Bishop Alan McGuckian SJ, Bishop of Down and Connor (Catholic Communications Office archive)
The Irish language has joined seventeen other world languages in now having daily Mass readings available to Irish speakers at home and to over half a million speakers throughout the world.
This faith initiative has been undertaken by Evangelizo, a Catholic lay association founded in France in 2001 by Bertrand Couderc and Grégor Puppinck. Full permission to publish the Irish translation has been granted by An Bíobla Naofa © An Sagart, Maigh Nuad 2000, Éire. Evangelizo seeks to make free and available online and on social media daily Mass readings to as many people as possible, today the service has seventeen language versions and over 500,000 subscribers.
Originally from Dundalk, Paris-based Ciarán MacGuill led this project to host the Irish language version of Evangelizo. Ciarán said, “I love our Irish language and culture and have co-founded the very successful Gaeltacht here in Paris, An Ghaeltacht-sur-Seine, which has over 200 members. We offer a whole variety of opportunities for people, mostly Irish, but also French and others, to gather socially and speak Irish. I suggested to Evangelizo’s co-founder, Bertrand Couderc, that Irish could be included with their suite of international languages, and straight away he liked the idea.”
Ciarán continued, “The French, and particularly French Catholics, have a great fondness for Ireland and the Irish. I got to work, preparing the texts with Evangelizo and its friends in the Monastic Community of Jerusalem. Thanks to the wonders of internet technology, the Irish language team is based across mainland Europe and the Mediterranean, from Paris and the Mont Saint Michel, to Strasbourg, Rome and Beirut. The result is that today we now have ‘Soiscéal an Lae’, the Irish language version of Mass readings of the day. This is a great aid for studying the Bible, for following the liturgical year and building one’s faith. Our aim is to catch up with the French, Italians and Germans! They keep improving their versions, with commentaries, prayers, biographies of the saints of the day and now they also have the Mass readings in audio.”
In welcoming the success of making daily Mass readings available in the Irish language, Bishop Alan McGuckian SJ, Bishop of Down and Connor, said, “Go gcoimeáda an Tiarna na hÉireannaigh ina lámha agus a muintir atá ina gcónaí thar sáile, sa Fhrainc agus ar fud an domhain. Go gcosnaí an Tiarna iad, agus go bhfana siad gar don Tiarna [May Our Lord hold the Irish living in France and around the world in His hands and protect them, and may their families flourish and stay close to God].”
Bishop McGuckian continued, “Reading the Scriptures in Irish, or indeed in any language, is an extraordinary way to discover and rediscover the richness of the words and images of the Holy Bible. The daily Mass readings are a particularly powerful way to follow the liturgical year and explore the connections and associations between the books of the Bible. It is especially gratifying for Irish language enthusiasts to see our language take its place among seventeen major world languages. I wish to commend Ciarán and the Irish language community in France for this work of evangelisation. May I encourage everyone of faith, and with a love of our language, to access Soiscéal an Lae, the daily Mass readings on www.evangelizo.com.”
ENDS
- Evangelizo is a Catholic lay association founded in France in 2001 by Bertrand Couderc and Grégor Puppinck. Its mission is to make free and available on social media the daily Mass readings to as many as possible, people wherever they are, in front of their computer screens or on their mobile phones. Evangelizo in figures:
– 500,000 subscribers, daily e-mail with the Mass readings of the day;
– 18 languages – including French, German, English, Chinese, Arabic … and now Irish
– 32 versions covering the main Catholic rites and liturgical calendars; and,
– 80 volunteers, an international team from all around the world
- ‘Soiscéal an Lae’ is the Irish language member of the Evangelizo family, making available the daily Mass readings in Irish on website and by email [email protected]
