At the Dublin community, Fr. Mike Reaume, Fr. André Fétis, Bro. Fred Rech, Fr. Neville O'Donohue, Bro. Jim Contadino, Bro. José María Alvira and Bro. Gerry Mc Auley.

Fr. André (General Assistant for Religious Life) and Bro. José María (General Assistant for Education) attended the opening Mass for the St. Laurence College (Dublin, Ireland) school year.

The community in Dublin hosted two members of the General Administration of the Society of Mary in September; Bro. José María from Spain and Fr. André from France.  Both are seen hear following their involvement in the opening school Eucharist of St. Laurence College.  Bro. José María has responsibility for Marianist educational works throughout the world and in his address at the Mass he congratulated Bro. Fred Rech for his forty years service to the school in Dublin. 

Fr. André was a missionary in The Ivory Coast and Rector of the Marian Shrine animated by the Marianists in Abidjan.   Two summers ago he received a phone call telling him he had been elected by the General Chapter as Assistant to the Superior General and asking him to be in Rome within 48 hours!

While in Dublin, Andre met with the LIFE group at the school and was interested in linking their pastoral work with pastoral initiatives in other Marianists works.

Another celebration in Ireland was a belated birthday party Sept. 28 for Fr. Mike Reaume, who was in Mexico at the time of his 70th birthday in July. Fr. Mike (front) is shown with Dublin community members and the extended Marianist Family in Dublin, who gathered for Mass and brunch. Fr. Mike recently moved from Dublin to begin an assignment in the District of Mexico.

Bro. Pat McDaid visits before his ordination

Bro. Pat Mc Daid, a regular visitor to Dublin, stopped over in July to mark the end of his seminary studies and his return to the USA.   Pat was ordained a deacon with five other Marianists in Rome last January and will be ordained a priest on August 23^rd in St. Louis.  Within days of this big event he will celebrate the opening school liturgy at Villa Angela St. Joseph, Cleveland, Ohio, a school where he has taught.  He will then travel to his new community in San Francisco. 

Pat preached the Sunday he was in Dublin.  He spoke of how over the years he has had to learn the virtue of meekness.  As a young student he was a keen hockey player and he believed he could help win with a good ‘bodycheck’ (stopping the opponent!) but with time he learnt there was more to his game.  In the gospel of that Sunday Jesus says he is ‘meek and humble’ and Pat suggested we who follow Him must learn to rely less on physical power and more on what is revealed by grace.

Thank you Pat and all the best in your new ministry.

The 15 religious, along with retreat director Fr. George Cerniglia and musical assistant Ms. Susan Buckley, prayed the liturgy, attended two sessions of input each day and spent time in prayer while enjoying the stunning views at Star of the Sea Retreat House Mullaghmore, Co. Sligo.

For the Holy Week Triduum the group joined the wider church at the Franciscan Friary at Rossnowlagh, across the county border, in Donegal.

The spirit of fraternity during the retreat was anticipated by the days prior to travelling west when the feasts of St. Joseph, St. Patrick and Palm Sunday were celebrated at the increasingly crowded community residence in Dublin. In true Marianist fashion, attention was paid to both aspects of these celebrations: the liturgical and the dining tables.