Our Lady Queen Of Peace Church Dublin - Merrion Road Church Dublin D4

Parish Pilgrimage to the Holy Land, 13-21 September 2017

The inaugural pilgrimage of Lady Queen of Peace to the Holy Land was a wonderful experience for everyone. Photo album here. Some videos here.

As one of our pilgrims put it:

We walked where He walked, sailed where He sailed, felt the same desert sun on our backs as He did. I defy anyone to come to this holy place and not be moved to tears, buoyed up and strengthened in their faith in God made man.

We spent 3 nights in Tiberias and 5 nights in Jerusalem and visited the major holy sites in Galilee and in Jerusalem and surroundings.

We also went to the very impressive Saxum Visitor Centre, which is nearing completion. This Saxum visit helped a lot to give an overview of the history of salvation and to bring the Gospels alive.

The consensus was that through our visit to the Holy Land we were able to seek, find and to love Christ at a deeper level.

For more background on the Holy Sites, see eBook In the Footprints of our Faith, which can be downloaded in various formats here.

Very Rev Seamus Canon Moore PE (7 April 1933 - 31 July 2017) RIP

It was with great sadness that we learned of the death of our much-loved Fr Seamus, who became Parish Priest of Our Lady Queen of Peace in 1991 and served the people of Merrion so faithfully over so many years. Even after his retirement, as Pastor Emeritus, he continued this service and celebrated Mass in our parish several times a week and looked forward to meeting and chatting with our parishioners -his friends- after Mass.

He will be fondly remembered for his kindness, his readiness to help, his sense of humour and his characteristic and endearing smile.

Archbishop Martin received his mortal remains at Our Lady Queen of Peace on Wednesday 2 August and in his homily highlighted inspiring aspects of Fr Seamus' almost 60 years of faithful ministry as a priest.

Fr Brian O'Sullivan, a classmate, was main celebrant at the Funeral Mass on Thursday 3 August. A large number of other classmates and local clergy, as well as many parishioners attended on both days.

A Month's Mind Mass for Fr Seamus was celebrated by Fr Fergus on Saturday, 2 September and the large congregation attested to the affection of parishioners for him.

Maureen and Kay, sisters of Fr Seamus, and other members of his family have asked us to express their deep gratitude for the love shown him during his 26 years in Our Lady Queen of Peace, and especially in the last few months of his life.

(See RIP.ie Death Notice here).

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis

Fr Michael Fagan celebrated Mass in Our Lady Queen of Peace, 26 July 2017

Fr Michael Fagan, from Washington DC was ordained for the Opus Dei Prelature last summer by the then Prelate, Bishop Javier Echevarría, since deceased. On his return to take up an appointment in Dallas, Texas he stopped off in Dublin to celebrate Mass in Our Lady Queen of Peace.

His father, Pat, grew up in Drimnagh and then moved to the United States, where he met and married Theresa (Gallagher). He has been back in Ireland frequently, lecturing on Family and Pro-Life issues. 30-year-old Fr Michael is the sixth of eight children.

The Mass was attended by many of his Irish relations as well as parishioners and members of Opus Dei. In the course of his homily, Fr Michael promised to remember our parish and our country in his prayers and asked that we would also pray for him.

More photos here.

Thank you for the generous donation of €6,673 for East Africa on 22 & 23 July 2017

We are very happy with the very generous response in Our Lady Queen of Peace to Archbishop Diarmuid Martin's appeal for support of the National Church collection for Trócaire relief in East Africa.

The appalling situation facing the people has reached a critical stage. There are severe food shortages in South Sudan, Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia brought about by drought and conflict.

Over half the population of Somalia (6.2 million people) is experiencing food shortages and malnutrition. There have also been major outbreaks of cholera across the country. South Sudan is on the brink of famine, with drought and conflict affecting millions. Millions of people in south-eastern Ethiopia and northern Kenya are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

On behalf of Irish Catholics, Trócaire is doing all it possible can – currently helping over 150,000 people across the region with emergency food, water and sanitation.

Adoration on Easter Monday, 10.30am - 9pm

We are very happy in Our Lady Queen of Peace to be part of the Jesus Youth Awakening initiative.

