BY MICHAEL BRESLIN

Fr Brian D'Arcy, CP, Rector, The Graan has again assembled an intriguing range of speakers on the theme of, 'Hope' for the annual Novena of Hope which begins on Saturday/Sunday, 1st/2nd March and continues until Monday, 10th March.

The speakers include a Derry victim of the early part of the Troubles, Richard Moore who was blinded by a rubber bullet fired by a British soldier. Mr Moore went on to found the peace group, Crossfire and, last year, he met the soldier, in Derry. They featured in a subsequent documentary.

And, there's one of Ireland's leading folk/traditional singers, Frances Black who will tell her audience about her recovery from alcoholism.

Fr Brian will again renew his working relationship with Archdeacon Cecil Pringle, the Rector of the Church of Ireland Rossorry Parish Church just a couple of miles away. In fact, they will jointly close the Novena with a service on Monday night, 10th March, when the blessing of babies will also take place.

Fr D'Arcy, who opens the Novena on Saturday/Sunday, 1st and 2nd March, recalled starting his first Novena of Hope in Mount Argus Monastery in 1978 and continuing an annual Novena every year since then.

"I can say with certainty that all those 30 years have been full of hope. I wanted to ensure that the kind of Missions that were used to condemn people were ended.

"So, I took as my example Paul of the Cross, the founder of the Passionists and, instead, the need for people to talk, the kind of church that Blessed Charles, now St Charles, envisaged".

For his Year 1 Novena, Fr Brian had two Passionist colleagues among his speakers and, also, a number of lay speakers, among them, the then simply, 'Mary McAleese', then a youthful RTE broadcaster and arguably Ireland's first 'agony aunt', Angela McNamara.

This year's Novena, on Tuesday, 4th march (Reconciliation Day) features a guest Passionist speaker, Fr John Friel, CP who is a counsellor based in one of the Order's Belfast homes.

Richard Moore takes the podium the following night and on Thursday, 6th March, Monica Morley, a religious broadcaster on Mid-West Radio, who is well-known to pilgrims at Knock will be speaking.

On Friday, 7th March, Rev Bert Tosh, the head of religious affairs with the BBC will be the speaker.

Then, on Saturday, 8th March, it's Frances Black, and on Sunday, 9th March, Fr Peter McVerry, the well-known Jesuit priest whose work with the young homeless in Dublin is legendary.

Recently, the South's Minister for Housing visited the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice.

There, he met with, among others, Fr McVerry, also with some young people who are currently homeless and on the housing list which now runs to 43,000.

Fr McVerry stressed to the Minister the need to improve aspects of emergency accommodation as well as the urgency to fundamentally revisit national housing policy.

A new national strategy on homelessness will be published in coming weeks.

As already stated, the Novena is brought to a close with a joint service conducted by Fr D'Arcy and Archdeacon Pringle. On Wednesday, 5th March and on Saturday, 8th March, at 2.30 each day, there are special healing services.