Winter 2015

The Face of Mercy

L e t te r fr om th e F r at er n it y o f
M a r y, I m m a cu l a te Qu e en - I r e l an d
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped;
Therefore my heart exults,
And with my song I shall thank Him.
Psalm 28

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 Winter 2015

Editorial
Dear friends,
A blessed Christmas to you from the community!
Pope Francis announced earlier this year, that there would be a Jubilee
Year of Mercy, a year in which he hopes we will have a living
experience of the closeness of the Father. In this way mercy is the
theme that runs throughout this Christmas edition of the newsletter.
The Jubilee Year of Mercy opens on December 8th the Feast of the
Immaculate Conception and in preparation we include here extracts from
both the announcement and the Bull of Indiction issued by Pope Francis
and the Jubilee prayer. This message of mercy is of course found
throughout the teachings of The Church Fathers and the previous popes
and we have drawn from this treasury to share some of these with you
here.
Providentially this Year of Mercy falls within the Dominican
Jubilee Year which celebrates the 8th centenary of the Order. Mary
Magdalen who was shown much mercy, is known as the Apostle of the
apostles and was declared Protectress of the Order from its beginnings.
From amongst the many Dominican saints, we present two here: St
Dominic himself, in whom the kindness and compassion of the Saviour
shone so clearly; St Catherine of Siena ardent apostle who holds a special
place in the heart of the community.
We are all called to holiness and the saints are examples and
witnesses for us on our journey. With this in mind this year we had a
childrens All Saints Party. Not only was it a welcome alternative to the
usual Halloween celebrations - it was one that renewed us all in the joy
of the Gospel and the call to holiness ... and great fun!
We take this opportunity to thank Cardinal Barbarin particularly for
encouraging the community to root its life and spirituality in the
authenticated sources of the Church and for his help in initiating the new
phase for the community which began in 2011 which led to us
establishing a new association here in Ireland, and Archbishop Martin for
establishing the association and supporting it and its mission. We are still
living in Hampton and we continue our mission of hospitality here while
we look for another residence. In January 2016 we will be celebrating the
first anniversary of this new association and give thanks to God for his
great mercy and many blessings.
In this time of Advent we turn to Mary, Holy Queen, Mother of
Mercy, and join our prayer with that of Pope Francis asking her to make
us worthy to contemplate the face of mercy, her Son Jesus.

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Saints Sent to preach the Gospel

St Dominic (1171 - 1221)

St. Dominic set out in faith in answer to his call to
"Go and preach. He did this as an itinerant pilgrim,
and it was with a keen sense of divine mercy,
moved by compassion for sinners and love of the
Church that he was a preacher of grace.
Compassion, more than any other virtue, is what the
witnesses testified to during St Dominics process
of canonisation. The chroniclers say that it was
through the example of his word and action that
Dominic had such success in converting the
Albigensian heretics in the preaching mission at the origin of the Order.
A prayer attributed to Bl. Jordan of Saxony is addressed to St Dominic
in this way:
Your strong love burned with heavenly fire and God-like zeal. With
all the fervour of an impetuous heart and with an avowal of perfect
poverty, you spent your whole self in the cause of the Apostolic life.
At a General Audience in February 2010 Pope Benedict XVI spoke
about St Dominic, quoted this prayer and said he considers that these
words give a complete picture of St Dominic in that he always spoke
with and of God with love of God and love of neighbour going hand
in hand. St. Dominic was canonised in 1234.

