St Mary's parish mission to begin on Sunday

St Mary's Parish in Athlone is to host a 'Festival of Faith' mission for one week, starting this Sunday, September 22.

A Coosan Family Day will also take place at Our Lady Queen of Peace Church on Sunday, September 29. Legendary GAA commentator Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh will be the special guest speaker at the event, which is part of the celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the Church in Coosan.

The parish mission is the first to take place in St Mary's in many years, and it will be led by a Redemptorist team of Fr Derek Ryan, Fr Brian Nolan and Sarah Smyth.

It will begin on Sunday evening at 7pm Mass in Our Lady Queen of Peace Church, Coosan. 

From Monday-Friday, there will be Masses in Coosan at 7.30am and 7pm, and in St Mary's Church at 9.30am

On Friday next, representatives of community groups are being invited to take part in the evening Mass in Coosan.

'We have written to every community group we could think of to invite them to the community night. We hope that a representative of each will carry a symbol of their group to the altar, along with a piece detailing what they do, so it will be an occasion to celebrate all that is good about the community,' said Fr Declan Shannon.

The Mission will conclude with a morning Mass in Coosan (7.30am) and St Mary's (9.30am) on Saturday.

Our Lady Queen of Peace Church has rearranged its baptismal font and surrounding area, and this change will be unveiled at a special Mass on Saturday, September 28.

The Mass will be celebrated by Bishop Colm O'Reilly in one of his last official engagements before Fr Francis Duffy is ordained as his successor.