Archbishop Eamon Martin has asked Catholics attending Ireland's national novena in Knock this week to pray that the forthcoming Synod on the Family will come up with pastoral soutions.
Over 150,000 pilgrims are estimated to be attending the Novena, which this year takes the theme of “Faith and the Family”.
Speaking on Saturday, the Solemnity of the Assumption, Archbishop Martin, the Primate of All Ireland, invited the faithful to participate in a “Rosary of Prayer” in the lead-up to the Synod. “I encourage everyone to pray even one Hail Mary – and to dedicate their prayer to the family – over each of the 50 days between now and the Synod,” he said. “I ask people to pray that the Synod will be able to offer the Church, and the world, pastoral initiatives to encourage renewed efforts in sharing the joy of the Gospel in our daily lives.”
Saturday was also Victory in Japan day, and Archbishop Martin took the opportunity to explore the climate in which Pope Pius XII defined the Assumption as dogma in 1950. At the time, Martin said, the “terrible reality of what human beings could do to other human beings was apparent – including the horrific Holocaust and the merciless atomic bombs.”
Martin said that when we could have believed the worst about humankind, Pope Pius drew attention to Mary’s example “to remind humanity of the beauty, dignity and true potential of every human being.” He concluded by saying that the meaning of the Assumption was the “victory of human dignity over the worst that greed, sin and corruption can ever do in this world of ours.”
At a Mass on Sunday, Bishop Kevin Doran continued with the theme of the family. He told the story of Zélie and Louis Martin, parents of St Thèrese of Liseux. The Martins will be canonised on 18 October, the first married couple ever to be canonised together. He praised their example as a mutually supportive couple dedicated to the spiritual growth of their children, and noted that that Louis gave up his business and became a house-husband to support his wife’s lace-making work.
“I’m not sure that there is any such thing as an ideal family,” Bishop Doran said. “Every family has its limitations and many families today face particular challenges due to poverty and unemployment, ill-health or disability, the absence of a mother or father for one reason or another. Sometimes we might ask ourselves what there is to be thankful for. But, if we look a little closer, we see the courage and generosity of people who, even under very difficult circumstances, continue to live faithfully and to care for one another. It is part of our mission as a Church to support them in whatever way we can.”
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