A spiritual presence was felt by at least some of the 180,000 people
from rural Ireland who were called to pray by the ringing of a bell at
the National Ploughing Championship.
The bell, which will be used in pastoral preparations for the
Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in June 2012, was rung at the joint
Catholic and Church of Ireland Archdiocese of Dublin stand at the
National Ploughing Championship.
The priests, religious and others on
the stand welcomed people to bell ringing, prayer, art, puppets,
workshops and a simple moment of reflection during this action packed
crowed event.
At another stand Sr Eileen Linehan and colleagues were flying the
flag for Vocations Ireland.
She was very happy to welcome young and
old. Youngsters asked questions such as: “What do you have to do to be a
nun?”
They asked the Franciscan monk who was on the stand wearing in
his robes: “Are you a real monk?”
Older people were happy just to see a religious presence in the midst
of hundreds of commercial stands.
“They think it is a good witness to
be here and to offer an alternative to the commercial aspects,” said
Eileen Linehan.
Over the three days there was only one negative comment
from the thousands of people passing by she told ciNews.
“You are very vulnerable these days as a religious, you do not know
how people are going to take you, but it has been very positive here.”
On the stand were leaflets from religious orders throughout Ireland,
and a quiet room where people could pray or sit a while. Prayer
intentions could be left for the Poor Clare’s and Carmelites.
George Hook spent 20 minutes on the stand and spoke warmly about
Vocations Ireland on his evening show broadcast from the site. Sr
Eileen was also speaking on KLR (Kildare Local Radio).
The Ploughing Championships in Cardenton, Athy, Co Kildare on
September 21 – 23had an estimated180, 000 visitors and 1,100 stands with
everything from tractors to cattle feed.
Among those stands were
several Catholic, Christian and charitable groups including one from
the Archdiocese of Dublin, the Legion of Mary, Sisters of St Joseph of
Cluny, Sacred Heart Missionaries, and Irish Catholic newspaper.
On the education front was the Cistercian College.
The Irish Missionary Union, Irish Aid, and Trócaire were among aid
agencies present and a large banner sought 300 combines to gather in one
field to raise money for charity.
The presence of the local diocese at the event has been the norm over
the last few years.
The Dublin Archdiocese offered the opportunity for
people to leave their prayer intentions on a prayer wall.
New this year was demonstration of religious icon making and painting of religious inspired art.
Volunteer bell-ringers (campanologists) from Christ Church Cathedral
also led workshops on bell ringing.
There was a prayer service every
hour.
SIC: CIN/IE