Welcome to Saint Mary of the Assumption
a culturally rich and diverse Catholic family; through our worship, educational, youth and outreach ministries, we endeavor to welcome, to love, to evangelize and to serve, making Jesus Christ present in Word & sacrament.
On September 30th, a group from our parish will depart from Logan Airport to fly to Dublin Ireland. Our tour is being organized by Catholic Travel Center based in Los Angeles, CA. The cost of the trip varies according to the choices the traveler makes:
Once there, they will tour the city to take in the sites of the Irish Rebellion when Ireland gained its independence in 1916. The highlights of our tour will be a visit to admire and appreciate the exceptional artistry of the medieval Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript hand done by Irish monks and found buried in a field in Kells, Ireland.
From Dublin, we will travel north to the Boyen Valley, home to one of the most ancient burial sites in the world, older than the pyramids. We will learn the lesson of the lintel box for the winter solstice and admire the medieval monastery of Monasterboice and its beautifully preserved high cross.
For our fourth day we will held to Downpatrick to visit the traditional burial site of the patron of Ireland, Saint Patrick. When the great saint died, many communities argued for the right to bury him among their midst. One of their number encouraged them to let a higher authority decide. They hitched a wagon with his body bound to it and let it run free. Where it stopped, was where the great saint was finally laid to rest. A modern visitor center on the Confessio, a writing of the great saint is here for us to visit as well.
From Dublin we head to Belfast and Northern Ireland, a part of the British Empire. We will tour the city and visit the Museum of the Peace Wall of Murals. Our second day in Belfast will include a visit to the unusual natural formation of basalt columns named Giant's Causeway. While here we will also tour the Bushmills distillery and learn the process of one of Ireland's famous and tasty exports.
From Belfast we will travel across the island to appreciate its natural beauty to arrive in Galway where we will visit Ballintubber Abbey, a site where Saint Patrick himself baptized the faithful and for centuries the traditional starting point of the Togar Padric, the pilgrim's climb to the summit of Patrick's mountain where tradition claims he fasted for forty days and nights before begining his ministry to the Celtic people. We will visit the site of Our Lady's appearance at Knock in Country Mayo and see the sights of Eyre Square and the center of the city.
Heading south we will travel to the spectacular Dingle Peninsula with breathtaking vists of Kerry, the Atlantic Ocean, Skellig Michael and the Irish coast. From here we will admire the craftmanship to construct Gallarus' Oratory without any adhesive, standing intact since the 9th century. We will leave Dingle for an overnight in Killarney and travel to Blarney to climb the steps of the famous castle to admire the stone with its power of eloquence.
Our final day is spent in Ennis before we head to Shannon Airport for the return flight to Boston on October 12, 2019.
Each day we have Mass. Here are the sites planned for our pilgrimage Masses, subject to change: