Churches of the Day
Pictorial Thought for Today
May 5 - Bl Edmund Ignatius Rice (1762-1844)
Summary: Blessed Edmund Rice, religious. (1762-1844) After his young wife's early death, he sold his possessions and dedicated his life to the education of the poor. To advance the work he gathered other like-minded men who took religious vows together to work for the Catholic education of boys. He is a model of patient and cheerful acceptance of the sufferings God sends, a true lay apostle and a deeply committed religious.
Bl. Edmund Rice came from from Callan, Co Kilkenny was a businessman, husband, widower, father of a handicapped child, advocate of the poor and the founder of two religious congregations devoted to education the Christian Brothers and the Presentation Brothers. He was beatified in 1996.
Donal Blake, the author of this article, is the postulator of his cause for canonisation.
Home in Callan, Co Kilkenny
Edmund Rice, founder of the Christian Brothers and Presentation Brothers, was born to Robert and Margaret Rice, prosperous Catholic tenant farmers, at Westcourt, Callan, Co. Kilkenny, on 1st June 1762. He was the fourth of seven brothers, and had two stepsisters, Joan and Jane Murphy, from his mother’s first marriage. The Penal Laws against Catholics were still in force in Ireland. Co. Kilkenny fared better than many places because of the tolerance of John Butler, the Protestant Duke of Ormonde who resided in Kilkenny Castle. As a result, enterprising Catholics, such as Robert Rice, were enabled to rent farmland from tolerant Protestant landlords at reasonable rates. So Edmund was fortunate in a land where and at a time when the majority of Catholics were “hewers of wood and drawers of water”.
Apprentice Businessman, Married and Widowed
After education at a “hedge school” in Callan and a commercial academy in Kilkenny, Edmund was apprenticed at the age of seventeen to his uncle, Michael, who was involved in the provisioning and ship’s chandling business in Waterford. A born entrepreneur, Edmund quickly mastered the importing and exporting trade and expanded his uncle’s business. He signed a lucrative contract to supply meat to the British Army and explored trading connections
with Bristol, Newfoundland, and Boulogne-sur-Mer in France. He married at the age of twenty-three, and the future looked rosey. Then, in 1789, his pregnant wife died tragically leaving him with a handicapped baby daughter Mary. Edmund’s world was turned upside down. So was the political world in that same year, by the egalitarian ambitions of the French Revolution.
Search for a Deeper Meaning
His uncle appointed him his heir, but his recent tragedy caused Edmund to look for a deeper meaning in his life. He looked to God for guidance and, unusual for a lay Catholic at the time, he turned to the Scriptures for inspiration. He became a daily Mass-goer and a reader of the mystic, St Teresa of Avila. His commercial career still prospered. The forward-looking principles of the French Revolution, if not its crude methods, appealed to his generous heart. ‘Liberty, fraternity, equality’, but with a more Christian overlay, were ideals that Edmund dearly wished for his benighted fellow-Catholics in Ireland.
Education for Poor Boys
He became a frequent visitor to the other Waterford which existed behind the facade of commercial prosperity and merry social life - the Waterford of narrow streets and dark alleyways where the miserable hovels of the poor were crowded together. He was encouraged by a woman friend to turn his attention to the plight of poor destitute boys. He looked around for a template for the way forward. Inspired by what Nano Nagle had achieved by her Presentation convents for the plight of poor girls, Edmund at the age of 40, turned his back on his business career in 1802 and opened a temporary school for poor boys in New Street. Having made provision with his relatives for his daughter’s special needs, he deployed all his energies and wealth in the new undertaking. He sank most of his assets into the building of a permanent school and residence at Mount Sion. There was to be no turning back.
A New Society
Two paid assistants left him. He quickly realised that temporary commitment to a full-time problem was no solution, and so he invited young men to join him permanently in his work and prayer. In 1808, Edmund and his early companions gave total commitment to their new way of life by the taking of vows in the presence of the local bishop, and thus forming the Society of the Presentation. Edmund became “Brother Ignatius”, named after the founder of the Jesuits. The work soon spread to other towns, in the diocese of Waterford first, and then to other parts of the country where the local bishops, impressed at what they saw in Waterford, hoped to spread the benefits of Catholic education in their own dioceses. In 1820, with the blessing of Pope Pius VII (Luigi Chiaramonti 1800-23), the majority of the brothers under Edmund as Superior General were organised into a pontifical congregation - the Congregation of Christian Brothers [CFC], to make it more mobile not only in Ireland but wherever the need for education was greatest. A minority retained the Presentation name as a diocesan group subject to the Bishop of Cork and evolved into today’s Presentation Brothers [FPM].
Spread Through Ireland and Abroad
During Edmund’s lifetime, day and evening schools to meet the educational needs of the poor were opened by his followers in Ireland and England and a beginning was made in overseas missions that were to blossom after his death, in Gibraltar, India, America and Australia. Not only did Edmund and his followers work in the classroom but they were to be found visiting the hospital wards, the debtors’ prisons and even accompanying poor wretches to the gallows. Fighting for the legal rights of widows and orphans occupied much of Edmund’s time, where he brought his knowledge of the law learned during his business career to the defence of those in danger of being deprived of their rights. Edmund endured much hardship, misunderstanding and opposition, even from some bishops and, more hurtful, from some of his own confrères, but, nurturing his vision through prayer and a wonderful trust in Divine Providence, he persevered with his extraordinary mission until his death on 29th August 1844.
