Sweeney at the Chapel of St Maximilian Kolbe. âEveryone lit a candle, and we remembered and prayed for our deceased,â says Fr Michael. âThe healing service on Monday evening at the Upper Basilica was also very special.â
Monday also saw Mass at Bartes, where St Bernadette lived twice. Here, our pilgrims had the opportunity to venerate a relic of St Bernadette, and view a sample of her handwriting that has been preserved through the ages.
Tuesday afternoon brought prayers at the Lower Stations of the Cross, followed by a Rosary mediation at the Chapel of St Maximilian Kolbe. Wednesday morningâs Mass at the Bois St Francois at the City of St Pierre, or the City of the Poor, was another particularly lovely moment as Mass was celebrated in the open air beside the beautiful lake. âWe thought it was starting to rain at one point,â recalls Fr Michael, âbut it was just the wind shaking the rain off the leaves in the trees! The weather was wonderful on the whole, and it only rained at night.â
The return flights were not until the evening on the final day, which gave our pilgrimage group a full day at their leisure to revisit their favourite spots, and spend time in prayer by the river or at the Grotto â a perfect end to the journey.
âWe had another fantastic group of pilgrims this year,â says Fr Michael. âWe were especially blessed in our guitarist, Jerry, and his wife, Deirdre.â
From candlelight vigils to a beautiful outdoor Mass celebrated at the City of the Poor, this yearâs pilgrimage was a prayerful, grace-filled trip that left all involved with full hearts. All of our benefactors and mission friends were remembered in the prayers of our MSCs and pilgrims on this yearâs journey, and as always, we would like to thank everyone who participated for making this yearâs pilgrimage a resounding success.
If you would like to find out more about the annual MSC pilgrimage to Lourdes, please click here.
Sep 27, 2019
This yearâs annual Masses for deceased MSCs and Daughters of the Lady of the Sacred Heart will take place around the country in November, as we remember those who have gone before us in the light of the Lord.
Masses will take place on the following dates:
Sunday, November 3rd at 3.00pm:
- Sacred Heart Church, Western Road, Cork
- Woodview House, Mt. Merrion Avenue, Blackrock, Co. Dublin
- CroĂ Nua, Rosary Lane, Taylors Hill, Galway
Sunday, November 17th at 2.00pm:
- St Patrickâs Church, Ballybay, Co. Monaghan
We would like to invite you to pray with us during the month of the Holy Souls as we remember the MSCs and Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart who worked so hard to ensure that the Sacred Heart of Jesus is known and loved everywhere, and by everyone.
