Somehow, I knew St Patrick would bring us some relief from the coronavirus scourge which has locked kids out of their schools and confined many, especially the elderly, to their homes in isolation.
Concerts are sports fixtures are AWOL, shops are empty after a mad stockpiling rush which emptied shelves, and pubs are deserted after Sunday’s two-week shutdown - even the few in Temple Bar and other parts of Dublin where Saturday evening revellers seemed to be ignorant of the worst crisis that his hit Ireland since the Famine.
It’s been dismal for many with no football on the telly, kids screaming with boredom because they can’t play or have sleepovers with their pals, friends mindful that they can’t shake hands and must remain two metres apart when they meet, nobody attending Mass even if they only went there weekly to chat to their neighbours at the back of the chapel.
So, to recall the annual tribute sung around the world to my patron saint, hail glorious St Patrick.
Salutations indeed, Patrick!
For, just as you rescued us from hell to which we were once told pagans were doomed, you are now gloriously returning to bring joy to a people in despair.
There will be nobody – or at best very few – in the churches this St Patrick’s Day.
But the bells will echo loudly across the land. Their chimes, the first nationwide celebration in weeks, will prompt a massive swell of pride in being Irish when it is most needed.
Believe me, Patrick, with parades and civic celebrations in your honour banned because of the coronavirus, and with town centres empty when they are used to huge March 17 crowds, Ireland is sorely in need of your blessing more than ever before.
So when the church bells ring across the land you and we love at 11 a.m. be assured the exhilaration will be as good as a combination of winning the triple crown/ the Cheltenham Gold Cup/the All-Ireland on the same day.
Waterford and Lismore Bishop Phonsie Cullinane, when inviting bishops across Ireland to ring the bells although nobody will be attending Mass in the churches, said it was a reminder of the faith in you that has sustained the people of our island throughout the centuries.
Bishop Cullinane also noted the bell-ringing for you is an encouragement to care for one another, and for all of us to be inspired and remain hopeful at a difficult time.
Leo Varadkar and his government ministers are doing their utmost to alert us to what we must do to survive the pandemic that has swept the world.
Our overworked health officials are regularly issuing solid advice for our protection.
All this is necessary!
I’m not being flippant when I say just as vital is the surge of social effort I know will come when the bells of honour ring out on St Patrick’s Day!
It really will be, as your hymn recounts, a case of the dear saint of our isle on us thy poor children bestowing a sweet smile.