A Reputation for Holiness and Care for the Poor
After initial neglect due to the Great Famine and to divisions among his followers, Edmund’s reputation for holiness and care for the poor and ignorant grew over the years. Prayer and apostolic groups - the Edmund Rice Network - sprang up wherever there was a Christian Brother or Presentation Brother presence. There were repeated requests to Rome for Edmund’s canonisation. In more recent years Edmund’s Brothers, despite being fewer in numbers, have concentrated on the Third World countries of Africa, South America, India and the West Indies, and on the inner cities of the First World. Their lay collaborators staff hundreds of schools imbued by the spirit of Edmund on all five continents.
Beatification
On 6th October 1996, at the end of a long process and after the acceptance of a miracle worked through his intercession, Edmund was declared ‘Blessed’ by Pope John Paul II at a memorable ceremony in Rome. His feast-day is celebrated on 5th May each year. In 2003, Br Donal Blake, was appointed Postulator to lead the process from beatification to canonisation and, if the Lord ordain it so, One further miracle is required.
League of Prayer’
Branches of a ‘League of Prayer’ are organised in many parts of the world and monthly bulletins record both requests for and answers to prayers for many intentions. Edmund’s birthplace at Westcourt, Callan, the O’Connell School, North Richmond Street, where he lived when in Dublin, Mardyke House in Cork, where the founding Presentation name lives on, and Mount Sion, Waterford, where he began his religious and educational undertaking and where he died, are now centres of prayer for his thousands of devotees. The appeal of Edmund is wider than the members of his two religious congregations - the Christian Brothers and Presentation Brothers. He is now invoked as: Edmund the family man, Edmund the widower, Edmund father of a handicapped child, Edmund businessman of integrity, Edmund the humane teacher, Edmund the lay Catholic activist, Edmund the lay religious, Edmund advocate for the deprived, Edmund patron of the ordinary in daily life...
The direction of his long life of service is best summed up in an extract from one of his letters, written in 1810 to a friend of his, the architect Bryan Bolger:
“Let us do ever so little for God, we will be sure He will never forget it, nor let it pass unrewarded. How many of our actions are lost for want of applying them to this end. Were we to know the merit of only going from one street to another to serve a neighbour for the love of God, we should prize it more than gold or silver.... One thing you may be sure of, that whilst you work for God, whether you succeed or not, He will amply reward you.”
Bl. Edmund Rice came from from Callan, Co Kilkenny was a businessman, husband, widower, father of a handicapped child, advocate of the poor and the founder of two religious congregations devoted to education the Christian Brothers and the Presentation Brothers. He was beatified in 1996.Donal Blake, the author of this article, is the postulator of his cause for canonisation.
Home in Callan, Co Kilkenny
Edmund Rice, founder of the Christian Brothers and Presentation Brothers, was born to Robert and Margaret Rice, prosperous Catholic tenant farmers, at Westcourt, Callan, Co. Kilkenny, on 1st June 1762. He was the fourth of seven brothers, and had two stepsisters, Joan and Jane Murphy, from his mother’s first marriage. The Penal Laws against Catholics were still in force in Ireland. Co. Kilkenny fared better than many places because of the tolerance of John Butler, the Protestant Duke of Ormonde who resided in Kilkenny Castle. As a result, enterprising Catholics, such as Robert Rice, were enabled to rent farmland from tolerant Protestant landlords at reasonable rates. So Edmund was fortunate in a land where and at a time when the majority of Catholics were “hewers of wood and drawers of water”.
Apprentice Businessman, Married and Widowed
After education at a “hedge school” in Callan and a commercial academy in Kilkenny, Edmund was apprenticed at the age of seventeen to his uncle, Michael, who was involved in the provisioning and ship’s chandling business in Waterford. A born entrepreneur, Edmund quickly mastered the importing and exporting trade and expanded his uncle’s business. He signed a lucrative contract to supply meat to the British Army and explored trading connections
with Bristol, Newfoundland, and Boulogne-sur-Mer in France. He married at the age of twenty-three, and the future looked rosey. Then, in 1789, his pregnant wife died tragically leaving him with a handicapped baby daughter Mary. Edmund’s world was turned upside down. So was the political world in that same year, by the egalitarian ambitions of the French Revolution.Search for a Deeper Meaning
His uncle appointed him his heir, but his recent tragedy caused Edmund to look for a deeper meaning in his life. He looked to God for guidance and, unusual for a lay Catholic at the time, he turned to the Scriptures for inspiration. He became a daily Mass-goer and a reader of the mystic, St Teresa of Avila. His commercial career still prospered. The forward-looking principles of the French Revolution, if not its crude methods, appealed to his generous heart. ‘Liberty, fraternity, equality’, but with a more Christian overlay, were ideals that Edmund dearly wished for his benighted fellow-Catholics in Ireland.
