Of holy things

A chance visit to a parish church in the Loughboy area of Kilkenny City provided an interesting insight for me into church layout and symbolism. The church of St Fiacre is located beside a busy shopping area and access road on the outskirts of the city in the parish of StPatrick’s. The church building is in what might be styled avant-garde design typical of many Catholic churches constructed in the 1970-1980s. It appears, from online sources, that this church was opened around 1991.  It is arranged in a theatre or fan style with the focus on the  light coming from the sanctuary area.  The sanctuary area feels very open and accessible with minimal clutter. Still, some important and holy things are kept there including the Altar, an imposing and very large wooden cross, the Tabernacle, the lectern, the presider’s chair, the baptism font and, unusually, a box (or Ambry) containing three types of holy oil:

Eucharist in the life of Blessed Edmund Rice

The image to the left is that of an Icon of Edmund Rice created by the Irish artist Desmond Kyne, which was unveiled in Liverpool, England, in 1986. Edmund is depicted 'in prayer before the living God. The Star of David and the descending triangle of the Deity direct the viewer towards him, showing Edmund in adoration before the Eucharist, represented in imagery that is both muted and powerful'.

Blessed Edmund Rice (1762–1844), who is remembered today, was a Kilkenny man from the Callan district. Over the course of his life he was a businessman, husband, widower, father of a child with disabilities, advocate for the poor, and the founder of two religious congregations devoted to education: the Christian Brothers and the Presentation Brothers.

I had the good fortune to be educated at a Christian Brothers' school in Rathfarnham, County Dublin, from 1968 to 1974. Although vocations to the Brothers had begun to decline from the mid‑1960s and, as with other religious orders, there was a significant departure of members from religious life, I was taught by four different Brothers during my schooling.