St Genesius, Blogging, Ireland and me.

Hello to all the readers and bloggers, here at the Association of Catholic Woman Bloggers. I am delighted to have been asked to blog here occasionally. Thanks for the invite. I live in the historic town of Drogheda, on the east coast of Ireland (home to the shrine of St Oliver Plunkett). I am happily married to Christopher (who blogs at Catholicus), we have four children, whom we are trying to raise in the Faith in what now feels like "post Catholic" Ireland. Ireland is in a difficult place at the moment, the economic recession has hit hard, and our new "liberal agenda" government seem intent on as many social changes as possible, while no one is looking, (as many people are simply too busy worrying about day to day living). In terms of the Catholic faith, it simply feels like the Church is under continuous attack, both from within and without. (Well, that's enough misery for one paragraph, but remember if you can, spare a prayer for Ireland, we really need it).

St Genesius

 

My blogging home is over at the the St Genesius Blog. It was St Genesius who got me blogging, so, if I bore you all to death, it is all his fault. Who is this St Genesius? St Genesius is the Patron saint of actors, he was a convert, an actor and a martyr. I am not an actor, or involved in the arts in anyway, but I enjoy being a spectator. St Genesius is the patron of a family of prayer, of which I am a member. The Fraternity of St Genesius, began almost five years ago. We are a family of prayer, and we pray for actors, and all those, who are involved in cinema, and theatre. Cinema, theatre and the arts in general have a huge influence on the world in which we now live. Unfortunately not all of that influence is good. Instead if just complaining and giving out, we pray, pray, pray. As a member I have made a committment to pray daily and offer sacrafice for those people involved in the world of film, television, film, theatre etc. To find out more, and perhaps consider membership go to our website at http://www.stgenesius.com/ 

Here are a few inspiring words about the fraternity from someone, who can express it better than me.

A few words on the work of the Fraternity of St Genesius

My dear people, this is the spiritual battle that exists at this time. It is the battle for art, for the life, the soul and the future of art, where God on one side wishes to inspire His children to use their talents for His glory and the building up of a civilization of truth, beauty, decency and love and where Satan on the other hand seeks to cultivate within the hearts and minds of writers, directors and actors an anti‐art of perversion, disorder and untruth; an anti‐art which many of God’s children now serve to the moral degradation of our world. In this spiritual battle God does not stand on the sidelines but continually puts before us through his Church the communion of saints whose help we are called to avail of not only for ourselves but for those such as actors and actresses, scriptwriters and directors, whose spiritual need is great. In this battle for the soul of art, for the soul of film, for cinema, for theatre, God gives us St. Genesius as one who lived as an actor in this world and who now intercedes for them as a Saint from the next. But for the power of this intercession to be realized in the lives of those who dedicate their lives to acting, then the children of the Church must hear the call to accompany actors and actresses spiritually through prayer, bringing them to Christ through St. Genesius in the hope that the victory of Christ may be manifest in their lives. Given the pressures that many actors face, from the cult of celebrity at one extreme to the reality of poverty at the other, this service of prayer for them is a real service of love. So let us serve the acting community each and every day by praying for those who dedicate their lives to acting. Over the years their talents have brought us so much joy and many of their performances have been source of inspiration for us. In acknowledgment of this and in appreciation for it, may be pray for them especially those who do not know God and who have experienced much suffering in their lives.

Excerpt from The Saint Whose Time Has Come, by Fr. Owen Gorman (Fraternitas 2007)