St Catherine of Siena (1347 - 1380)

Urged by the love of Christ St Catherine tended to
the poor and sick, worked for the conversion of
sinners, strove to encourage reform and bring
peace to the troubled situations of the Church and
the world of her time.
At a General Audience on November 24th 2010
Pope Benedict XVI spoke about St Catherine of
Siena. As he closed this teaching he prayed Let
us learn from Catherine of Siena to love the
Church with courage, intensely and sincerely.
And for this he encouraged each one of us to make our own the words
of St Catherine which are to be found in the Dialogue of Divine
Providence at the end of the chapter that speaks of Christ as a bridge
flung between heaven and earth:

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 Out of mercy you have washed us in his Blood, out of mercy you have
wished to converse with creatures. O crazed with love! It did not
suffice for you to take flesh, but you also wished to die! O mercy! My
heart drowns in thinking of you: for no matter where I turn to think, I
find only mercy! (St. Catherine of Siena, Dialogue, Chapter 30).
St Catherine of Siena was canonised in 1461 and declared a Doctor of the
Church in 1970.

T he Jubilee Year which celebrates the 8th Centenary of the Order of

Preachers founded by St Dominic was officially opened by Fr Bruno
Cadore, the Master of the Order, on the 7th November and will extend until
21st January 2017.

Why these dates? On 11th February 1217, a

Opening on 7th Nov 2015.
This is All Saints of the Order, a feastday
which celebrates almost 400 blesseds and
saints, sons and daughters of St Dominic,
who grew in holiness in the Order he
founded.
Closing on 21st January 2017
There were 4 symbolic dates to choose
from for the closing date of the Jubilee
which were those of the successive bulls of
Pope Honorius III which concluded with
the official recognition of the Order.
On 22nd December 1216, a first bull
recognised the brothers of Saint-Romain as
a group of canons living in Toulouse (and
serving a church dedicated to St Romain),
but which said nothing of their activity.
st
On 21 January 1217, a second bull
designated these brothers as Preachers.
This is the date which was retained for the
Jubilee, because this bull specified the reason
for being of this community: preaching.
In this way then the brothers of Saint-
Romain were not canons who had preaching
as one activity amongst others. Instead,
preaching was their main activity and it .
justified their very existence.
third papal bull asked all
bishops to welcome the
Order of Preachers. This
then was the decisive name!
In reality, this group of
missionaries from that time
onwards constituted a new
religious Order in the Church.
The Pope noted two significant points.
Firstly, the way of life was founded on
poverty. Dominic believed this to be so
important that it appears in his short and
famous testament: Have charity, keep
humility, possess voluntary poverty.
Secondly, their sole ministry was that of
preaching, something which distinguished
them from priests in parishes and monks of
the other religious orders.
On 26th April 1218 finally, a fourth bull
specified that their mission was confided to
them by the pope himself.
And so, three years after the handful of first
companions were installed in Toulouse they
had become a religious Order with a strong
identity: fully dedicated to the preaching of
the Kingdom and oriented towards a
universal mission.

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 Be merciful as the
Pope Francis

Father is merciful.
Pope Francis and The Jubilee Year of
Mercy

Pope Francis has announced a Jubilee Year

of Mercy which will begin on December
8th, 2015 and extend to November 20th, 2016. The official opening of the Jubilee
will be marked by the ritual opening of the Holy Door of Mercy in the Basilica of
St. Peter, on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, and for the first time in the
history of the Jubilee tradition, there will also be an opportunity to open a Holy
Door The Door of Mercy in individual dioceses around the world which will be
designated in the Cathedral or in a specific church; and in shrines of particular
importance. This Holy Year will close on November 20, 2016, the Solemnity of Our
Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.
But what does it mean to have a Jubilee Year of Mercy and why has Pope Francis
inaugurated it?
When Pope Francis announced this Year, he called it an Extraordinary
Jubilee which has at its centre the mercy of God: a Holy Year of Mercy. He made
this announcement at the Penitential Liturgy on the eve of the Fourth Sunday of
Lent and on that occasion the Pope spoke of the Sacrament of Reconciliation
which enables us to draw near to the Father with trust and have the certainty
of his forgiveness. He reminded us that the Father is truly rich in mercy and
gives it in abundance to those who call to Him with a sincere heart; he urged us
not to forget that God forgives all, and God forgives always. Let us never tire of
asking forgiveness.
The reason for this Jubilee and Pope Francis hope is that the Jubilee will be a
living experience of the closeness of the Father, that the faith of all believers will
be strengthened and that in this way we will in turn be more effective witnesses
to it in the world. Here below are extracts from the Bull of Indiction:

A living experience of the closeness of the Father

Jesus Christ is the face of the Fathers mercy. These words might well sum up
the mystery of the Christian faith. Mercy has become living and visible in Jesus
of Nazareth, reaching its culmination in him. The Father, rich in
mercy (Eph 2:4), after having revealed his name to Moses as a God merciful
and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and
faithfulness (Ex 34:6), has never ceased to show, in various ways throughout
history, his divine nature. In the fullness of time (Gal 4:4), when everything
had been arranged according to his plan of salvation, he sent his only Son into
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 Year of Mercy
the world, born of the Virgin Mary, to reveal his love for us in a definitive way.
Whoever sees Jesus sees the Father (cf. Jn 14:9). Jesus of Nazareth, by his
words, his actions, and his entire person reveals the mercy of God
...We need constantly to contemplate the mystery of mercy. It is a wellspring of
joy, serenity, and peace. Our salvation depends on it. Mercy: the word reveals
the very mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. Mercy: the ultimate and supreme
act by which God comes to meet us. Mercy: the fundamental law that dwells in
the heart of every person who looks sincerely into the eyes of his brothers and
sisters on the path of life. Mercy: the bridge that connects God and man,
opening our hearts to the hope of being loved forever despite our sinfulness
(Par. 2).

Mercy: the bridge that connects

God and man, opening our hearts
to the hope of being loved forever
despite our sinfulness

..My thoughts now turn to the Mother of

Mercy. May the sweetness of her
countenance watch over us in this Holy
Year, so that all of us may rediscover the joy of Gods tenderness. No one has
penetrated the profound mystery of the incarnation
like Mary. Her entire life was patterned after the May the
presence of mercy made flesh. The Mother of the
sweetness of her
Crucified and Risen One has entered the sanctuary of
divine mercy because she participated intimately in the countenance
mystery of His love... watch over us in
...At the foot of the Cross, Mary, together with John, the this Holy Year, so
disciple of love, witnessed the words of forgiveness that all of us may
spoken by Jesus. This supreme expression of mercy
towards those who crucified him show us the point to rediscover the joy
which the mercy of God can reach. Mary attests that the of Gods
mercy of the Son of God knows no bounds and extends tenderness.
to everyone, without exception. Let us address her in
the words of the Salve Regina, a prayer ever ancient
and ever new, so that she may never tire of turning her merciful eyes upon us,
and make us worthy to contemplate the face of mercy, her Son Jesus (Par. 24).
Bull of Indiction available online at:http://www.iubilaeummisericordiae.va/content/gdm/en/giubileo/bolla.html

Photo top left: On 29th November, in anticipation of the Jubilee Year, Pope Francis opens the first Jubilee
Door of Mercy in Bangui, capital of the war-torn Central African Republic on the last leg of his African tour
Image right: Christ and the Good Thief, by Tiziano Vecellio (1477-1576)
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 S he [Our Lady] opens the abyss of God's mercy to
Year of Mercy

whomsoever she wills, when she wills, and as she wills, so

that there is no sinner however great who is lost if Mary
protects him. All men: past, present, and to come, should look
upon Mary as the means and negotiator of the salvation of all
ages. St Bernard

L
St Bernard
et no one mourn that he has fallen again and
again; for forgiveness has risen from the grave.
St. John Chrysostom, Paschal Sermon

T he thief who received the kingdom of heaven, though not as the reward of
virtue, is a true witness to the fact that salvation is ours through the grace and
mercy of God. All of our holy fathers knew this and all with one accord teach that
perfection in holiness can be achieved only through humility.
Humility, in its turn, can be achieved only through faith, fear of God, gentleness
and the shedding of all possessions.
It is by means of these that we attain perfect love, through the grace and
compassion of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory through all the ages.
Amen. St John Cassian, the Institutions

