Our Lady Queen Of Peace Church Dublin - Merrion Road Church Dublin D4

Parish Family Fun Day, Sunday 15 September 2019

Our sixth annual Parish Family Fun Day was a most enjoyable event. Even the light rain didn't dampen the enthusiasm.

Lots of families with young children came to the 12 noon Mass, during which seven couples celebrated significant wedding anniversaries this year. Our celebration continued afterwards with a range of outdoor entertainment. Throughout the afternoon, a continuous supply of tea, lemonade, sandwiches, cakes, biscuits and sweets was provided by volunteers.

Old favourites like bouncy castles, face-painting and games galore, were complemented by tours of the church given at intervals by a team of enthusiastic young volunteers.

Special thanks to all our volunteers, to all who came, to all who contributed towards covering our Fun Day expenses and to those who brought refreshments, in response to our Family Fun Day Pot Luck page

See 2019 photo album.

Also photos from previous years here: 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015 and 2014.

Veneration of Relic of the True Cross: 3pm on Saturday, 14 September 2019

14 September is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. It commemorates the day in 320 when St Helena discovered the True Cross on the site where the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem now stands.

Relics of the Holy Cross have been venerated since then, in praise of the redemption won for us by Christ on Calvary.

At 3pm on Saturday 14 September a liturgy venerating a relic of the True Cross took place in Our Lady Queen of Peace. The celebration included a homily and blessing with the relic. It was also possible for those attending to personally venerate the relic.

The Habemus Chamber Choir sang beautifully to enhance the prayerfulness of the liturgy.

Photo album here.

Parish Corpus Christi procession, Sunday 23 June 2019, 3-5pm

Our parish Corpus Christi procession began at 3pm in Our Lady Queen of Peace and then planned to proceed along the Merrion Road to the Convent Chapel, St Mary's Centre in Elm Park. Following a station there the procession was to return along the Merrion Road back to Our Lady Queen of Peace for the final part of our liturgy.

Unfortunately, due to rain, we ended up just processing within the church itself, which being big, had space for the large attendance to walk behind the Blessed Sacrament.

The Habemus Chamber Choir sang beautifully and helped make it a very prayerful liturgy.

Other photos from this year's procession here. Photo albums for 2019, 2018 & 2017.

We are very grateful to the Religious Sisters of Charity for allowing us to use their beautiful chapel.

We wished to honour Our Lord in the Blessed Eucharist and live out these words of St John Paul II:

Our faith in the God who took flesh in order to become our companion along the way needs to be everywhere proclaimed, especially in our streets and homes, as an expression of our grateful love and as an inexhaustible source of blessings. (Mane nobiscum Domine, 7 October 2004, no. 18)

Beatification of Guadalupe Ortiz, 18 May 2019

Spanish chemist and researcher, Guadalupe Ortiz de Landázuri (1916-1975), is the first lay member of Opus Dei to be beatified. The beatification took place in Madrid on Saturday, 18 May 2019.

20 minute summary of Beatification ceremony

Pope Francis: the new Blessed "put her many qualities at the service of others"

Pope Francis wanted to unite himself to the "joy and thanksgiving" for the beatification with a letter addressed to the Prelate of Opus Dei. In it, the Holy Father says Guadalupe Ortiz de Landázuri, "put her many human and spiritual qualities at the service of others, helping in a particular way other women and their families in need of education and development." The Pontiff also noted that the new blessed "did all this not with a proselytizing attitude but simply through her prayer and witness", "with the joy that came from knowing she was a daughter of God, as she had learned from Saint Josemaría himself."

The new Blessed, the Holy Father writes, is a "witness of holiness lived out in the ordinary circumstances of her Christian life." The example of her life serves as encouragement to always aspire "to this holiness of ‘normality’, which burns within our hearts with the fire of Christ's love, and which the world and the Church are so in need of today.” Holiness, the Pontiff said, means, "opening one’s heart to God" and "going out of ourselves so as to meet others where Jesus awaits us, to bring them a word of encouragement, a helping hand, a look of tenderness and consolation."

The Pope concluded his message with the following words: "I also ask you not to stop praying for me, while at the same time I impart my Apostolic Blessing to you all. May Jesus bless you and may Our Lady look after you.”

