College 175 & VDP 350 Anniversary Mass

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The idea of Mass at the Papal Cross in the Phoenix Park came about due to a confluence of different events. Late in the 2009/10 school year I received a call from Aidan McCullen, past-pupil and briefly a visiting teacher about a year earlier, as well as a former Ireland and Leinster rugby player. His message was to let me know that his father, John McCullen, had published the first volume of his history of the Phoenix Park. John was now overall administrator of Ireland's Historical Parks after many years as Superintendent, or "Park Ranger" of the Phoenix Park itself I invited John to the College where we spent a very pleasant morning talking about the College grounds, surrounding lands and of course the Park itself which he knows so well. He gifted the College a copy of his magnificent first volume.

A few weeks later when the boys were elsewhere, enjoying the company of family members in holiday mode, life in the College was more relaxed but work continued all the same. Driving back from Drumcondra through the Phoenix Park one day in July it struck me that the Papal Cross was a resource at our doorstep that we never used. Over coffee later that morning, I put the idea to Fr. John Gallagher of a walk to the cross as something the chaplaincy team and RE department could do together in the coming year. As often happens, ideas get thrown around and before long a more elaborate plan emerged.

Meanwhile, I was working on another Jubilee project of designing and sourcing some banners to hang on display on the main school driveway celebrating the 350 and 175 year anniversaries. Art teacher Darran Shiels came up with a number of options using the school colours and crest for the 175 banner. We selected one and then I asked him if a complimentary design for the 350 banner could be produced using a similar theme and incorporating the international logo of the dove and flame. This same logo we adopted for the cover boys' journal for 2010/11, departing from the usual navy blue and college crest,just for one year.

St Vincent's feast day was going to fall on a Tuesday in 2011 and the parents' calendar and boys' handbook had this clearly marked. What could we do this year that would mark it out as particularly memorable, it being the 175 anniversary?

The Jubilee year was starting the take shape. An email to John McCullen put me in touch with the right authorities; provisional permission was granted and then began the process of getting more people on side with the idea of an outdoor Mass at the Papal Cross. There would be insurance concerns, what if it rained, would the Gardai need to be informed about a large crowd crossing main roads, would a "water station" be needed, and so on. A planning meeting with the Park authorities confirmed all the conditions we were to meet and specifically the route our boys would take to the Cross from the College. Mr Murphy and I walked the route with a class of third year boys as a trial run in the preceding week to establish safe crossing points.

Everything eventually fell into place and Tuesday 29 September dawned blue and bright. Boys from Transition Year at St Paul's in Raheny would join us, as would all the pupils from our neighbours at Holy Angels in Knockmaroon. Retired staff, Pastmen and numerous parents and friends of the school would join us as well.

An outdoor Mass is not a new event for us at the College; we often celebrate the new academic year with Mass for the whole school either in the rockery or more recently in the shelter of the new link building. We also have whole school assemblies out of doors and are used to the vagaries of weather and sound systems. With so many "guests" and members of the public attending it was decided that seating should be provided and a more elaborate altar and canopy be arranged. A second set of speakers was hired to boost the sound from our own PA system, powered by a generator positioned out of sight behind the cross. Senior boys were to act as marshals to line the route and accompany the class groups along White's Road and down the side of Chesterfield Ave.

In the end, the day stayed bright and sunny, the Mass was con-celebrated by the Provincial of the Vincentian Congregation, Fr. Brian Moore CM, President of the College Fr. Peter Slevin CM, College Chaplain Fr. John Gallagher CM and Fr. Cornelius Kelechi CM, in honour of our patron, St. Vincent, from the steps facing down the tree-lined piazza on the east side of the mound with the 40 metre cross as our backdrop. Music supported the liturgy from a separate area to the right of the altar; the Liturgy of the Word was delivered from a lectern on the left. It is possible that passing members of the public may have been perplexed to witness such a group of school students gathered in reverent praise in the middle of one of Europe's largest enclosed city parks. That was our way to honour St Vincent on September 27, 2010; what had started as a simple idea hatched three months earlier had developed into a well-organised and executed whole school activity, thanks to the generosity of good will from all involved. Special mention must be made of the class tutors who accompanied their own group, assisted by two senior boys under the guidance of their Year Head; other staff who acted as stewards, liturgists, technicians and reading coaches; the staff of Holy Angels and St Paul's, and of course to the wider Vincentian community including our own priests.

It was a most fitting way to start of year of celebrations.

Chris Kinder, Deputy Principal