"We have to keep doing the work" that the late Queen started is how Monsignor Peter O'Reilly sees the cross community Service of Prayer and Reflection that will take place in Enniskillen on Sunday evening.
Indeed, many things have been reflected upon since the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
One such moment in relation to Enniskillen was the crossing of the street by Her Majesty from St. Macartin’s Cathedral to St. Michael’s Church in 2012 on her Diamond Jubilee visit to Enniskillen.
The small but significant footsteps endorsed existing cross-community relations in Fermanagh believes the Very Rev Kenneth Hall, Dean of St. Macartin’s Cathedral, Enniskillen and Monsignor Peter O’Reilly, St Michael’s Church, Enniskillen who hosted The Queen on that historic day.
The two clergymen were guests yesterday at Royal Hillsborough as King Charles III and the Queen Consort visited Northern Ireland.
Now, their two churches will come together as one this Sunday as part of a Service of Prayer and Reflection to give thanks for the life and reign of the Queen.
As part of the service, the congregation will gather and follow the footsteps the Queen from St. Macartin’s to St. Michael’s.
Since the Queen’s passing, the historic moment has been highlighted as a key gesture of reconciliation during the Queen’s reign.
The Most Reverend John McDowell, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland highlighted the steps in his sermon at the Service of Reflection for Queen Elizabeth II at St Anne's Cathedral. The event in Enniskillen in 2012 were also highlight by Northern Ireland Assembly speaker, Alex Maskey MLA in a message of condolence on behalf of the people of Northern Ireland.
Speaking to The Impartial Reporter about the Queen’s visit in 2012, Dean Hall said: “I think we did know the significance of what she did. Later the Queen did say to us at Buckingham Palace, ‘what are you doing to further community relations. In 2014, when we met the now King he told us ‘to keep it up.’
“Everything the Queen did was rooted in her faith, she had a deep witness to Christian faith and out of that sprung her love of country, her devotion to God and her desire for reconciliation.”
Monsignor O’Reilly said: “The level of friendship predates the Queen’s visit and it postdates it. The walk gave it a level of visibility and she associated herself with her hopes for the community which in a sense are our hopes. We are all peacemakers, she gave us a level of visibility and gave us affirmation to that, in the hope it would carry us forward.”
Explaining the significance of the service, Dean Hall said: “The service is a continuation, we are really carrying out the wishes of Her Majesty that we would build on what she already did, and where better to do it than in remembrance of her.”
Monsignor O’Reilly added: “The service is to look back but there is a sense, by literally doing the walking ourselves, we are signifying that we have to keep doing the work. Sunday will give expression to the challenge the Queen gave us [to keep working together.]
Dean Hall added: “We keep our own identities in all we do, we have an understanding, respect, and tolerance for each other. The visit emphasised that we are one community under God.”
“Unity does not mean uniformity,” added Monsignor O’Reilly
Beginning at 6pm on Sunday evening at St. Macartin’s Cathedral, the service is one service in two buildings with the continuity between both religious buildings being the congregation moving across the street singing the hymn, Lead me, Lord.
The congregation will sing the following: “Lead me, Lord, lead me in thy righteousness, make thy way plain before my face. For it is thou, Lord, thou, Lord only, that makest me dwell in safety.”
The service of Enthronement for The Bishop of Clogher, the Right Revd Dr Ian Ellis which was to take place on September 11, has been postponed until Sunday September 25 at 7pm in St Macartin’s Cathedral, Enniskillen.
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