Education for Poor BoysHe became a frequent visitor to the other Waterford which existed behind the facade of commercial prosperity and merry social life - the Waterford of narrow streets and dark alleyways where the miserable hovels of the poor were crowded together. He was encouraged by a woman friend to turn his attention to the plight of poor destitute boys. He looked around for a template for the way forward. Inspired by what Nano Nagle had achieved by her Presentation convents for the plight of poor girls, Edmund at the age of 40, turned his back on his business career in 1802 and opened a temporary school for poor boys in New Street. Having made provision with his relatives for his daughter’s special needs, he deployed all his energies and wealth in the new undertaking. He sank most of his assets into the building of a permanent school and residence at Mount Sion. There was to be no turning back.
A New Society
Two paid assistants left him. He quickly realised that temporary commitment to a full-time problem was no solution, and so he invited young men to join him permanently in his work and prayer. In 1808, Edmund and his early companions gave total commitment to their new way of life by the taking of vows in the presence of the local bishop, and thus forming the Society of the Presentation. Edmund became “Brother Ignatius”, named after the founder of the Jesuits. The work soon spread to other towns, in the diocese of Waterford first, and then to other parts of the country where the local bishops, impressed at what they saw in Waterford, hoped to spread the benefits of Catholic education in their own dioceses. In 1820, with the blessing of Pope Pius VII (Luigi Chiaramonti 1800-23), the majority of the brothers under Edmund as Superior General were organised into a pontifical congregation - the Congregation of Christian Brothers [CFC], to make it more mobile not only in Ireland but wherever the need for education was greatest. A minority retained the Presentation name as a diocesan group subject to the Bishop of Cork and evolved into today’s Presentation Brothers [FPM].
Spread Through Ireland and Abroad
During Edmund’s lifetime, day and evening schools to meet the educational needs of the poor were opened by his followers in Ireland and England and a beginning was made in overseas missions that were to blossom after his death, in Gibraltar, India, America and Australia. Not only did Edmund and his followers work in the classroom but they were to be found visiting the hospital wards, the debtors’ prisons and even accompanying poor wretches to the gallows. Fighting for the legal rights of widows and orphans occupied much of Edmund’s time, where he brought his knowledge of the law learned during his business career to the defence of those in danger of being deprived of their rights. Edmund endured much hardship, misunderstanding and opposition, even from some bishops and, more hurtful, from some of his own confrères, but, nurturing his vision through prayer and a wonderful trust in Divine Providence, he persevered with his extraordinary mission until his death on 29th August 1844.
A Reputation for Holiness and Care for the PoorAfter initial neglect due to the Great Famine and to divisions among his followers, Edmund’s reputation for holiness and care for the poor and ignorant grew over the years. Prayer and apostolic groups - the Edmund Rice Network - sprang up wherever there was a Christian Brother or Presentation Brother presence. There were repeated requests to Rome for Edmund’s canonisation. In more recent years Edmund’s Brothers, despite being fewer in numbers, have concentrated on the Third World countries of Africa, South America, India and the West Indies, and on the inner cities of the First World. Their lay collaborators staff hundreds of schools imbued by the spirit of Edmund on all five continents.
Beatification
On 6th October 1996, at the end of a long process and after the acceptance of a miracle worked through his intercession, Edmund was declared ‘Blessed’ by Pope John Paul II at a memorable ceremony in Rome. His feast-day is celebrated on 5th May each year. In 2003, Br Donal Blake, was appointed Postulator to lead the process from beatification to canonisation and, if the Lord ordain it so, One further miracle is required.League of Prayer’
Branches of a ‘League of Prayer’ are organised in many parts of the world and monthly bulletins record both requests for and answers to prayers for many intentions. Edmund’s birthplace at Westcourt, Callan, the O’Connell School, North Richmond Street, where he lived when in Dublin, Mardyke House in Cork, where the founding Presentation name lives on, and Mount Sion, Waterford, where he began his religious and educational undertaking and where he died, are now centres of prayer for his thousands of devotees. The appeal of Edmund is wider than the members of his two religious congregations - the Christian Brothers and Presentation Brothers. He is now invoked as: Edmund the family man, Edmund the widower, Edmund father of a handicapped child, Edmund businessman of integrity, Edmund the humane teacher, Edmund the lay Catholic activist, Edmund the lay religious, Edmund advocate for the deprived, Edmund patron of the ordinary in daily life...
The direction of his long life of service is best summed up in an extract from one of his letters, written in 1810 to a friend of his, the architect Bryan Bolger:
“Let us do ever so little for God, we will be sure He will never forget it, nor let it pass unrewarded. How many of our actions are lost for want of applying them to this end. Were we to know the merit of only going from one street to another to serve a neighbour for the love of God, we should prize it more than gold or silver.... One thing you may be sure of, that whilst you work for God, whether you succeed or not, He will amply reward you.”
____________________________
******************************
Memorable Saying for Today
A good teacher will appreciate the good qualities of his students.
