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DUBLIN, Ireland, March 15, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – Irish Catholics are set to gather in prayerful protest in Dublin on St. Patrick’s Day this week, in order to “reclaim” the day for the “Glory of the Most Holy Trinity.” They will be calling on the Irish government to permit worship once again and to cease the practice of abortion.
This Wednesday marks St. Patrick’s Day, a day on which parades are normally held throughout the country to mark the nation’s patron saint. Due to COVID-related restrictions, all such events have been canceled for the second year in a row.
However, the day has been specifically chosen by a number of Catholic groups in Ireland as an opportunity to take inspiration from the great apostle to the Irish by making a public call for repentance in the face of government-promoted abortion and the closure of churches.
Gathering at 2:30 p.m. in the Garden of Remembrance, the group will then process to Leinster House, the Irish Parliament, in order to issue a call for repentance to the government.
The group seeks to counter the “wave of irrational fear” which has “swept across the country” by showing that “Christianity is a religion of courage and of hope and to proclaim the message that if people turn back to God, then He will heal our land.”
In addition to this, the St. Patrick’s Procession is a way of making public reparation for the dual evils of abortion and government enforced church closures: “With this current communistic government having also stopped public attendance at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, what better way to make an act of public worship than to join us on St. Patrick’s day to give public worship to The Most Holy Trinity whom we love.”
“We want to ask the leaders of this country to stop condoning and promoting, either by their words or their silence, evils like the vicious murder of children through abortion not to mention the all round depravity promoted by society in general.”
The procession will also make reparation for the manner that abortion is being promoted through the novel abortion-tainted experimental vaccines for COVID-19: “Not long after Ireland has ‘legalised’ the murder of children, we are now faced with the prospect of being coerced into accepting vaccines which have either been tested on or contain cells from those aborted babies. Even most of our Bishops have now turned a blind eye to this truth. We want to use this opportunity on St. Patrick’s day to encourage people to turn back to God and stop sinning and to remind them that God has warned the world of chastisements if we do not amend our ways.”
Those behind the procession have drawn comparisons to the challenges faced by St. Patrick, noting that they, too, “face leaders who are hostile to our faith” in a multitude of ways, and urge people to learn from the “heroic actions” of St. Patrick.
Ireland has seen fierce restrictions placed upon all aspects of life in the wake of COVID-19 infections, with public worship having been banned for the majority of 2020, and priests threatened with jail for saying Mass for the first time since the persecution of Irish Catholics. In January, three men were arrested outside Waterford Cathedral for praying, while the church doors were closed due to the ban on public worship.
Worship is currently still forbidden, and has been so since December 26, 2020. It will only be permitted once the country goes back down to level 2 in its restrictions, which could be months away. Meanwhile, the group has noted that the government has turned a blind eye to Muslims attending mosques in their hundreds.
“We are being placed under lockdown for a virus which, according to many doctors and scientists, is surrounded by controversies including false death certs, false positives and inaccurate testing. Many people in Ireland who have lost the faith and therefore the peace of God are seriously struggling with anxiety and depression while the state media constantly churns out false information,” those coordinating the procession stated.
In a comment to LifeSiteNews, Michael from Antrim, who plans to attend, noted how it was an opportunity to make an act of public prayer, on a day which is often marked by irreligious celebrations.
“We as Catholics are tired of Saint Patrick being used to promote the very things that St. Patrick came to Ireland to preach against,” he declared. “Each year our hypocritical government ministers also use the good name of this saint for their own selfish agendas. So we thought while this year’s parade was canceled, it would be a perfect opportunity to hold a more prayerful, respectful and holy parade in its place to remind people of the true message of St. Patrick.”
He was supported by Colm from Wexford, who called the event “essential” in order to counter the widespread “fear” in the country: “A public prayer event to mark the coming of Christianity to our shores is absolutely needed to help lift the darkness and usher in the light.”
The event is likely to face stern police opposition, with a “ring of steel” reportedly promised around the entire city to prevent a number of anti-lockdown protests, including the procession.
However, Colm was unfazed by the prospect of any potential fines from the police. “The pro-abortion government might threaten us with a €100 fine, but €100 is not much for the sake of standing up for one day for the Glory of God and for the salvation of souls,” he stated.
“If the government makes it a €200 fine, I will still be going. Many people around the world are called to be Martyrs for Christ, so if we can’t even take the risk of being fined for praying in public, then there is something seriously wrong.”