In our presence.....they quietly but brilliantly shine......Hundreds of fl ickering candles shone brightly at the foot of the Altar, adorned by beautiful presence and beautiful people. The Church....St, Nicholas of Myra in Francis Street, Dublin was the holy setting for our sharing at Christmas. Good friends came back to be with us.Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin, Rev. Father Damian McNiece, Master of Ceremonies to Archbishop Martin, Rev. Bruce Pierce, Director of Education, St, Luke's Cork and Church of Ireland Representative, Rev. Father David Brough, P.P. Bohernabreena, Rev. Father Micheal Shiels, P.P. St. Nicholas of Myra and Rev. Father Martin Dolan, Community, St. Nicholas of Myra. We were also joined by the Garda Male Voice Choir and our Service just would not seem the same without them. They sang to lift our weary hearts and they did. Our special guest Karen Taylor Good travelled from Nashville, USA to be with us and sing her beautiful and very meaningful song Precious Child. Karen wrote the song in memory of her nephew but that night I think we all took a small part of it for ourselves. Peter Hanlon, Bereavement Therapist with the HSE was our gust speaker and spoke as always with his great understanding of our loss. Parents, family members and friends took part in prayer, readings refl ection and symbolic gifts brought to the Altar in memory of their children. This year we had parents taking part from Galway, Belfast, Waterford, Limerick, Dublin, and Scotland. Everyone got an opportunity to light a candle in memory of their baby and place it on the Altar rails. The lights were lowered and the Choir sang Silent Night, Holy Night ...and it was a holy night.Archbishop Diarmuid Martin spoke kindly and compassionately to us. He said "the value of your children short lives should not be measured by length or duration. Whether it was long or short, it was real and unique and irreplaceable. Each of the children whom we remember is an irreplaceable element in life's mosaic They are a real part of human history, a part of who you are and indeed a part of who we all are."Beautiful thoughts expressed by Archbishop Martin. The whole night was just heavenly, we thank all who made that happen. A special word of thanks to Rita Kavanagh, Sacristan in the church for her help and unbelievable kindness to us each year. A sincere thank you to the Family Support Agency who have provided us with a grant towards the costs of the Service for the past few years.Ron Smith Murphy isands newsletter30

Left to Right-Rev. Bruce Pierce, Fr. David Brough, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Fr. Martin Dolan, Fr. Michael Shiels, Fr. Damian McNeiceGrace KellyKaren Taylor GoodPeter Hanlon and Celine SlaterDiane NevinColette WalshAnn Walshisands newsletter31