Papal nuncio to join 175th celebrations of navan church
St Mary's Parish Church in Navan is this weekend celebrating 175 years, with the Papal Nuncio, Dr Charles Browne, due to celebrate Mass there on Sunday morning.
The Parish Council organised a weekend of events to celebrate this important anniversary. The celebrations started on Friday morning when the children of the Parish Primary Schools converged on St Mary’s for a Rosary together.
Today (Saturday) is a busy day around St Mary’s, with a series of presentations on different aspects of the church and its history going on throughout the day, as well as Eucharistic Adoration.
This afternoon will bring to the church many of those who celebrated their marriage in St Mary’s.
Fr Declan Hurley Adm is particularly looking forward to welcoming Archbishop Charles Brown, the Papal Nuncio, to St Mary’s on Sunday morning.
“It’s a measure of the significance of the anniversary that the representative of Pope Francis in Ireland will join us to celebrate Mass with us,' Fr Hurley stated.
He enjoys pointing to a chestnut tree in the grounds of St Mary’s and explaining that it is nearly as old as the church!
“It is our only living link with the early years of our church”, he says. “So, following the 11am Mass on Sunday morning, Archbishop Brown will plant another Chestnut tree in the grounds, assisted by two young children”.
A Vigil of Adoration has been organised for the night of Sunday through to Monday morning. Fr Hurley explains: “Monday 20th October is the date of the anniversary of the dedication of St Mary’s by Bishop Cantwell in 1839. Parishioners are being invited to spend an hour in the church at some point during the night to accompany, so to speak, the church building into the 176th year of its existence by praying before the Lord.”
On Monday morning, at 11am, Bishop Smith will be joined by many of the priests who served in the Parish in the past to celebrate the Jubilee Mass, 175 years to the day when his predecessor Bishop John Cantwell performed the solemn dedication. Following the Mass, some of the students from the town’s secondary schools will present time capsules for burial in the grounds of the Church.