If one good quality is allowed to emerge,
a world of good qualities will emerge from that one
~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi ~
******************************
Liturgical Readings for: Wednesday, 6th May, 2026
Tuesday, Fifth Week of Easter
Paul and Barnabas putting fresh heart into the disciples, encouraging them to persevere in the faith.
In the gospel reading we find Jesus exercising this ministry of encouragement.
Saint of the Day: 5 May ; Bl Edmund Rice, religious
C/f A short life of be this saint can found below todays' Readings and Reflection.
FIRST READING
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles 14:19-28
They gave an account of all that God had done with them.
Some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium, and turned the people against the apostles. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the town, thinking he was dead. The disciples came crowding round him but, as they did so, he stood up and went back to the town. The next day he and Barnabas went off to Derbe.
Having preached the Good News in that town and made a considerable number of disciples, they went back through Lystra and Iconium to Antioch. They put fresh heart into the disciples, encouraging them to persevere in the faith.'We all have to experience many hardships' they said, 'before we enter the kingdom of God.'
In each of these churches they appointed elders, and with prayer and fasting they commended them to the Lord in whom they had come to believe.
They passed through Pisidia and reached Pamphylia. Then after proclaiming the word at Perga they went down to Attalia and from there sailed for Antioch, where they had originally been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now completed.
On their arrival they assembled the church and gave an account of all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith to the pagans. They stayed there with the disciples for some time.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God
Responsorial Psalm Ps 144: 10-13. 21. R/v 12
Response Your friends, O Lord, shall make known
the glorious splendour of your reign.
Or Alleluia!
1. All your creatures shall thank you, O Lord, and your friends shall repeat their blessing.
They shall speak of the glory of your reign and declare your might, O God,
to make known to men your mighty deeds and the glorious splendour of your reign. Response
2. Yours is an everlasting kingdom; your rule lasts from age to age. Response
3. Let me speak the praise of the Lord, let all mankind bless his holy name
for ever, for ages unending. Response
Gospel Acclamation Lk 24:46. 26
Alleluia, alleluia!
It was ordained that the Christ should suffer and rise from the dead,
and so enter into his glory.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the Gospel according to John 14:27-31 Glory to you, O Lord
My own peace I give you.
Jesus said to his disciples:
'Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace the world cannot give, this is my gift to you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You heard me say: I am going away, and shall return.
If you loved me you would have been glad to know that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.
I have told you this now before it happens, so that when it does happen you may believe. I shall not talk with you any longer, because the prince of this world is on his way. He has no power over me, but the world must be brought to know that I love the Father and that I am doing exactly what the Father told me.'
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
____________________________
Gospel Reflection Tuesday, Fifth Week of Easter John 14:27-31
In the first reading we find Paul and Barnabas putting fresh heart into the disciples, encouraging them to persevere in the faith. One of the ways they put fresh heart into the disciples was by calling forth pastoral leaders from among them, ‘elders’, whom they commended to the Lord with prayer and fasting. The ministry of encouragement, of putting fresh heart into one another as people of faith, remains a vital ministry today. The temptation to discouragement can be quite strong in these times, so this ministry of encouragement is all the more vital.
In the gospel reading we find Jesus exercising this ministry of encouragement. It is the setting of the last supper. Jesus’ disciple are troubled and afraid, aware as they are that Jesus is about to be taken from them. Jesus reassures them that he is going to the Father, the one who sent him into the world. This journey to the Father is an expression of his love for the Father. His journey there will enable him to serve his disciples in a new and more powerful way. As a result of his return to the Father, he will be able to share his own peace with his disciples, the peace of Easter, a peace the world cannot give. Jesus is showing them that his leaving them is to their advantage, a reason for encouragement. It will result in his putting fresh heart into them.
Today’s readings invite us to share in this ministry of encouragement that Jesus, as well as Paul and Barnabas, so powerfully exercise. The gospel reading also shows us that leave taking can be sources of new life for all. In the midst of loss, signs of the Lord’s encouraging presence are always to be found.
_________________________________
The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd. and used with the permission of the publishers. http://dltbooks.com/
The Scripture Reflection is made available with our thanks from his book Reflections on the Weekday Readings: The Word is near to you, on your lips and in your heart by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications , c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/
__________________
Saint of the Day: 5 May ; Bl Edmund Rice, religious
Blessed Edmund Rice, religious. (1762-1844) After his young wife's early death, he sold his possessions and dedicated his life to the education of the poor. To advance the work he gathered other like-minded men who took religious vows together to work for the Catholic education of boys. He is a model of patient and cheerful acceptance of the sufferings God sends, a true lay apostle and a deeply committed religious.
