St Gerard's Novena has a ‘wide appeal’ with thousands attending Dundalk church each day

The annual Solemn Novena in honour of St Gerard Majella which gets underway in Dundalk’s Redemptorist Church on Tuesday October 8 is one of the biggest religious events in the north east, with each session attended by as many as one thousand devotees.

"Our theme this year is Creating a Culture of Care and different aspects of this will be addressed on different days,“ said Rector Fr Brendan Callanan C.Ss.R.

The six speakers at this year’s Novena are three Redemptorist priests, Fr Séamus Enright C.Ss.R and Fr Ryan Holovlask C.Ss.R, from St Joseph’s Monastery, Dundalk and Fr Joseph Royan C.Ss.R, who is from India and currently studying in Rome.

The lay speakers are Helena Connolly and Colum Óg Marks who live locally and spoke at last year’s novena and Neil Foley from Co. Wexford who has spoken previously at St. Gerard’s novena.

”Different aspects of Creating a Culture of Care will be addressed, such as creating a culture of care for the sick and elderly, for those in troubled relationships, for the environment and for the stranger,” said Fr Callanan.

The novena is the biggest event of the year for the Redemptorist community in Dundalk and also for the faithful, not just in Co Louth but throughout the north east.

"If you look at the carpark you will see cars with registrations from Down, Armagh, Monaghan and Meath,” he said. “There are also people who travel from further distances to do one day. Last year I met a woman who had come up from Kildare.”

With eight sessions a day, he said that as a guesstimate as many as 7,000 to 8,000 people could attend the Novena each day,

"While some sessions are busier than others, the church will be full, with an overspill of people into the corridors and also into St Gerard’s Hall. At the busier sessions you’d have up to one thousand people.”

Sessions take place at 7.30am, 9am, 11am, 1.10pm, 4pm, 6pm, 7.30pm and 9pm.

"The Novena has a wide appeal for people of all ages,” said Fr Callanan. “St Gerard, as you know, is the patron Saint of mothers and expectant mothers so we get a lot of younger people at the Novena. It is an opportunity to work with people of all ages.”

There will be a special blessing of the sick and elderly at all sessions on Saturday October 12 and of babies and children at all sessions on Sunday October 13.

For those unable to travel to the Novena, all sessions will be live-streamed on www.redemptoristdundalk.ie