S tephen prayed for his persecutors, who had not been able even to listen to the
Name of Christ, when he said of those very men by whom he was being stoned:
"Lord, lay not this sin to their charge" And we see the result of this prayer in the case
of the Apostle, for Paul, who kept the garments of those who were stoning Stephen,
not long after became an apostle by the grace of God, having before been a
persecutor.' St. Ambrose of Milan, Concerning Repentance Book 1

N owadays however, the Spouse of Christ prefers to make

use of the medicine of mercy rather than that of severity.
She considers that she meets the needs of the present day by
demonstrating the validity of her teaching rather than by
condemnations. Not, certainly, that there is a lack of fallacious
teaching, opinions, and dangerous concepts to be guarded
against and dissipated. But these are so obviously in contrast
with the right norm of honesty, and have produced such lethal
fruits that by now it would seem that men of themselves are
inclined to condemn them, particularly those ways of life
which despise God and His law or place excessive confidence
in technical progress and a well-being based exclusively on the
comforts of life. They are ever more deeply convinced of the
Saint John XXIII paramount dignity of the human person and of his perfection
as well as of the duties which that implies. Even more
important, experience has taught men that violence inflicted on others, the might of
arms, and political domination, are of no help at all in finding a happy solution to the
grave problems which afflict them.
Pope John XXIII, Opening Speech of the Second Vatican Council, 11th October, 1962

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 T

Year of Mercy
he religion of the God who became man has met the
religion (for such it is) of man who makes himself God.
And what happened? Was there a clash, a battle, a
condemnation? There could have been, but there was none. The
old story of the Samaritan has been the model of the spirituality
of the council. A feeling of boundless sympathy has permeated
Blessed Pope Paul VI the whole of it. The attention of our council has been absorbed
by the discovery of human needs (and these needs grow in
proportion to the greatness which the son of the earth claims for himself). But we
call upon those who term themselves modern humanists, and who have
renounced the transcendent value of the highest realities, to give the council
credit at least for one quality and to recognize our own new type of humanism:
we, too, in fact, we more than any others, honour mankind.
Blessed Pope Paul VI, Last General Meeting of the Second Vatican Council, 7th December 1965

H e who sees me, sees the Father (cf. John 14:9)

It is "God, who is rich in mercy whom Jesus Christ
has revealed to us as Father: it is His very Son who,
in Himself, has manifested Him and made Him known to
us. Memorable in this regard is the moment when Philip,
one of the twelve Apostles, turned to Christ and said:
"Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied"; and
Jesus replied: "Have I been with you so long, and yet you
do not know me...? He who has seen me has seen the
Father." These words were spoken during the farewell
discourse at the end of the paschal supper, which was
followed by the events of those holy days during which
confirmation was to be given once and for all of the fact
that "God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with St John Paul II
which he loved us, even when we were dead through our
trespasses, made us alive together with Christ."
Pope John Paul II, Encyclical Dives in Misericordia, November 1980

T he Lord took his wounds with him to eternity. He

is a wounded God; He let himself be injured
through his love for us. His wounds are a sign that he
understands and allows himself to be wounded out of
love for us. These wounds of his: how tangible they are
to us in the history of our time! Indeed, time and again,
he allows himself to be wounded for our sake. What
certainty of his mercy, what consolation do his wounds
mean for us! ... And what a duty they are for us, the
duty to allow ourselves in turn to be wounded for him!
Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI, Homily on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 15, 2007.

