{"id":56626,"date":"2021-06-23T13:59:54","date_gmt":"2021-06-23T18:59:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=56626"},"modified":"2021-07-01T11:31:27","modified_gmt":"2021-07-01T16:31:27","slug":"at-the-end-of-the-sky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/06\/23\/at-the-end-of-the-sky\/","title":{"rendered":"At the End of the Sky"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When we speak about inculturation in the liturgy, we tend to think of the <em>Zaire Rite<\/em> or the situation in the Amazonian Region.\u00a0 However, we cannot limit discussions on inculturation to other places &#8211; it is also necessary in regions where Christianity has been present for a longer time and is more established.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, a new interchange between Christianity and Culture is still a vital nexus for the New Evangelization. A number of years ago Vincent Twomey published an excellent analysis of the challenges facing Irish Catholicism entitled <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/End-Irish-Catholicism-Vincent-Twomey\/dp\/1853906832\/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=The+End+of+Irish+Catholicism%3F&amp;qid=1624448517&amp;sr=8-1\">The End of Irish Catholicism?<\/a><\/em> Twomey, often the English-language spokesperson for the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ratzinger_Circle_of_Alumni\">Ratzinger Sch\u00fclerkreis<\/a>, proposed that many of Catholicism\u2019s problems in today\u2019s Ireland are due to the fact that \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/ionainstitute.ie\/the-church-in-ireland-the-present-state-and-the-path-ahead\/\">so-called traditional Irish Catholic culture was neither fully Catholic nor authentically Irish<\/a>.\u201d Therefore, a necessary process of liturgical inculturation must take place today.<\/p>\n<p>One area where this inculturation can be particularly fruitful is in the area of liturgical music. A generation ago, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Se%C3%A1n_%C3%93_Riada\">Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Riada<\/a> pioneered an inculturated style of liturgical music in the Irish language. Unfortunately, \u00d3 Riada died at the age of 40 in 1971 and only composed three Mass settings. Some of his liturgical compositions in Irish (Gaelic) are still <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=pH-ClEDnrtE\">widely used<\/a>, including in English speaking liturgies.<\/p>\n<p>Today some other composers are continuing his legacy and one particular composer I would like to highlight in this post is Ronan McDonagh<strong>.<\/strong> McDonagh is one of Ireland\u2019s foremost liturgical musicians and composers and for the last 30 years has ministered as the (full-time) Organist and Director of Music at St Teresa\u2019s Church, Clarendon Street, Dublin.\u00a0 Much of his liturgical music attempts to integrate the worlds of traditional Irish music, and especially traditional Irish spirituality, with current liturgical practice. He is particularly successful in forming a bridge between the popular piety earlier generations of Irish-speaking Catholics and today\u2019s Catholics, many of whom do not speak Irish and are unfamiliar with this aspect of their heritage.<\/p>\n<p>McDonagh\u2019s latest project of liturgical music rooted in the Irish Tradition has just been published as <em>At the End of the Sky<\/em>, a book of music scores\/CD combination. Here he directs the group <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fuaimlaoi.com\/bio\">Fuaimlaoi<\/a> in the performance of the music. Due to the continued COVID-19 restrictions the launch could not be held as a live public launch. However, the virtual launch is posted to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=bYuO2e6kEn8\">YouTube<\/a> and anyone can listen to it.\u00a0 Apart from giving some samples of uplifting liturgical music, it might also spark some creative intuitions among PrayTell\u2019s readership to create something similar in their own cultural contexts.<\/p>\n<p>I was unable to post the video of the launch directly into this post, but readers can find it here: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=bYuO2e6kEn8\">At the End of the Sky\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Or alternatively by following this link: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=bYuO2e6kEn8\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=bYuO2e6kEn8<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When we speak about inculturation in the liturgy, we tend to think of the Zaire Rite or the situation in the Amazonian Region.\u00a0 However, we cannot limit discussions on inculturation to other places &#8211; it is also necessary in regions where Christianity has been present for a longer time and is more established. Indeed, a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":56627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3119,14,20,3086],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-plaza-new-ws","category-inculturation","category-music-general","category-popular-piety"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>At the End of the Sky - Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/06\/23\/at-the-end-of-the-sky\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"At the End of the Sky - Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When we speak about inculturation in the liturgy, we tend to think of the Zaire Rite or the situation in the Amazonian Region.