Silver Jubilee Novena attracts Tens of Thousands

Dressed up in the photos = Br Sean Duggan = Shrek, Br Tony Rice = Sylvester the Cat, Diarmuid MacCoitir = Super Fat Man, Michael McCloskey as Barney.

Over 15,000 people are expected to flock to the city each day to attend the 25th annual Solemn Novena in honour of Our Mother of Perpetual Help at Galway Cathedral.
The Novena begins on Monday and continues until Tuesday February 21, with seven sessions daily. Run by the Redemptorist order, the Novena is the biggest annual religious event in the country.
And despite all the dramatic changes and enormous challenges in society, especially in the Church, it continues to draw huge crowds, according to Fr Tony Flannery.
"To hear the traffic problems caused by the Galway Novena being mentioned on all the airways in modern, cosmopolitan Ireland causes considerable bemusement around the country. By any standards this Novena is an amazing phenomenon. None of us, even someone like myself who has participated in it on and off since the beginning, are quite sure what exactly draws so many people.
"But it certainly highlights the fact that our new-found prosperity is not meeting all the needs and longings of the human heart, and that the people of today, like our ancestors before us, have a yearning for something deeper, an answer to more fundamental questions."
The line up of preachers includes Dundalk native Fr Ciaran O Callaghan who is a brilliant Scripture scholar. He combines his knowledge with great communication skills and his talks will be both easy to listen to and very informative.
Fr Dick Delahunty from Kilkenny will speak on his experience of working on the missions in Brazil where he has spent much of his life.
Just a few years ordained, Fr Brendan Mulhall will offer a young man's perspective, while Fr Tony Flannery is delighted to be part of the team after five years.
The special Mass for the anointing of the sick will be held at 11am on Saturday; the blessing of babies and children will take place at 3pm on Sunday (Photos enclosed); and the Rite of Reconciliation will take place at sessions on Thursday.
The times of the seven sessions each day are 7.45am, 11am, 1.10pm, 4.30pm, 6.30pm, 8pm and 10pm.