Rock of Cashel, County Tipperary

2017

As part of a visit throughout Ireland this October, one of the brothers of Taizé will be present for prayers and meetings in various towns and cities. Here are several of the prayers which will be open to all:

 7:30pm on Friday 13th in Saint Paul’s, Arran Quay, Dublin

 7:30pm on Tuesday 17th in Clonard’s Church, Belfast

 7pm on Thursday 19th in St. Mary’s Oratory in Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth

 8pm on Friday 20th in Ss Peter and Pauls Cathedral, Ennis

 4:30pm on Sunday 22nd in Honan Chapel, at University College Cork

 7:30pm on Monday 23rd in the Blessed Edmund Rice Chapel in Waterford

2012

As part of the 50th International Eucharistic Congress, held in Dublin from 10-17 June 2012, Bro. Alois was invited to give the main catechesis on Monday. With the support of young people from Dublin, he led prayer that same evening in the Youth Space of the Congress.

Here is the text of the catechesis, entitled "A Passion for the Unity of the Body of Christ":

2011

One of the brothers of the community was in Ireland in September-October 2011. He shares some of his impressions:

Over the space of ten days my trip to Ireland took me to four corners of the island, beginning in Dublin, then with stops west, in Ennis, south, in Cork and New Ross and finally north, in and around Belfast. Each evening a meeting and prayer brought together people from the surrounding area. In a number of these places, prayers with Taizé songs are held on a regular basis. The days were spent speaking with young people in schools and university chaplaincies as well as parishes.

The hospitality and generosity of the Irish are well-known but astounded me nonetheless at each step of my journey. Again and again I met people who were happy to be giving their time and whatever they have for others, whether it was the students of a school in East Belfast raising money to support famine victims in east Africa, pastoral workers in county Clare who accompany the young, university students in Galway working on a telephone hot-line for children at risk, or people in the ministry for the deaf in Dublin.

Crises in Church and society have rocked the country in recent years and have provoked much soul-searching for many. And yet everywhere I went I found people who were grateful to be living out their faith, however they could. I was reminded of Saint Paul’s words when he described how faith leads us to live not for ourselves but for the one who gave himself for us. Throughout the past, the Irish have drawn life from the Gospel and done so much to communicate that life to others, and this in the face of adversity and even far beyond their shores. No doubt today’s challenges are new and formidable, but from what I saw I would say that a fire burns in the midst of them.