Bl. Edmund Rice came from from Callan, Co Kilkenny was a businessman, husband, widower, father of a handicapped child, advocate of the poor and the founder of two religious congregations devoted to education the Christian Brothers and the Presentation Brothers. He was beatified in 1996.Donal Blake, the author of this article,
Home in Callan, Co Kilkenny
Edmund Rice, founder of the Christian Brothers and Presentation Brothers, was born to Robert and Margaret Rice, prosperous Catholic tenant farmers, at Westcourt, Callan, Co. Kilkenny, on 1st June 1762. He was the fourth of seven brothers, and had two stepsisters, Joan and Jane Murphy, from his mother’s first marriage. The Penal Laws against Catholics were still in force in Ireland. Co. Kilkenny fared better than many places because of the tolerance of John Butler, the Protestant Duke of Ormonde who resided in Kilkenny Castle. As a result, enterprising Catholics, such as Robert Rice, were enabled to rent farmland from tolerant Protestant landlords at reasonable rates. So Edmund was fortunate in a land where and at a time when the majority of Catholics were “hewers of wood and drawers of water”.
Apprentice Businessman, Married and Widowed
After education at a “hedge school” in Callan and a commercial academy in Kilkenny, Edmund was apprenticed at the age of seventeen to his uncle, Michael, who was involved in the provisioning and ship’s chandling business in Waterford. A born entrepreneur, Edmund quickly mastered the importing and exporting trade and expanded his uncle’s business. He signed a lucrative contract to supply meat to the British Army and explored trading connections
with Bristol, Newfoundland, and Boulogne-sur-Mer in France. He married at the age of twenty-three, and the future looked rosey. Mary and Edmund had a daughter, also called Mary, she was born prematurely. She survived, but was disabled for the rest of her life. Edmund’s world was turned upside down. So was the political world in that same year, by the egalitarian ambitions of the French Revolution.Search for a Deeper Meaning
His uncle appointed him his heir, but his recent tragedy caused Edmund to look for a deeper meaning in his life. He looked to God for guidance and, unusual for a lay Catholic at the time, he turned to the Scriptures for inspiration. He became a daily Mass-goer and a reader of the mystic, St Teresa of Avila. His commercial career still prospered. The forward-looking principles of the French Revolution, if not its crude methods, appealed to his generous heart. ‘Liberty, fraternity, equality’, but with a more Christian overlay, were ideals that Edmund dearly wished for his benighted fellow-Catholics in Ireland.
Education for Poor BoysHe became a frequent visitor to the other Waterford which existed behind the facade of commercial prosperity and merry social life - the Waterford of narrow streets and dark alleyways where the miserable hovels of the poor were crowded together. He was encouraged by a woman friend to turn his attention to the plight of poor destitute boys. He looked around for a template for the way forward. Inspired by what Nano Nagle had achieved by her Presentation convents for the plight of poor girls, Edmund at the age of 40, turned his back on his business career in 1802 and opened a temporary school for poor boys in New Street. Having made provision with his relatives for his daughter’s special needs, he deployed all his energies and wealth in the new undertaking. He sank most of his assets into the building of a permanent school and residence at Mount Sion. There was to be no turning back.
A New Society
[caption id="attachment_81148" align="alignleft" width="300"]
"The Founder of the Christian Brothers was a man of broad vision with an enlightened compassion to serve, a compassion intensified by a remarkable perception of the social conditions of his time".[/caption]Two paid assistants left him. He quickly realised that temporary commitment to a full-time problem was no solution, and so he invited young men to join him permanently in his work and prayer. In 1808, Edmund and his early companions gave total commitment to their new way of life by the taking of vows in the presence of the local bishop, and thus forming the Society of the Presentation. Edmund became “Brother Ignatius”, named after the founder of the Jesuits. The work soon spread to other towns, in the diocese of Waterford first, and then to other parts of the country where the local bishops, impressed at what they saw in Waterford, hoped to spread the benefits of Catholic education in their own dioceses. In 1820, with the blessing of Pope Pius VII (Luigi Chiaramonti 1800-23), the majority of the brothers under Edmund as Superior General were organised into a pontifical congregation - the Congregation of Christian Brothers [CFC], to make it more mobile not only in Ireland but wherever the need for education was greatest. A minority retained the Presentation name as a diocesan group subject to the Bishop of Cork and evolved into today’s Presentation Brothers [FPM].
Spread Through Ireland and Abroad
During Edmund’s lifetime, day and evening schools to meet the educational needs of the poor were opened by his followers in Ireland and England and a beginning was made in overseas missions that were to blossom after his death, in Gibraltar, India, America and Australia. Not only did Edmund and his followers work in the classroom but they were to be found visiting the hospital wards, the debtors’ prisons and even accompanying poor wretches to the gallows.
Fighting for the legal rights of widows and orphans occupied much of Edmund’s time, where he brought his knowledge of the law learned during his business career to the defence of those in danger of being deprived of their rights. Edmund endured much hardship, misunderstanding and opposition, even from some bishops and, more hurtful, from some of his own confrères, but, nurturing his vision through prayer and a wonderful trust in Divine Providence, he persevered with his extraordinary mission until his death on 29th August 1844.
