Sunday Newsletter

Masses Today

6.30: (Vigil) Patrick Tyrell, (Anniv).
11.00 Martin & Bridget Murray, (Anniv).
6.30: Martin & Nora Flaherty, (Anniv).

As I Was Saying...

You will observe that a lot of time and effort went into preparing the Church for the Harvest Festival. This was a true communal effort, as was the harvest of old.

Some of you may recall that, when the final sheaf of corn had been saved, the celebrations began in earnest. It was a true community celebration, because the harvesting had been done by the neighbours. The celebrations consisted of dinner, drinks and lots of dancing! The idea of a liturgical Harvest celebration never entered the Catholic tradition in Ireland. While still relatively rare, the Harvest Festival is only now gaining ground here.

The practice of a ritualised harvest celebration has deep roots in antiquity, predating even Old Testament times. Old Testament writers, such as the prophet Isaiah, associated the harvest festival with 'great rejoicing':

They rejoice before you as at harvest time,
As men make merry when dividing spoils. (Is. 9:2b).

So why this gap in Irish Catholic tradition? The gap is all the more surprising in a predominantly agricultural society. The English Anglican Church on the other hand, despite its industrial environment, has established the Harvest Festival at the heart of its liturgical calendar. Its sister Church, the Church of Ireland, has followed that same path.

However, the modern Roman (Catholic) Missal does contain a 'Harvest Mass', as indeed did the old Tridentine Catholic Missal. So, within the general Catholic tradition, the Harvest Mass was always recognised. But, in the particular case of Ireland, it has never been promoted or availed of.

Why this strange oversight? There are three possibilities: (a) In England, industrialisation threatened to break the bonds between the people and the land. (A satisfactory understanding of sacred scripture is so dependant upon a familiarity with rural and pastoral realities). The Harvest Festival represented an attempt to keep these bonds alive. Industrialisation bypassed Ireland. Hence, the same need for a Harvest Festival was not present. (b) It is also possible that the Harvest Festival fell victim to the good old Catholic principle: if the Protestants are promoting it, it is by definition suspect and best avoided! (c) The 'harvest dance' was an intrinsic feature of the Irish harvest celebration.

For generations, the Irish bishops were obsessed with dances. They issued a joint pastoral on these evils in 1925: The occasions of sin and sin itself are the attendants of night dances in particular. To say nothing of the special danger of drink, imported dances of an evil kind, the surroundings of the dancing hall, withdrawal from the hall for intervals, and the dark ways home have been the destruction of virtue in every part of Ireland(!)

The Irish Catholic clergy may have concluded that the liturgical celebration of the harvest could be seen as an endorsement too of the 'abhorrent' harvest dance, where that second great evil, intoxicating liquor, flowed freely! While the Harvest Festival would not be openly condemned, it certainly would not be promoted. For far too long, the Church of Ireland had the (dance) floor to all to themselves!

-Dick Lyng

"Harvest in Quotes..."

Harvest

This time of the year mind worried
About the threshing of the corn and whether
The yellow streaks in the sunset were for fine weather.
The sides of the ricks were letting in; too hurried
We built them to beat the showers that were flying
All day. 'It's raining in Drummeril now,'
We'd speculate, half happy to think how
Flat on the ground a neighbour's stooks were lying.
Each evening combing the ricks like a lover's hair,
Gently combing the butt-ends to run the rain,
Then running to the gate to see if there
Was anybody travelling on the train.
The Man in the Moon has water on the brain
I love one! but my ricks are more my care.

An old woman whispered from a bush: 'Stand in
The shadow of the ricks until she passes;
You cannot eat what grows upon Parnassus -
And she is going there as sure as sin.'
I saw her turn her head as she went down
The blackberry lane-way, and I knew
In my heart that only what we love is true -
And not what loves us, we should make our own.
I stayed in indecision by the gate,
As Christ in Gethsemane to guess
Into the morrow and the day after,
And tried to keep from thinking on the fate
Of those whom beauty tickles into laughter
And leaves them on their backs in muddiness.

-from Patrick Kavanagh, "Temptations in Harvest".

Choir CD Soars

Photographed by Joe O'Shaughnessy (in the PDF version of the newsletter) at the recent launch of the Augustinian Choir's CD, "To Sing is to Pray Twice", are Yvonne Daly, Ita Lennon, Sonny Molloy, Anne McDonagh and Pat Lillis.

Last weekend we reported here on the launch by the Rev'd Patrick Towers of our choir's CD, "To Sing is to Pray Twice". With great pleasure we report this week that its sales have soared beyond all our expectations. Yvonne Daly, on behalf of the choir, asked me to print the following note of thanks to you all:

The Choir would like to thank the Augustinian Community, especially Fr. Dick Lyng, for all their help and support over the past several months while making our CD. Thanks also to Tom Kenny who generously hosted the launch in the Kenny Gallery, to our sponsors, and to all those people who came to celebrate with us on such a wet winter's night. Your support was very much appreciated. Remember, the CD is still available in the Church Office and makes a wonderful gift for those at home and abroad.

All Souls Night

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