COLUMBAN MOTHER HOUSE

CHURCH OF THE COLUMBAN MOTHERHOUSE, CO. MEATH

The above chapel or church is part of the Columban mother house in Dalgan, Co. Meath, Ireland. The Columban's are an Irish order founded by two diocesan priests to provide missionaries for Asia. It was the intact ciborium that caught my eye.

Three Capuchin Wooden Tabernacles: Taberncle One

The image above is the other side to the one below complete with statuettes of unidentified Capuchin Saints.

Tabernacle One: the Other Side

The above Tabernacle features three statues that are visible (more on the other side). Apart from the Mother of God there is St. Francis (?) on top and probably St. Felix of Cantalice (1515-1587) on the bottom completely with sack for begging and his Y-topped walking stick. Unusually there are two doors - I don't know why.

Tabernale Two

I love the steps leading up to the tabernacle doors. The inscription below is in Latin and is taken from the words of consecration at Mass.

Tabernacle Three

They were all made by Capuchin friars and display a high level of skill and devotion. While I am not a fan of the baroque these tabernacles are so much more a statement of faith in the Real Presence than much of what we use today.
All of the above tabernacles are in the little museum attached to the Capuchin Friary at Renacavata, Camerino, La Marche, Italy.

Enameled Chalice

This is the base from two sides.

Plated Chalice with enamel work

While clearing our our safe for Holy Thursday the vicar discovered some chalices we have not used for awhile - eight all told and two ciboria. This is one of the chalices; there's no date on it but I'd guess it's 19th or 20th Century. We have one from 1770 which is quite beautiful in its simplicity and inscribed with the name of friar Marianis Thoma Corcoran. The stamps are quite worn from usage and cleaning. The one above is not as valuable but it is beautiful. It needs a bit of a clean and perhaps some regilding.

Baptismal Font, Gregoriou Monastery, Mt. Athos

The pictures above were taken in 2005 in the monastery of Gregoriou on Mount Athos. They were taken with an old 35mm Canon. They are of the central part of the little dome over the font(?). We attended a beautiful service there before we left for Dionysiou. The faith illustrated and made visible - if only our Catholic churches could be so beautiful.

Holy Family, Aughrim St., Dublin

One of the old Dublin Churches built after the lifting of the Penal Laws, Holy Family, or simply Aughrim (pronounced ock-rimStreet, is a beautiful church. It's a large but not wealthy parish, with a lot of elderly parishioners. It has two priests. The more I hear and read of what has been lost around the Catholic world the more I realise how our native Irish conservatism has preserved quite a lot of our heritage - at least more than other countries.