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BY PRISCILLA GREEAR
Staff Writer
ATLANTA--By saying up to a hundred prayers a day while herding flocks as an
exiled slave, St. Patrick found the faith he never found in his previous, more
luxurious life.
The patron saint of Ireland, who lived from 389 to 461, worked to convert
Ireland to Christianity and to establish the church there.
Wearing green blazers and sweaters, sporting Irish flags and shamrocks,
Catholics of Irish descent gathered to honor the legacy of St. Patrick and to
celebrate their Irish ancestry at the 116th St. Patrick’s Day Mass held
March 17 at Sacred Heart Church, Atlanta.
Archbishop John F. Donoghue, whose parents were first generation
Irish-Americans, presided and Father Hugh Marren, pastor of the Church of St.
Benedict, Duluth, gave the homily at the Mass, concelebrated by 13 priests of
the archdiocese.
The Hibernian Benevolent Society of Atlanta, the city’s oldest civic
society serving the Irish community, sponsored the celebration. Cantor Sam
Hagan, organist Alan Brown and harpist Debra Peterson provided the music.
On the bright March morning, Archbishop Donoghue opened the event
proclaiming, “We come today to celebrate this beautiful feast in honor of
St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland and Irish everywhere.”
He prayed, “You sent St. Patrick to proclaim your glory to the people
of Ireland. By the help of his prayers may all Christians proclaim your love
for all.”
Following the hymn “Hail, Glorious St. Patrick,” Rose Anne
McGuinness, president of the Hibernian Society, read from the Book of Isaiah.
Father Marren, who is from Hibernia, the Latin name for Ireland, encouraged
Catholics to follow the saint’s example through daily prayer.
“To be a follower of Patrick is to be a man or woman of prayer. To hear
the voice of God -- a voice that called Patrick to the shores of the land that
once enslaved him -- to hear that voice we must be first men and women of
prayer,” he said.
“Let us join him in making room in our lives for prayer, for prayer is
the only power that can change your heart or mine and it was the power that
changed Patrick the sinner into Patrick the saint and enabled him to recognize
the call of God in the voice of the Irish.”
Father Marren said that St. Patrick, who is honored for instilling the
Catholic faith in the people of Ireland, should also be recognized for the
suffering he endured as an apostle, such as working as a slave, losing his own
birthright to go where God called him to go, carrying on despite the taunts of
unbelievers and reproaches about his pilgrimage.
“He is our patriarch and apostle because he bestowed upon us our most
priceless possession -- our faith, a faith that has been our unfailing strength
and has sustained our Irish people through many sorrow-filled centuries that
mark our history,” Father Marren said.
At the Mass, Msgr. Louis Naughton, judicial vicar of the Metropolitan
Tribunal, read a message from Ireland’s President Mary McAleese who spoke
of the saint’s gift.
“Today Ireland stands on the brink of an era of unprecedented cultural
confidence, prosperity and peace. These are times when hope, hard-earned hope,
abounds. So on this day we come together to celebrate with pride our heritage,
our culture and our achievements,” she said.
“As we gather once again to celebrate that great gift that St. Patrick
brought to Ireland, I know that we will face the challenges that lie ahead
holding dear the values which have sustained and protected Irish people down
the centuries -- values of caring and nurturing, values of family and
friendship -- making certain that, as we move forward into the future, we bring
with us all that is best of the past.”
McGuinness then called on St. Patrick to guide the peace process between
Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland as well as the work of 1998 Nobel
Peace Prize winners John Hume and David Trimble and all other peacemakers. She
told how she often picked shamrocks as a child on St. Patrick’s Day and
was told how St. Patrick, in spreading Christianity, taught the Irish people
about the Trinity using the three leaves of the shamrock. She later added that
Irish wear green to remember their green and rainy homeland.
At a reception following Mass, Irish-Americans enjoyed Irish soda bread and
scones set among shamrock plants and watched Irish step dancing by youth from
The Mulligan School of Irish Dance and Irish Dancers of Atlanta.
Irish-born Father John Walsh, pastor of Holy Trinity Church, Peachtree City,
pulling an old copy of “The Confessions of St. Patrick” from his
pocket, said he reads it yearly during Lent and is inspired in his priesthood
through its message of prayer.
“Through the tough times (St. Patrick) went through ... God sustained
him through prayer. It kind of brings me back to prayer again,” he said.
“For my own support during Lent, reading the confessions is a help to
me. This day I have thought of my family back in Ireland. It’s a great day
to get together with people I’ve known for 20 years.”
For Matt Naughton, president-elect of the Hibernian Society who has attended
the archdiocesan Mass since 1970, St. Patrick’s Day is “the day for
the Irish all over the world. He really is what George Washington is to the
U.S. Basically he’s sort of the starting point in history.”
Naughton explained that Irish of all denominations gain a sense of identity
and pride through the saint.
“He was the anchor that people sort of associated with when we were
less than first-class citizens. We always had the pride, the self-esteem. You
always felt that St. Patrick was on your side.”
Kyran Murnane, a parishioner at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Atlanta
from Dublin, attended the celebration sporting a green Irish soccer team jacket
with a pin reading “Ireland Forever” in Gaelic.
“It’s a great day especially when you are 1,000 miles away from
home,” he said. “It’s a great day to meet other Irish as
well.”
He said the saint has helped him grow in his faith. “We pray to him for
his support. He’s definitely looking out for us from above.”
Following the event Rose Begley, who organized the Mass, said the day
celebrates the foundation of the Catholic faith in Ireland. “He, Patrick,
was the one who started it. Life is persevering and he persevered.”
The Hibernian Benevolent Society also sponsored the St. Patrick’s Day
parade, the oldest parade in Atlanta, on March 13.
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