All in a day's work

What does a Brother do all day?

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Men who are interested in joining our congregation are often surprised to learn that in addition to the most important components of the day- prayer and ministry- it also involves very ordinary and mundane activities such as mowing the lawn!

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The last few days have been beautiful here in Dublin and it's been a great opportunity to look after the garden here at our house.

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If the life of a religious brother interests you feel free to shoot me an e-mail at prescall@eircom.net

Mass in Glasthule...

Last night we had a special Mass at our house in Glasthule in Dublin to seek the intercession of Blessed Edmund Rice on his feastday

It was a great occasion and thanks to the people of St Joseph's Parish for the strong turn out!

Monsignor Dan O'Connor of Dun Laoghaire and Fr Billy Farrell of Glasthule celebrated the Mass.

Here are some photos from the event.

Monsignor Dan O'Connor preaches the homily of the Mass.

Maurice delivers the First Reading.

Preparations in the kitchen on Wednesday morning. This is the "meitheal", the team, in action!

The dining room struggles to cope with the crowd again!

Happy Feast Day!!

Today, Wednesday 5th May, is the Feastday of Blessed Edmund Rice, our Founder.

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It's a day when we thank God for Blessed Edmund's extraordinary witness to his faith. We also seek his intercession for our own cares and concerns.

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As vocations director for the Presentation Brothers I pray today in a special way for new vocations to religious brotherhood.

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Tonight we will offer a Mass at our house in Dublin to mark the occasion.

To learn more about Blessed Edmund, please visit our congregation website's dedicated section.

Vocations in Parish

The days around Vocations Sunday are always busy for a vocations director.

At the weekend I had a display stand at St Michael's Church in Dun Laoghaire (see left).

The parish invites local religious congregations to highlight their presence in the parish at this time each year.

Last week I was in Togher parish where there was a great gathering to provide vocations resource materials to parish representatives from across the diocese. There was a great turn out and a great buzz.

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If you're interested in a religious vocation, feel free to give me a shout at prescall@eircom.net

To England....

Last month I was in England. I got in and out before the ash crisis!

Thanks a million to everyone who gave me such a warm welcome. It was very encouraging.

Why was I there? To promote vocations of course!

The first step in promoting vocations is to increase awareness of what the brother's vocation is all about. So I spoke at a lot of Masses in Reading and in Dartfordshire.

Thanks to Fr Joseph Awoh of St Joseph's Church in Reading and to Fr John Nelson and Fr Richard Maniak at The English Martyrs. Thanks too to Fr William Scanlan of St Anselm's Church in Dartford.

There were well over 1,000 people at the masses.

I also spoke to about 100 sixth form students at Blessed Hugh Faringdon Catholic School.

I hope to be back in England for the Invocation vocations event in Birmingham in July and for the visit of our Holy Father, Pope Benedict in September.

Planning a Vigil

The things I do for the Church!

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I was in Glendalough in County Wicklow this week to help plan a Prayer Vigil for the eve of Vocations Sunday. The Vigil will take place on Saturday 24th April 2010. It starts at 6pm at the Information Centre in Glendalough.

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Other Vigils are taking place at 5pm in Clonmacnois in County Offaly, and 6pm at St Brigid's Well in Kildare (beside the Japanese Gardens Car Park). They are all being co-ordinated by Vocations Ireland.

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It's a chance to pray for vocations to religious life and also to pray for and with religious.

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I'll be there!

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Pictured Above: Me with Sr Peggy and Sr Liz.

A Happy Easter...

Holy Week, the Triduum and Easter Sunday are always a tonic for my faith. Maybe it's because for a few intense days our ordinary cares and concerns take a back seat and we focus on Christ.


I've been attending the ceremonies here at St Joseph's Parish in Glasthule in Dublin. I'm involved in directing the youth choir so this is a busy time of the year on that front.

I always notice that men interested in religious life seem to reflect more deeply on it at this time of year.


So if you feel drawn to religious brotherhood, why not make an Easter Resolution to take about it and get some more information.


Feel free to give me a shout at prescall@eircom.net

In the meantime, a Happy Easter to all of you!