The Mass in Ireland
A few years ago I came across this beautiful book, The Most Holy Eucharist (Fr. Thomas J. McGovern). In the last chapter, titled A History of the Fidelity to the Mass, the author gives a moving account of how the Irish persevered in their fidelity and love for the Mass despite the incredible persecution that they endured for over 250 years.
It is genuinely edifying to know that our past has countless saints and martyrs. People who fought long and hard to attend Mass over a prolonged period of time. Ordinary people who risked their lives and sometimes lost their lives for their love of the Catholic faith. We should be extremely proud of our heritage!
To be proud
The recent past can discourages us from believing that anything good can come out of the Catholic Church in Ireland. But so much good was there and is there. Yes, we have to assume and recognise the terrible atrocities committed, but we also have to remember and own the incredible good that many Catholics in Ireland have done. This is our inheritance and we too can continue to carry that torch of perseverance and love for the Mass in Ireland today. As the author concludes at the end of this chapter:
The religious persecution of Irish Catholics endured for over 250 years. It is doubtful if ever any other persecution of Catholics was so long and intense. Recalling these events is not a question of evoking bitter memories or of living off the spiritual capital of the past. Rather its purpose is to allow ourselves to be inspired by the love and fidelity which our forefathers had for the Eucharist so that we grow in appreciation of this great sacrament.
I wanted to give you here excerpts of this book because the author writes it so much better than I could but also he found through his research some beautiful testimonies of the Irish people in their absolute love for the Mass.
Here’s a couple of them:
‘An attempt was made on one occasion to force the children, sons of great Irish lords, for whom they were held in Dublin Castle as hostages, to go to the Protestant service. Not being strong enough to resist the physical compulsion that was exercised to bring to the church, the youngsters planned to make a row: “They set up a great shouting and bawling when the ministers commenced their hymns and music, preventing them being heard, and obstructing the heretical observance; nor did they desist until they were carried out of the church and sent back to their former prison, whence they were never again summoned to the heretical rites”.’
And another:
“Dermot O’Hurley was teaching canon and civil law at the seminary of Rheims (France) when he learned that he had been appointed archbishop of Cashel. O’Hurley arrived in secret to Ireland but was eventually captured in 1583, brought to Dublin, and thrown into the dungeon of Dublin castle, where he was held for six months. On Holy Thursday of 1584, he was brought before the justices and promised pardon if he would deny the supremacy of the pope and take the oath that denied this supremacy, but he boldly refused to do what the lord justices asked him. Tied to a trunk of a tree he was beaten cruelly. Then his boots were filled with pitch, his feet inserted into them and the pitch set alight. Even though the flesh melted and the bones were exposed, O’Hurley bravely refused to deny his faith. We can only imagine how much he suffered.
He returned to prison and after a few weeks was brought before the justices again. This time they tried offers of ecclesiatistical preferment and the gracious favour of the queen - but all to no purpose. Fearing a public trial, the justice obtained permission to proceed against O’Hurley by martial law. He was sentenced to be hanged, and the judgement was put into effect on June 20, 1584, at the spot where Merrion Row and Ely Place now meet in Dublin city centre.
At this time several priests were put to death simply for saying Mass. One priest was hanged in his own church, opposite the high altar. Another was hanged and quartered in 1597. The execution of O’Hurley was meant to strike terror into the other “Rome-runners” and Mass-priests (as they were called) in Ireland. But the priests remained firm, exasperating the authorities of Dublin Castle. In 1584, an order was issued that all priests should be exterminated”.
Source and Summit
There are many more stories of persecution and heroic martyrdom during those centuries in Ireland.
In this day and age, we may not be killed for our faith but we can be broken down bit by bit. The Mass is known as “the source and summit” of our faith. It is where we get our strength to live like Christ. For that reason, the Mass has always been a target of attack. Sometimes in a direct manner like the accounts just recited and other times in a more subtle way.
I leave you with a beautiful quote from Saint John Paul II in a World Youth Day homily in 2000 where he spoke to a crowd of two million young people about the Eucharist:
“To celebrate the Eucharist, “to eat his flesh and drink his blood,” means to accept the wisdom of the Cross and the path of service. It means that we signal our willingness to sacrifice ourselves for others, as Christ has done”.