Sligo Champion, Saturday, January 6th, 1900
The pretty little Catholic Church at the Rosses Point was one of those places of Divine Worship in our diocese in which by the kind permission and favour of the Bishop, the Most Rev Dr Clancy, the Holy Year of 1900 was ushered in with very unusual solemnities.
At 11 o'clock on New Year's Eve the chapel bell was tolled pleasantly for a considerable time to invite the expectant worshippers to assemble for the midnight worship of the King of the Universe.
A few minutes before the midnight hour the Blessed Sacrament was solemnly exposed and immediately the sweet-smelling incense could be perceived by the devout throng of worshippers, while they could see its clouds gently wafted up before the Tabernacle and the Throne, and at the same time feel their hearts lifted up in earnest prayer to Him, whose real living presence was the central object of all they beheld around the Christian Altar, looking down upon His children from the place in the centre of the remonstrance.
At the precise moment the bells chimed the midnight hour and thus ushered in the Great and Holy New Year, a Missa Cantata sung by Father Cogan, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament exposed, was commenced. The local choristers under the ever reliable direction of Mrs. Michael Devaney, ably assisted by Mrs. Kilgallen and the Misses Devaney etc, sang their own parts with excellent effort. The Kyrie (by Weber); the Gloria, Credo and Sanefus (by Gounod) and the Agnus Dei, also by Weber; received the finest treatment at their hands. After the ceremonies proper to the occasion, the congregation did not feel time passing while the Adeste Fideles and other selections were performed. The Church, which can easily contain and seat 400 persons, was crowded to a most uncomfortable degree, and many could scarcely find convenient standing or kneeling room.
Holy Communion was received by about 200 persons. After Mass the Te Deum was chanted, during which the whole congregation remained standing.
The Act of Reparation too, and the Litany of the Sacred Heart, and also the Solemn Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Our Divine Lord, used in 1870, by the Irish Hierarchy in Consecrating all Ireland to the Sacred Heart, followed in regular succession, and all was brought to a fitting conclusion by Benediction of the Most Holy Sacrament.
The Church was splendidly lighted throughout and beautifully decorated with various evergreens and plants and flowers and roses, supplied by the liberality of the House of Lisadell, and the kindness of Mr. Campbell, the forester at Lisadell. In fact the whole scene was so beautiful that the people scarcely knew their own place of worship and found themselves transported to the borderland of the New Jerusalem. All together it was a scene of religious beauty and joy that will never fade from the memories of those who had the happiness to be present.