It comprises of 100 days of Eucharist Adoration in various European countries for the following intentions:

Revival of the Faith in Europe
Vocations to the priesthood, religious, consecrated and family life
Persecuted people all over the world

It is a wonderful opportunity to pray for these intentions and to continue our own thanksgiving for the graces of Easter.

Syro-Malabar Mass in honour of St Joseph, 18 March 2017, at 14.00

Parishioners from India held a special Mass in honour of St Joseph, in the Syro-Malabar Rite, on Saturday 18 March at 14.00.

After Mass, despite a strong wind and a little rain, the statue of St Joseph and a relic of St Alfonsa were brought in procession through the Church grounds.

More photos here

National Transport Authority proposal to run road through Our Lady Queen of Peace car park

The National Transport Authority has recently published a Public Consultation Document, for a section of the Sutton-Sandycove Cycleway, which includes their Scheme to fix the Merrion Gates bottleneck.

See Appendices to Public Consultation Document here.
See Irish Times report here.

Public Consultation with National Transport Authority

Our Lady Queen of Peace engaged planning, engineering and traffic consultants and made a comprehensive submission to the National Transport Authority.

Our objective was to seek a better solution for the Merrion Gates problem - while not depriving our parishioners of irreplaceable ground-level parking spaces, when attending Mass in our church.

The Emerging Preferred Option has a very significant impact on Our Lady Queen of Peace, taking over half of the side carpark. It would also seriously affect Phase 3 of our parish development plan: to provide a day-chapel, offices & meeting rooms, wheelchair-friendly WCs and easier access to the Upper Room for older people. Map and satellite photo with overlay of proposed road here.

Bishop of Lodwar (Kenya) celebrated the 12 noon Mass on Sunday 25 September 2016

Bishop Dominic Kimengich of Lodwar, Kenya, whom Fr Fergus met in Nairobi last month (August 2016), celebrated the 12 noon Mass in Our Lady Queen of Peace on Sunday 25 September 2016.

Among other things, Bishop Dominic wished to express his gratitude for all the support our parishioners have given since 2011 to the Queen of Peace Primary School for Girls in Lodwar. Once again, on this occasion, generous donations were made for the project.

The bishop visited us briefly in the Spring of 2011 and we were very happy to welcome him back to our parish.

Mass in honour of St Josemaría Escrivá, Saturday 25 June 2016 at 12 noon

This year Archbishop Diarmuid Martin celebrated the annual Mass honouring St Josemaría, Founder of Opus Dei.

The large congregation, which filled the church, included people of all ages and of many continents, illustrating the universality of the Church and the scope of the charism of St Josemaría.

In his homily (downloadable below) Archbishop Martin stressed the universal call to holiness and the essential role of lay people in the spreading of the "Joy of the Gospel".

"Saint Josemaría had a special gift in leading men and women into a form of holiness which would become fruitful through a life lived within the realities of daily life".

After Mass, Archbishop Martin kindly made time to meet large numbers of those attending, including many parents with young children, whom he greeted very warmly.

See Photo Album here.

Downloads

Confirmation of Benjamin Bisonga, Saturday, 11 June 2016

Warmest congratulations to Benjamin on receiving the seven-fold gifts of the Holy Spirit at his Confirmation in Our Lady Queen of Peace on the Memorial of St Barnabas. A native of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Benjamin began attending Sunday Mass in our church, with the assistance of the social worker at the hostel near the RDS he initially lived in. He joined our parish choir and continues to be a member, even though he now resides in Dublin 24.

Benjamin made his First Holy Communion in our church a couple of years ago and was prepared for Confirmation by Catherine O'Flynn, who was his Sponsor. Among the Congolese friends who attended were Fr Etienne Ntale, currently working in Belgium, some who travelled from Norway, and others now based in Drogheda and Sligo. It was a lovely occasion, much appreciated by the usual 12 noon Mass congregation. See photo album here.

We wish Benjamin well in his Leaving Certificate exams. He plans to go to Krakow in July for World Youth Day 2016 with a group from Citywise Education, based in Tallaght. The parish was very happy to facilitate a collection to help fund the wonderful opportunity for these students to be with Pope Francis in the company of up to a million other young people.