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All Saints Party
Halloween is a contraction of All Hallows Evening, or in other words All
Saints' Eve, the vigil of the feast of All Saints. This feast is dedicated to the saints
of the church, commemorating all those, known and unknown who have attained
the beatific vision in Heaven. We decided this year to celebrate this beautiful feast
of light by having an All Saints party for the children and invited each child to
come dressed up as their favourite saint. It was a simple affair with goodies and
traditional games like pass the parcel, musical chairs, a guess the saint
competition and action songs to learn. The results were stunning! How proud the
children were to represent their favourite saint and the joy that emanated from their
bright faces was tangible! We certainly hope to do it again next year and invite you
to do likewise. Let us celebrate the light of Christ in our saints rather than the
darkness! Kate

One of the great watchwords that Trinity and each other. When we
came to characterize the thinking gathered at Hampton on All
of the Second Vatican Council was Hallows Eve, we celebrated this
communio or communion. central reality and wonder of our
One aspect of this great faith.
communion that is worth We dressed up as saints not only
celebrating is the life of the Saints to remind ourselves of our friends
who have entered most perfectly in heaven but also to remind
and entirely into this great ourselves that this is our destiny,
communion of love with the Holy to become totally in communion
with God and each other as the
Saints are in Heaven. Celebrating
their heroic lives, their great acts
of love in small and big things
recall us to the one thing
necessary: to live lives full of love
for God which includes lives full
of love for each other. What was
most striking of the evening
together was the joy, the
innocence, and the love that
reflect just a hint of what the
saints share in eternity with the
St Dominic Guzman source of all joy, all innocence, all
10
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love. A night like this in Hampton experience of Church that is vital

called us back to basics, to the
true things that will make us
happy and fulfilled. It is this
Fraternity Activities
for our children to experience,
vital for us to experience and
which puts us in touch with God.
Brother Jesse OP

O when the saints go marching in.

The All Saints party was an this world

opportunity for parents to mingle before us. I
and the children to befriend each believe in the
other. We had games and dancing existence of
and lots of party food .We had God and
guess the saint with Br Jesse OP, goodness and
and a beautiful story about St that He is
Anthony of Padua and a decade of more
the rosary near the candle lit statue powerful
of Our Lady. We had action dances than any
to catchy songs and of course we darkness or
all marched around to the popular evil. I
song O when the saints go couldnt bear St Tarcissius
marching in. my small
I suppose as a Catholic parent I feel innocent child, who has been given
that in the rearing of children today to me by God to mould and
we have to be counter cultural. In a nurture, and whose ultimate
sense, in our destination is Heaven, not to be fed
celebration with all that is good. I find that my
of children are growing-up before my
Halloween eyes and I only have these few
we were precious few years with them to
returning it instil values, love of life and to
to its bestow role models before their
Christian eyes who they should strive to
Catholic imitate.
roots, in our When the saints go marching
imitation of in...I want to be in that number
the holiest with my husband and children and
people who all my family and friends in tow!
St Francis and St George have walked Ciara

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 Pilgrimage Walk in the footsteps
of St Laurence OToole
Other Events

"T he Church in the British Isles will only begin to

grow when she begins to venerate her own Saints." - thus
prophesied a saintly Orthodox monk called Saint
Arsenios of Paros who died in 1877. For a time in the
early 20th century devotion to the indigenous Saints of
Ireland was strong and the local Church did indeed
flourish but at present we
have allowed the spiritual
legacy of our own Saints to
be eclipsed by other
concerns and in consequence ignorance of their
lives and characters flourishes, with our Church
the poorer for it.

I t was partly to recover some of this spiritual legacy that a few of us from
Galway, who had enjoyed walking the Camino and Paris-Chartres in
recent years, conceived the idea of commemorating the feast of St. Laurence
OToole by walking from Glendalough to
Christchurch and the Pro-Cathedral in
Dublin. We were enthusiastically
supported in this undertaking by all at
the Fraternity. A
group of nine of us
began the walk early
on Saturday 14th
November in heavy
rain having
celebrated Mass for the feast that morning at the Dublin
Dominicans. Not everyone was in a position to continue
all the way to Christchurch but all remarked that they
received the grace to find the journey worthwhile in the
spirit, in spite of the challenging walking conditions. The
Fraternity had presented a slideshow and documentary
on St. Laurence on the
Friday night which was factually and spiritually
most informative.

