There has been little in the way of public events for Irish Catholics to be enthusiastic about in the past decade, with even events like the Eucharistic Congress and the Papal Visit overshadowed by unfavourable comparisons between the church of today and that of the past.
Yet, there are some shoots of positivity emerging.
Rather than going to stadiums and rock music venues to recapture our sense of faith, a new video shows the power of instead going to the most humble and sincere of locations, the Mass Rock. These rocks were the sites of countless clandestine Masses for centuries, when the Penal Laws outlawed the public worship of the Catholic faith. The video ‘Ireland’s Mass Rocks’ by Aid to the Church in Need shows the power of these sacred places. In a year where public Mass has been heavily restricted, there is an added poignancy to a new audience, embodied by the video which shows Mass being offered in each diocese in Ireland.
The locations are beautiful, so too is the intention, which is for ‘renewal of the Faith in Ireland through the intercession of the Irish Martyrs’.
You can watch the video below, hopefully this will help to increase people’s appreciation for the rich cultural history of Catholicism in Ireland, and its deep connection to not just the Irish people, but to the landscape also.
You can read more about the initiative here: Ireland's Mass Rocks | Aid to the Church in Need Ireland | ACN Ireland