After a rallying call from Bishop Schneider, Irish Catholics gathered across their country once again today to pray the Rosary.
In his message to Catholic Arena, Bishop Schneider wrote:
From all my heart I support you noble campaign to get people to pray the Rosary outside their churches in the hope of a return to the Mass. May there be formed a great living rosary chain across Ireland to win the tyrannic suppression of the public Catholic worship. It is almost for everyone evident that such a draconic and systematic suppression of the Holy Mass exceeds the mere health safety.
I send the blessing and my encouragement to all who participate in the Rosary campaign for a return to the Mass.
With Mass STILL banned alongside outdoor confessions, Catholics are beginning to speak up against Europe’s most draconian lockdown restrictions on religion. Not only are they the most draconian, but evidently they are the most ineffective.
Irish Catholics gathered across dozens of churches today to partake in socially distanced prayer in defiance of these restrictions, which come as people are absurdly allowed to gather by the hundreds if not thousands at local beaches.
Dozens and dozens of groups of Catholics, some 40 strong, gathered in the 26 counties today in prayer.
Many groups prayed in front of Penal Altars, where Catholics had to pray when their faith was oppressed during the centuries of Penal Laws which made Mass illegal.
Many groups also prayed at Cathedrals as a symbolic gesture of the widespread bans across their Diocese. This one was in Ballaghaderreen, Co. Roscommon.
Grottoes are also popular venues for these events, as they are also outdoors and allow for the veneration of statues of Our Lady.
They took place in areas as far apart as Mayo, Cork and Dublin, with this one in Sallynoggin.
There were dozens of others that took place aside from these photographs.
It is expected that after shocking scenes today in Athlone, that there will be even more venues next Sunday.
As Bishop Schneider said, we need to form a ‘great living chain’ of the Rosary around Ireland.