I t is hoped to make the walk an annual event,

with perhaps a small question mark over
when the best time of the year to stage it is.
Brian Harrington
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 Prayer of Pope Francis for the Jubilee
L

Jubilee Prayer
ord Jesus Christ,
you have taught us to be merciful like the heavenly Father,
and have told us that whoever sees you sees Him.
Show us your face and we will be saved.
Your loving gaze
freed Zacchaeus and Matthew from being enslaved by money;
the adulteress and Magdalene from seeking happiness only in created things;
made Peter weep after his betrayal,
and assured Paradise to the repentant thief.
Let us hear, as if addressed to each one of us,
the words that you spoke to the Samaritan woman:
If you knew the gift of God!
You are the visible face of the invisible Father,
of the God who manifests his power above all by forgiveness and mercy:
let the Church be your visible face in the world,
its Lord risen and glorified.
You willed that your ministers would also be clothed in weakness
in order that they may feel compassion for those in ignorance and error:
let everyone who approaches them feel sought after,
loved, and forgiven by God.
Send your Spirit and consecrate every one of us with its anointing,
so that the Jubilee of Mercy
may be a year of grace from the Lord,
and your Church, with renewed enthusiasm,
may bring good news to the poor,
proclaim liberty to captives and the oppressed,
and restore sight to the blind.
We ask this of you, Lord Jesus,
through the intercession of Mary,
Mother of Mercy;
you who live and reign with the Father
and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.

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 The Catechism of the Catholic Church provides us with teaching on the Sacrament of
Catechism
Reconciliation, mercy and sin. Here below, you will find some of the articles on these
subjects.
Let us place the Sacrament of Reconciliation at the centre once more in such a way that it will
enable people to touch the grandeur of Gods mercy with their own hands. For every penitent, it
will be a source of true interior peace Pope Francis Misericordiae Vultus
THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION
1423 It is called the sacrament of conversion because it makes sacramentally present
Jesus' call to conversion, the first step in returning to the Father 1 from whom one has
strayed by sin.
It is called the sacrament of Penance, since it consecrates the Christian sinner's personal
and ecclesial steps of conversion, penance, and satisfaction.
1424 It is called the sacrament of confession, since the disclosure or confession of sins to
a priest is an essential element of this sacrament. In a profound sense it is also a
"confession" - acknowledgment and praise - of the holiness of God and of his mercy
toward sinful man.
It is called the sacrament of forgiveness, since by the priest's sacramental absolution God
grants the penitent "pardon and peace." 2
It is called the sacrament of Reconciliation, because it imparts to the sinner the love of
God who reconciles: "Be reconciled to God." 3 He who lives by God's merciful love is
ready to respond to the Lord's call: "Go; first be reconciled to your brother." 4
MERCY AND SIN
1846 The Gospel is the revelation in Jesus Christ of God's mercy to sinners. 5 The angel
announced to Joseph: "You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from
their sins."6 The same is true of the Eucharist, the sacrament of redemption: "This is my
blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." 7
1847 "God created us without us: but he did not will to save us without us." 8 To receive
his mercy, we must admit our faults. "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,
and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive
our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 9
1848 As St. Paul affirms, "Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more." 10 But to
do its work grace must uncover sin so as to convert our hearts and bestow on us
"righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ ourLord." 11 Like a physician who
probes the wound before treating it, God, by his Word and by his Spirit, casts a living
light on sin:
Conversion requires convincing of sin; it includes the interior judgment of
conscience, and this, being a proof of the action of the Spirit of truth in man's
inmost being, becomes at the same time the start of a new grant of grace and
love: "Receive the Holy Spirit." Thus in this "convincing concerning sin" we
discover a double gift: the gift of the truth of conscience and the gift of the
certainty of redemption. The Spirit of truth is the Consoler. 12
1. Cf. Mk 1:15; Lk 15:18. 6. Mt 1:21. 10. Rom 5:20.
2. OP 46 formula of absolution. 7. Mt 26:28. 11. Rom 5:21.
3. 2 Cor 5:20. 8. St. Augustine, Sermon 12. John Paul II, DeV 31 # 2.
4. Mt 5:24 169, 11, 13: PL 38, 923.
5. Cf Lk 15. 9. 1 Jn 8-9.
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 Hampton, Dublin

