Long before the cards, the flowers and the cake, Mothering Sunday was a time in the church year when the mother church – the cathedral – of the diocese came into greater view. At times processions from parishes to the diocesan cathedral would be undertaken and special prayers would be made for the cathedral and its ministry. In these days that vital ministry has come back to the fore. Our parish churches are temporarily closed and services have been suspended. We are fortunate in this diocese to have, not one, but two cathedrals: Christ Church Cathedral (the cathedral of the diocese of Dublin and Glendalough) and Saint Patrick’s Cathedral (the national cathedral for the whole island of Ireland). Both of these cathedrals have continued to hold services, either without a congregation or within extreme limitations. This has involved clergy, a small number of singers, a skeleton staff and a small army of cleaners to enable these services to continue in this way. Modern technology has meant that these services have continued and enabled many people to tune in online as they are broadcast daily or weekly. It has proved to be an invaluable service in recent days and a great source of comfort at a time when meeting in our own parishes has been so severely restricted. On this Sunday please remember them all in your prayers as they continue to provide this service.
You can watch the live broadcast services on the cathedral websites:
https://www.stpatrickscathedral.ie/
https://christchurchcathedral.ie/
For your own use there are also resources online at the Church of Ireland website for daily prayer:
https://www.ireland.anglican.org/prayer-worship/lectionary
This can be accessed via the link on the left of the page labelled ‘Daily Prayer’. It is also available as an app, downloadable through the Apple and Google Play stores.
The Collects
Lord God whose blessed Son our Saviour gave his back to the smiters and did not hide his face from shame: give us grace to endure the sufferings of this present time with sure confidence in the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
God of compassion, whose Son Jesus Christ, the child of Mary, shared the life of a home in Nazareth, and on the cross drew the whole human family to himself: strengthen us in our daily living that in joy and in sorrow we may know the power of your presence to bind together and to heal; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.