A Reputation for Holiness and Care for the PoorAfter initial neglect due to the Great Famine and to divisions among his followers, Edmund’s reputation for holiness and care for the poor and ignorant grew over the years. Prayer and apostolic groups - the Edmund Rice Network - sprang up wherever there was a Christian Brother or Presentation Brother presence. There were repeated requests to Rome for Edmund’s canonisation. In more recent years Edmund’s Brothers, despite being fewer in numbers, have concentrated on the Third World countries of Africa, South America, India and the West Indies, and on the inner cities of the First World. Their lay collaborators staff hundreds of schools imbued by the spirit of Edmund on all five continents.
Beatification
On 6th October 1996, at the end of a long process and after the acceptance of a miracle worked through his intercession, Edmund was declared ‘Blessed’ by Pope John Paul II at a memorable ceremony in Rome. His feast-day is celebrated on 5th May each year. In 2003, Br Donal Blake, was appointed Postulator to lead the process from beatification to canonisation and, if the Lord ordain it so, One further miracle is required.League of Prayer’
Branches of a ‘League of Prayer’ are organised in many parts of the world and monthly bulletins record both requests for and answers to prayers for many intentions. Edmund’s birthplace at Westcourt, Callan, the O’Connell School, North Richmond Street, where he lived when in Dublin, Mardyke House in Cork, where the founding Presentation name lives on, and Mount Sion, Waterford, where he began his religious and educational undertaking and where he died, are now centres of prayer for his thousands of devotees. The appeal of Edmund is wider than the members of his two religious congregations - the Christian Brothers and Presentation Brothers. He is now invoked as: Edmund the family man, Edmund the widower, Edmund father of a handicapped child, Edmund businessman of integrity, Edmund the humane teacher, Edmund the lay Catholic activist, Edmund the lay religious, Edmund advocate for the deprived, Edmund patron of the ordinary in daily life...
The direction of his long life of service is best summed up in an extract from one of his letters, written in 1810 to a friend of his, the architect Bryan Bolger:
“Let us do ever so little for God, we will be sure He will never forget it, nor let it pass unrewarded. How many of our actions are lost for want of applying them to this end. Were we to know the merit of only going from one street to another to serve a neighbour for the love of God, we should prize it more than gold or silver.... One thing you may be sure of, that whilst you work for God, whether you succeed or not, He will amply reward you.”
____________________________
******************************
Memorable Saying for Today
A good teacher will appreciate the good qualities of his students.
If one good quality is allowed to emerge,
a world of good qualities will emerge from that one
~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi ~
******************************
Liturgical Readings for: Wednesday, 6th May, 2026
CÉAD LÉACHT Sliocht as Gníomhartha na nAspal 14:19-28
D’eachtraigh dóibh a raibh déanta ag Dia i gcomhar leo.
Tháinig roinnt Giúdach ó Aintíoch agus ó Iocoiniam, thug siad na sluaite ar a dtaobh agus tar éis dóibh Pól a chlochadh tharraing siad amach as an mbaile é agus iad á cheapadh go raibh sé marbh. Ach nuair a tháinig na deisceabail ina thimpeall,
d’éirigh sé ina sheasamh agus chuaigh ar ais isteach sa chathair. An lá dár gcionn d’imigh sé féin agus Barnabas leo go Deirbé.
Tar éis dóibh an dea-scéal a fhógairt sa bhaile sin agus mórán deisceabal a dhéanamh, d’fhill siad arís ar Liostra agus ina dhiaidh sin ar Iocoiniam agus Aintíoch, ag cur misnigh ar na deisceabail agus á spreagadh chun bheith dílis don chreideamh, “mar,” ar siad, “ní foláir dúinn mórán a fhulaingt chun dul isteach i ríocht Dé.” Thogh siad seanóirí dóibh ar gach Eaglais acu agus tar éis urnaithe agus troscadh a dhéanamh chuir siad iad faoi choimirce an Tiarna ina raibh a gcreideamh.Shiúil siad an Phisíde ar fad nó gur tháinig siad go Paimfile; agus tar éis dóibh an briathar a chraobhscaoileadh i bPeirgé chuaigh siad síos go hAtailia agus as sin ar bord loinge go hAintíoch – an áit ar cuireadh faoi choimirce ghrásta Dé iad le haghaidh na hoibre a bhí anois curtha i gcrích acu.
Ar theacht dóibh, thionóil siad an Eaglais le chéile, agus d’eachtraigh dóibh a raibh déanta ag Dia i gcomhar leo agus mar a d’oscail sé doras an chreidimh do na págánaigh. Thug siad tamall fada ansiúd i bhfochair na ndeisceabal.
Briathar an Tiarna Buíochas le Dia
Salm le freagra Sm 144: 10-13. 21. R/v 12
Freagra Foilseoidh do dhaoine naofa glóir-réim do ríochta, a Thiarna
Malairt le freagra Alleluia!
1. Ceiliúrfaidh d’oibreacha uile thú, a Thiarna; agus beannóidh do dhaoine dílse thú.
Canfaidh siad glóir-réim do ríochta; agus foilseoidh siad uile do chumhacht,
ionas go nochtfar do chumhacht do dhaoine agus niamhracht agus glóir-réim do ríochta. Freagra
2. Mairfidh do ríochtsa feadh saol na saol, agus do cheannas go brách na breithe. Freagra
3. Go gcana mo bhéal moladh an Tiarna agus go mbeannaí gach aon neach a ainm naofa;
go brách agus go síoraí suthain. Freagra
SOISCÉAL
Go raibh an Tiarna libh. Agus le do spiorad féin
Sliocht as an Soiscéal naofa de réir Naomh Eoin 14:27-31 Glóir duit, a Thiarna.
