Our heartfelt thanks to all who participated in our 2026 Novena to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, which took place from Monday, August 31st to Tuesday, September 8th at the Sacred Heart Church on the Western Road, Cork, and was led by the wonderful Fr Patrick Younge OFM.
Fr John, Fr Patrick, and Fr Alix celebrate the 2026 Novena to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, at the Sacred Heart Church on the Western Road, Cork.
It was a great blessing to welcome mission friends and parishioners, both old and new, to the Sacred Heart Church for this year’s Novena to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. A remarkable number of people also tuned in online, with over 10,000 people joining us in prayer via our live stream over the course of the nine days, reminding us of the extraordinary spirit of our extended Sacred Heart family, at home and across the world. It is always a real reminder of what a blessing it is to be part of this great sense of community, and of something bigger, a movement towards hope and faith in today’s troubled world. “People might say that Novenas don’t last,” reflected Fr John Fitzgerald MSC, “but there’s always somebody who wants to come to pray.”
“There’s a lot involved,” Fr John continued, “in the altars, with the teas, with the readings and singing, and everything else. Everybody makes a great effort, and it is always very much worth it.”
We always look upon our annual Novena to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart as a very special time of the year, a blessed time dedicated to peaceful prayer and reflection before we come into the darker days of late Autumn and Winter, and it is with truly grateful hearts that we came together once again to celebrate the sacred tradition of prayer to our Blessed Mother. As Fr John said in our opening Mass, “We are praying for you all, with you all, with an eye to where Our Lady of the Sacred Heart is in our lives.”
The theme of year’s Novena to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart centred on Mary’s Journey in Dark Faith: Following the life of Mary in the Gospel, and this year was led by Fr Patrick Younge OFM, a member of the Franciscan Order. “The burning love of God which burned in the heart of Mary is our reflection during these few days,” Fr Patrick reflected in our opening Mass.
Walking us through the Scriptures over the nine days, Fr Patrick brought us to Our Lady as she is presented in the Bible. “We can see how Fr Patrick read the Gospels and sat with them and prayed with them, and brought them back to life for us,” said Fr John in our closing Mass. “He also brought the spirituality of Our Lady alive to us, and acknowledged her life in our life today, and our life in her association with the Risen Jesus Christ.”
Each year, the MSC Novena to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart offers a great sense of peace and comfort to all who take part, as we bring our personal intentions before the merciful heart of our Holy Mother – “a gentle, good, caring, and loving mother to us all,” as Fr Patrick reminded us. We extend our heartfelt thanks to Fr Patrick and everyone who took part in what was a truly blessed occasion this year, and for your ongoing friendship and support throughout the year. We end with Fr Patrick’s prayer that Our Lady of the Sacred Heart “may warm our hearts in our love of God”. God bless you all.