Solemn Mass in honour of St Josemaría Escrivá, 22 June 2019 at 12 noon

On Saturday 22 June at 12 noon, Fr Justin Gillespie, Opus Dei's vicar for Ireland celebrated a Solemn Mass in Our Lady Queen of Peace in honour of St Josemaría Escrivá, Founder of Opus Dei, who died on 26 June 1975.

New Ministry Sunday Collection, 18-19 May 2019

This new annual collection will replace the Share Collection and will be devoted to support the building up of new forms of lay ministry in our parishes. The work of spreading the Gospel of Jesus in our changing religious culture will require more lay men and women working in various ways alongside our priests at the heart of parish communities.

We are already blessed with many people who give of themselves generously in various ministries in parishes. These include our Parish Pastoral Workers. We also count on an increasing number of parish catechists, attending to the faith development of young adults and young families and to the catechetical needs of the increasing number of children who do not attend Catholic schools.

The Ministry Sunday Collection is about ensuring that we will have the people we need – men and women who will be to the fore in making our parishes vibrant faith communities into the future.

While many of those involved will be volunteers, we will have to equip and train leaders and provide facilities for formation. We want to work towards a situation where all parishes in this Archdiocese benefit from their gifts and expertise. The new collection is one-step in that process.

In the second reading on Ministry Sunday our God says, ‘I am making all things new’. This is a powerful challenge to us to trust in God’s future. I hope that today’s appeal will inspire a generous response in your hearts for our future as vibrant communities of faith.

+Diarmuid Martin,

Archbishop of Dublin

Tuesday Cuppa and Chat for Mothers and Babies, after 10am Mass

On Tuesday's, after 10am Mass, over a cuppa in the Coffee Room (inside Church Porch), there is an opportunity for mothers with babies to make new friends & share parenting experiences.

Pope Francis has placed the Family high on his agenda of pastoral outreach. At Our Lady Queen of Peace we want to make parents and their young children feel very welcome in our church.

Dads are welcome too!

World Day of Peace Mass, Tue 1 Jan 2019

On the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, Our Lady Queen of Peace had the privilege of hosting the annual Diocesan World Day of Peace Mass.

The main celebrant was Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Okolo, Apostolic Nuncio, and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin preached the homily. The President and Taoiseach were represented by their ADCs and the Lord Mayor by Councillor Dermot Lacey. Members of Seanad Éireann, the Diplomatic Corps, the Defence Forces and An Garda Síochána were also present. There was also a good representation from various orders of Knighthood in the Church.

There was a strong local presence in the congregation, with many of our parishioners participating in the liturgy as servers, readers, and as part of the whole assembly of faithful. The liturgy was beautifully enhanced by the music of the Habemus Chamber Choir who sing regularly in our church.

See Message of Pope Francis for the 52nd World Day of Peace. Theme: Good politics is at the service of peace.

Photo album here.

Solemn Mass honouring St Josemaría Escrivá on Saturday 30 June 2018 at 12 noon

On Saturday 30 June at 12 noon, Fr Justin Gillespie, Opus Dei's vicar for Ireland celebrated a Solemn Mass in Our Lady Queen of Peace in honour of St Josemaría Escrivá, Founder of Opus Dei, who died on 26 June 1975.

Homily available for downloading below.

A very large congregation, which reflected all generations, attended. An innovation this year, was the serving of refreshments afterwards from a marquee erected in the grounds. The beautiful weather made this a wonderful opportunity for people to meet and greet.

See photo album here. More photos here.

Downloads

1. Homily at Mass in honour of St Josemaría, Fr Justin Gillespie, 30 June 2018

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

A new European Data Protection law, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), is being introduced on 25 May 2018. This new law applies to any organisation (including our parish), that manages and processes people’s personal information.

We are now working on ways of ensuring that what we do with your information is compliant with this new law. It is a work in progress and over the next few months we will keep you informed, through updates on this website page and otherwise, as policies are put in place. If you have any questions about this please do not hesitate to contact the parish office.

Regarding contributions to the Family Offering, Dues, First and Second Collections, the personal information provided by parishioners is used by the parish to process these contribution in line with Revenue guidelines. It is not shared with any other person or organisation. The information is only kept for as long as necessary and is then deleted from our systems.