Kilkenny's Black Abbey to host fifth annual Novena to ‘Our Lady of Fatima’

The Lay Dominican Chapter at the Black Abbey, together with its newly appointed Prior Fr Damien Polly, assisted by Fr Brian Doyle, all the Dominican Community and the many loyal Black Abbey supporters, have now organised a fifth annual Novena to ‘Our Lady of Fatima’.

The Novena will open at 10am on Saturday, May 13 (the Feast Day of Our Lady of Fatima) and conclude on Sunday, May 21 after the 2.30pm session at the Dominican Black Abbey Church, Kilkenny. The Novena will be led by Fr Colm Mannion OP.

With the recently formed Children’s Rosary group in Kilkenny by Laura, Aishling, and others, some of the children will lead proceedings in the recitation of the Contemplative Holy Rosary. Then, together with all the children who would like to join in, they will walk in procession with their Roses to the Crowned Statue of Our Lady of Fatima, at the specially erected Novena Shrine.

The Novena will run for 9 day’s with two sessions each day commencing at 10am and 7pm with recitation of the Contemplative Rosary. To assist everybody in this prayer, the relevant images from the great Rosary Window will be projected during each holy Rosary mystery.

The great Rosary window of the Dominican Black Abbey boasts the largest stained glass window in Ireland. The window was created in 1892 by the Mayers Stained Glass Company of Munich Germany and is composed of five lights of vertical panels each depicting five mysteries of the Rosary.

From the outside this great window looks dark and dreary but once you enter the Abbey Church the window comes alive reflecting the sunlight that passes through the tiny panels of glass which make up each mystery.

On each of the two Sundays, there will be just one session and on Saturday evening the start time is 6.10pm instead of 7pm.
Thursday, May 18 will be a Special Day of Prayer for students and Sunday, May 21 will have the anointing of the sick in a 3 pm session.