16.06.2014
Christ Church Patronal Service Celebrated Amid the Greenery of Garden Festival
The Patronal Service of Christ Church Cathedral took place amid ‘a spectacle of flowering and untrammelled fruitfulness’, as the preacher observed. The service took place on Trinity Sunday, the cathedral being properly titled the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, during the first Dublin Garden Festival which was hosted by Christ Church.
The large congregation, which included many members of the Friends of Christ Church Cathedral whose annual lunch and AGM took place after the service, were seated in lush surroundings complete with trees and shrubs as well as flower arrangements. A portrait of former Dean, the Very Revd Desmond Harmon, painted by Olivia Bartlett was unveiled in the afternoon.
The sermon was preached by the Revd Alan McCormack, the Rector of St Botolph without Bishopsgate in London, who focused on the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. He said that the doctrine of the Holy Trinity must first be received as a truth about the whole Creation and the central creativity of God provoking a responsive creativity among those whom he has called into existence. He added that it spoke of God’s creative energy and humankind’s status in the world as a result of its continuous providential deployment.
But he said the doctrine of the Holy Trinity had other truths to tell. It must be received as a truth of the reality of the human condition and our need for God as Saviour. It must also be received as a truth of the manner of God’s presence in us.
The preacher added that the Trinitarian God was a pattern for our own existing and we were summoned not to be isolated individuals living in the illusion of individual supremacy but persons living faithfully before God. “We are summoned to be part of something more than our individual selves and thus to live our lives in a common cultivation of thankfulness, mutuality and relationship,” he stated.
After lunch the Friends, along with the family and friends of the late Dean Harmon gathered for the unveiling of his portrait which will hang in the Chapter Room of the Cathedral.
The current Dean, the Very Revd Dermot Dunne said that while Dean Harmon’ tenure as Dean was short, he had been associated with Christ Church Cathedral for many years and his sudden departure left the entire cathedral community bereft. He welcomed Dean Harmon’s wife Sue and members of their family to the cathedral.
He added that over hundreds of years the cathedral had absorbed so much history which was embedded in the walls. That process was continuing as the cathedral formed the beating heart of the city, he said.
Artist Olivia Bartlett, spoke of her impressions of Dean Harmon and how these had influenced her work. He was renowned for his attention to detail, she said, so she wanted to ensure she got the details correct in the portrait. She recalled the Dean’s untimely death and said that he was “our safe pair of hands”.
Photo captions:
Dean Dermot Dunne with the Revd Alan McCormack (preacher) following
the Patronal Service of Christ Church Cathedral.
A portrait of former Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, the Very Revd Desmond Harmon, was unveiled this afternoon. Pictured are the current Dean, the Very Revd Dermot Dunne, Sue Harmon and her grandson, and artist Olivia Bartlett.