Tugaim mo shíocháin daoibh.
San am sin dúirt Íosa lena dheisceabail:
'Fágaim síocháin agaibh; tugaim mo shíocháin daoibh. Ní thugaim daoibh í mar a thugann an saol í.
Ná bíodh bhur gcroí buartha agus ná bíodh eagla air.
Chuala sibh mé á rá libh: ‘Táim ag imeacht uaibh, agus tiocfaidh mé ar ais chugaibh.’ Dá mbeadh grá agaibh dom, bheadh áthas oraibh, óir táim ag dul go dtí an tAthair, mar is mó an tAthair ná mise.
Agus anois, tá sé inste agam daoibh, sula dtiocfaidh sé chun críche, ionas, nuair a thiocfaidh sé chun críche, go gcreidfidh sibh. Ní labhróidh mé mórán eile libh, mar tá prionsa an tsaoil seo ag teacht agus níl neart ar bith aige ormsa. Ach caithfidh an saol a aithint go bhfuil grá agam don Athair, agus go ndéanaim de réir mar a d’ordaigh an tAthair dom.
Soiscéal an Tiarna. Moladh duit, a Chriost
AN BÍOBLA NAOFA
© An Sagart
Liturgical Readings for: Sunday, 10th May, 2026
Sixth Sunday of Easter Year A
Through baptism and confirmation we have all been given share in the life of God's Holy Spirit
which convinces us of the meaning of our Christian way
FIRST READING
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles 8:5-8. 14-17
They laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Philip went to a Samaritan town and proclaimed the Christ to them. The people united in welcoming the message Philip preached, either because they had heard of the miracles he worked or because they saw them for themselves. There were, for example, unclean spirits that came shrieking out of many who were possessed, and several paralytics and cripples were cured. As a result there was great rejoicing in that town.When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, and they went down there, and prayed for the Samaritans to receive the Holy Spirit, for as yet he had not come down on any of them: they had only been baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 65: 1-7. 16. 20. R/v 1
Response Cry out with joy to God all the earth.
Or Alleluia!
1. Cry out with joy to God all the earth, O sing to the glory of his name.
O render him glorious praise. Say to God: 'How tremendous your deeds' Response
2. 'Before you all the earth shall bow; shall sing to you, sing to your name!'
Come and see the works of God, tremendous his deeds among men. Response
3. He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the river dry-shod.
Let our joy then be in him; he rules for ever by his might. Response
4. Come and hear, all who fear God. I will tell what he did for my soul:
Blessed be God who did not reject my prayer nor withhold his love from me. Response
SECOND READING
A reading from the first letter of St Peter 3:15-18
In the body he was put to death, in the spirit he was raised to life.
Reverence the Lord Christ in your hearts, and always have your answer ready for people who ask you the reason for the hope that you all have. But give it with courtesy and respect and with a clear conscience, so that those who slander you when you are living a good life in Christ may be proved wrong in the accusations that they bring.
And if it is the will of God that you should suffer, it is better to suffer for doing right than for doing wrong. Why, Christ himself, innocent though he was, had died once for sins, died for the guilty, to lead us to God. In the body he was put to death, in the spirit he was raised to life.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.
Gospel Acclamation Jn 14: 23
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Jesus said:
'If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him.'
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you And with your spirit.
A reading from the Gospel according to John 14:15-21 Glory to you, O Lord
I shall ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate
Jesus said to his disciples:
'If you love me you will keep my commandments.
I shall ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you for ever, that Spirit of truth whom the world can never receive since it neither sees nor knows him; but you know him, because he is with you, he is in you.
I will not leave you orphans; I will come back to you.
In a short time the world will no longer see me; but you will see me, because I live and you will live. On that day you will understand that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you.
Anybody who receives my commandments and keeps them will be one who loves me; and anybody who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I shall love him and show myself to him.'
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you O Jesus Christ.
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For homily resources for this Sunday's Gospel click here: https://www.catholicireland.net/sunday-homily/
Taken from THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, published and copyright 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House Inc, and used by permission of the publishers.
