As we mark 300 years of the Revelation of the Order and 166 years of presence in Dublin, we also celebrate 25 years in our new monastery building. We had three beautiful days of celebration with our Redemptorist brothers and fellow Religious, former chaplains and families, then with our faithful supporters and friends of the community; those who join us for prayer on a daily and weekly basis and last but not least with the relatives of our deceased Sisters. Those courageous women who made the decision to move here to this new monastery and pave the way for us. We are deeply grateful for all, living and deceased and entrust you all to God that He me shower abundant blessings upon you.

If the Lord does not Build the House

In Vain Do its Builders Labour

 (Psalm 127:1)

The community, after several years of prayerful discernment and with total reliance on God and confidence in the future embarked on the building of a new church and monastery at the end of the last century. It was completed and consecrated under the patronage of St Alphonsus on the 02 May 2000. It took courage and great faith in the future of the Redemptoristines in Dublin to do this but courage, faith, and the capacity for hard work is something that the community had and continues to have going forward. The work undertaken always under the inspiration of

the Holy Spirit, has secured for the community the possibility to continue to grow for many years to come together with a sense of security, joy, identity, and hope. In this world full of noise and confusion, we must try to not be afraid of our Father God. W e need to pray every day. We need silence to hear his voice, whispering peace and showing us gently where we need to go, what we need to do and how we need to change. This will benefit not only ourselves but make us channels of God’ s mercy for others. Sitting still in the quiet presence of the Lord is not part of life for most people today.

The signs of this lack of prayer are all around us. When we surround ourselves with activity, is it because we need to quieten our restless souls – looking for distractions because there is turmoil within. The monastery and church of St Alphonsus has provided and continues to provide an oasis of prayer and prayerful support since the coming of the Redemptoristines to Ireland in 1859.

This ‘new monastery’ has been ‘an open door’ of welcome for the past 25 years and will continue to do so for generations yet to come, not only for the local church but also for theentire world through the webcam.

Recognising that all is ultimately God’s gift we are filled with profound gratitude.

Sr. Gabrielle Fox