Fraternity Diary
For up-to-date information on events and prayer times in Hampton, please consult our website:
www.fmiq.com. If you would like to be informed of events by email or webtext, please email us your
details. You can do this using the link on our website or email directly to:
miq.hampton@gmail.com. If you do not have the possibility of receiving emails or
accessing the internet and would like to receive a paper copy of our program of events,
please write to us at our Barna postal address or phone 087 1949552.
Marian Days of Prayer: Saturdays (see website for dates) devoted to deepening our
appreciation of the mystery of Mary according to Church teaching and tradition. Each
Saturday looking at a particular aspect of Marys identity or a particular theme. Ending
with a rosary procession.
Enthronement of Mary as Queen in the home: The enthronement of Mary, as Queen
in the home is a specific apostolate of the Fraternity. By the enthronement, the faithful
are invited to respond to Christ's call made at the moment of his blessed Passion, to take
Mary into their homes. It is a simple ceremony in the home, promoting family prayer and
mutual forgiveness.
Sacred Scripture Series: During the coming year, we will complete the current series
with Fr Chris Hayden, with a look at the Letters of St Paul, which we were unable to do
last summer. Then, with Fr Chris we will be focusing on mercy as presented in Sacred
Scripture. Please keep an eye on our website for dates. All are welcome.
Lectio Divina Group: Every second Friday 8-9pm. Discovering Sacred Scripture
together in a prayerful way. Taking the Gospel of the coming Sunday. Followed by a
cuppa and a chat.
Family Retreat Days: Including childrens adoration and activities. Contact us for more
information and future dates.
Childrens Adoration: Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament for children over 5 takes
place regularly in Hampton. Contact us for more details.
Oasis Days: 10am-5pm: Come and spend a day of rest and prayer away from it all:
possibility of silence, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, sharing in the life and prayer
of the community, or time of solitude.
Youth Faith Groups: We continue to welcome different groups of young adults to
Hampton for meetings and retreats.

This Newsletter is produced by the Fraternity of Mary, Immaculate Queen-Ireland, an

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2016 is also covered.
Suggested subscription: Europe 12, GB 10, other countries US $15 (2 issues a year). Donations
appreciated! Cheques payable to Fraternity of Mary, Immaculate Queen Ministries.
Letter to the Messengers by email: We can send you this magazine by email (pdf attachment, 3.8
MB approx.). If you would like to opt for this format instead of the print edition, just email:
miq.newsletter@gmail.com. If youd prefer a low resolution version (800kB), please put Low res in
subject box.

Illustrations: Front and back pages: Fra Angelico, Virgin of the Shadows, c.1445
Inside page: Pope Francis at the Crib in St Peters Square.
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 Be mindful
of your mercy,
O Lord,
and your
steadfast love,
for they have
been
from of old.

Psalm 25:6

Fraternity of Mary, Immaculate Queen-Ireland

Monastery of the Incarnation, Hampton ,
Grace Park Road, Drumcondra, Dublin 9, Ireland
Tel: +353-(0)1 837 7657
Sol Dchais, Ballard, Barna, Co. Galway, Ireland
Tel: +353-(0)91-592 196
Website: www.fratmiq.comemail: miq.hampton@gmail.com
Charity No: CHY 20195 (Republic of Ireland)

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