Cathedral News

The annual series of international summer concerts in the Cathedral begins on Thursday 3 July, and continues with a concert every Thursday evening at 20:00 until 7 August.

Mass in the Cathedral will be celebrated at 11:00am ONLY between Monday 5 May and Thursday 8 May 2014 inclusive; the priests of the diocese are on retreat on those dates.

The week between Passion Sunday and Easter Sunday is the most sacred of the church year, and will be celebrated in solemn fashion in Galway Cathedral.

Franciscan Friar Alessandro Brustenghi, from Assisi, will give a concert of his favourite songs in the Cathedral on Friday 21 March 2014, as part of a European tour. His album The Voice of Assisi reached number one in the UK charts.

The Greater Miami Youth Symphony Orchestra, from Florida in the USA, together with the Galway Youth Orchestra Jazz Ensemble, presents a concert in the Cathedral on Thursday 27 March 2014 at 19:30. The programme includes music by Bach, Vivaldi, Sarasate and others. Admission is free.

Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the season of Lent, falls this year on Wednesday 5 March 2014.

The annual Solemn Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help begins on Monday 10 February 2014, and runs until Tuesday 18 February. There are six sessions each day, as follows: Monday-Saturday: 07:45, 11:00, 13:10, 15:30, 19:30, 21:30 Sunday: 09:00, 10:30, 12:30, 16:30, 18:30, 20:15

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception, normally celebrated on 8 December, is this year celebrated on Monday 9 December; this is because the Sunday celebration takes precedence. Mass in the Cathedral for the feast wil be celebrated on Monday 9 December at 09:00, 11:00 and 18:00.

The Year of Faith comes to an end on Sunday 24 November 2013, the feast of Christ the King and the last Sunday of the liturgical year. The occasion will be marked by a celebratory Mass in Galway Cathedral that day at 3:00pm, to which all are invited. The Mass will be celebrated by Bishop Martin Drennan, with music led by combined choirs from all around the diocese.

The relics of St Anthony of Padua willl visit the Cathedral on Tuesday 22 October. The relics, which are usually kept at the Basilica in Padua, will be accompanied by the editor of the Messenger of Saint Anthony, Father Mario Conte, together with Greyfriars from Britain and Ireland. Though he died in 1231, St Anthony's popularity has rarely waned over the centuries. He is widely revered as the saint who helps people find lost things or people.