Yesterday, while visiting
my local hospital in County Kilkenny I had occasion to drop in to say a little
prayer in the oratory which is a small, single room hidden away down a long
corridor. In this little room, about the
size of a small12-square-metre bedroom, patients, staff and visitors drop in
for a few moments to pray in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. Saint Luke’s
Hospital was founded as a public hospital in 1941 and was staffed by religious
sisters among others for many decades.
According to a notice
at the entrance, Mass is celebrated there three days a week and Holy Communion
is brought to the wards on two days a week including Sunday. Due to a gradual
reduction in chaplaincy services and shortage of priests in the locality and diocese there is
no full-time chaplain and it is no longer possible
