Over 100,000 people are expected to attend the annual Limerick Novena at the Redemptorist Church on Saint Alphonsus Street in the city that commenced at the weekend. More than 100 lay people are involved in the preparations for the nine-day festival of faith, which commenced on Friday June 18 and continues until next Saturday June 26.
According to Redemptorist Church Rector Fr Adrian Egan, the theme of this year’s festival is Our Church -a Time for Hope.
He said, “we are conscious that the last couple of years have been bad for the church. People's faith has been tested and this is a time for people to reflect on what they want from their church.”
“This will be the focus of our prayer and preaching over the nine days. It can be an uplifting time for people, especially at the moment with the recession and unemployment.”
An interesting speaker at this year’s event will be Rev Jane Gilbraith Church of Ireland curate in Limerick. The presence of a Church of Ireland curate at the Redemptorist Novena will be a “first ever” according to Fr Egan.
For those unable to attend, they can watch the Novena on www.churchservices.tv or www.novena.ie.
According to Fr Egan, “we have many thousands of people tuning in from right across the world from as far away as China, Israel, Russia and America. We have eight webcams in the church so our outreach is massive,” he said.
SIC: CIN