Liturgical Readings for: Sunday, 10th May, 2026
An Séú Domnach den Cháisc
CÉAD LÉACHT
Sliocht as Gníomhartha na nAspal 8:5-8. 14-17
Leag siad a lámha orthu agus fuair siad an Spiorad Naomh
Chuaigh Pilib go dtí cathair na Samáire agus thosaigh ag craobhscaoileadh dóibh i dtaobh Chríost. Thug na sluaite cluas ghéar dá raibh le rá ag Pilib mar ní hea amháin gur chuala siad a chuid cainte ach chonaic siad chomh maith na míorúiltí a bhí aige á ndéanamh. Mórán a raibh deamhain mhíghlana iontu, tháinig na deamhain amach astu agus iad ag screadadh de ghlór ard; agus leigheasadh mórán pairiliseach agus bacach, sa tslí go raibh áthas mór sa chathair sin.Nuair a chuala na haspail a bhí in Iarúsailéim go raibh an tSamáir tar éis glacadh le briathar Dé, sheol siad chucu Peadar agus Eoin. Ar theacht dóibhsean chucu, rinne siad guí ar a son go bhfaighidís an Spiorad Naomh, mar ní raibh an Spiorad tagtha fós ar dhuine ar bith acu mar ní raibh siad ach baiste in ainm an Tiarna Íosa. Ansin leag Peadar agus Eoin a lámha orthu agus fuair siad an Spiorad Naomh.
Briathar an Tiarna Buíochas le Dia
Salm le Freagra Sm 65: 1-7. 16. 20. R/v 1
Freagra Déanaigí gairdeas do Dhia, a thíortha uile.
Malairt Freagra Alleluia
1. Déanaigí gairdeas do Dhia, a thíortha uile canaigí clú a ainm.
Tugaigí moladh mórghlórach dó. Abraigí le Dia: 'Nach éachtach iad d'oibreacha.' Freagra
2. Adhrann an talamh uile thú, canann sí duit, canann sí do d'ainm.
Tagaigí agus féachaigí oibreacha Dé, na héachtaí a rinne sé i measc na ndaoine. Freagra
3. Chlaochlaigh sé an mhuir ina talamh thirim; chuathas de chois thar an abhainn.
Dá bhrí sin déanaimis lúcháir! Rialaíonn sé lena chumhacht go síoraí. Freagra
4. Sibhse uile ar a bhfuil eagla Dé, tagaigí, éistigí, is inseoidh mé daoibh faoina ndearna sé dom.
Go mba bheannaithe é Dianár thug an diúltú do mo ghuí,
is nár tharraing siar a bhuanghrá uaim. Freagra
DARA LÉACHT
Sliocht as céad Litir Naomh Peadar 3:15-18
Básaíodh é sa cholainn, ach rinneadh beo é sa spiorad.
A clann ionúin, bíodh urraim in bhur gcroí istigh agaibh do Chríost mar Thiarna. Bígí réidh i gcónaí le cosaint a dhéanamh in aghaidh aon duine a iarrann oraibh bonn a thabhairt leis an dóchas atá ionaibh; ach déanaigí amhlaidh le cneastacht agus le hurraim, agus le coinsias glan, i dtreo, nuair a dhéantar tromaíocht oraibh go gcuirtear náire ar an muintir a dhéanann béadán ar bhur ndea-iompar i gCríost. Óir nach fearr fulaingt de chionn na maitheasa, más é toil Dé é, ná de chionn an oilc?
Óir fuair Críost bás an t-aon uair amháin i ngeall ar pheacaí, an fíréan thar ceann na neamhfhíréan, d’fhonn sinn a thabhairt i láthair Dé. Básaíodh é sa cholainn, ach rinneadh beo é sa spiorad.
Briathar an Tiarna Buíochas le Dia
Alleluia Véarsa Eo 14:23
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Má bhíonn grá ag duine dom, coinneoidh sé mo bhriathar,
agus beidh grá ag m'Athair dó, agus tiocfaimid chuige,' a deir an Tiarna.
Alleluia!
SOISCÉAL
Go raibh an Tiarna libh. Agus le do spiorad féin
Sliocht as Soiscéal naofa de réir Naomh Eoin 14:15-21 Glóir duit, a Thiarna.
Iarrfaidh mé ar m’Athair é, agus tabharfaidh sé Abhcóide eile daoibh
San am sin dúirt Íosa lena dheisceabail
Má tá grá agaibh dom, coinneoidh sibh m’aitheanta.
Agus iarrfaidh mé ar m’Athair é, agus tabharfaidh sé Abhcóide eile
chun fanacht faraibh go deo – Spiorad na Fírinne,
nach féidir don saol a ghlacadh, mar ní fheiceann sé é ná ní aithníonn sé é. Ach aithníonn sibhse é mar fanann sé faraibh, agus beidh sé ionaibh. Ní fhágfaidh mé in bhur ndílleachtaí sibh; tiocfaidh mé ar ais chugaibh.
Tamall beag eile agus siúd é an saol agus gan radharc aige ormsa feasta; ach tá radharc agaibhse orm, óir táimse beo agus beidh sibhse beo chomh maith. An lá sin aithneoidh sibh go bhfuilimse i m’Athair, agus go bhfuil sibhse ionamsa, agus mise ionaibh.
An té a bhfuil m’aitheantasa aige agus a choinníonn iad, sin é an té a bhfuil grá aige dom.
An té a bhfuil grá aige dom, beidh grá ag m’Athair dó, agus beidh grá agam dó, agus taispeánfaidh mé mé féin dó.”
Soiscéal an Tiarna. Moladh duit, a Chriost
AN BÍOBLA NAOFA
© An Sagart