\u00a0 However, we cannot limit discussions on inculturation to other places &#8211; it is also necessary in regions where Christianity has been present for a longer time and is more established. Indeed, a [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/06\/23\/at-the-end-of-the-sky\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-06-23T18:59:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-07-01T16:31:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/At-The-End-Of-The-Sky.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"592\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fr. Neil Xavier O&#039;Donoghue\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Fr. Neil Xavier O&#039;Donoghue\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/23\\\/at-the-end-of-the-sky\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/23\\\/at-the-end-of-the-sky\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Fr. Neil Xavier O'Donoghue\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0f7362fbadbf041d262868e0dd315fc1\"},\"headline\":\"At the End of the Sky\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-06-23T18:59:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-01T16:31:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/23\\\/at-the-end-of-the-sky\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":473,\"commentCount\":3,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/23\\\/at-the-end-of-the-sky\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/At-The-End-Of-The-Sky.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"4_THE PLAZA\",\"Inculturation\",\"Music: General\",\"Popular Piety\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/23\\\/at-the-end-of-the-sky\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/23\\\/at-the-end-of-the-sky\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/23\\\/at-the-end-of-the-sky\\\/\",\"name\":\"At the End of the Sky - Home\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/23\\\/at-the-end-of-the-sky\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/23\\\/at-the-end-of-the-sky\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/At-The-End-Of-The-Sky.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-06-23T18:59:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-01T16:31:27+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/23\\\/at-the-end-of-the-sky\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/23\\\/at-the-end-of-the-sky\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/23\\\/at-the-end-of-the-sky\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/At-The-End-Of-The-Sky.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/At-The-End-Of-The-Sky.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":592},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/23\\\/at-the-end-of-the-sky\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"At the End of the Sky\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Home\",\"description\":\"Worship, Wit &amp; Wisdom\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Home\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/cropped-BlogHeaderFinal2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/cropped-BlogHeaderFinal2.jpg\",\"width\":1340,\"height\":209,\"caption\":\"Home\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0f7362fbadbf041d262868e0dd315fc1\",\"name\":\"Fr. Neil Xavier O'Donoghue\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/2024_09_NeiL_Portrait-96x96.jpeg?crop=1\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/2024_09_NeiL_Portrait-96x96.jpeg?crop=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/2024_09_NeiL_Portrait-96x96.jpeg?crop=1\",\"caption\":\"Fr. Neil Xavier O'Donoghue\"},\"description\":\"Neil Xavier O\u2019Donoghue is originally from Cork, Ireland. He is a presbyter of the Archdiocese of Newark, NJ who has ministered in parishes on both sides of the Atlantic. He has spent many years as an academic mentor to seminarians. Neil currently serves as Programme Director for Liturgical Programmes at the Pontifical University and as Acting Director of the National Centre for Liturgy. Since 2020 he has also served as the Executive Secretary for Liturgy to the Irish Catholic Bishops Conference. He has studied at Seton Hall University (BA, MDiv), the University of Notre Dame (MA), and St Vladimir\u2019s Orthodox Theological Seminary (MTh). He holds a Doctorate in Theology (Ph.D.) from St Patrick\u2019s College, Maynooth and is in the process of completing a second doctorate (D.D) in the Pontifical Facultad de Teolog\u00eda Redemptoris Mater in Callao, Peru. Neil has published a translation of the Confessio of St. Patrick: St. Patrick: His Confession and Other Works (Totowa, NJ, 2009), as well editing the third edition of Fredrick Edward Warren\u2019s The Liturgy and Ritual of the Celtic Church (Piscataway, NJ, 2010). In 2011 the University of Notre Dame Press published The Eucharist in Pre-Norman Ireland an adaptation of his doctoral thesis and in 2017 the Alcuin Club published his Liturgical Orientation: The Position of the President at the Eucharist. His articles have appeared in The Irish Theological Quarterly, New Blackfriars, The Furrow and Antiphon. He writes a monthly article on some aspect of the theology of Pope Francis in the Messenger of St. Anthony and blogs regularly at PrayTell.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/nxodonoghue\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"At the End of the Sky - Home","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/06\/23\/at-the-end-of-the-sky\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"At the End of the Sky - Home","og_description":"When we speak about inculturation in the liturgy, we tend to think of the Zaire Rite or the situation in the Amazonian Region.\u00a0 However, we cannot limit discussions on inculturation to other places &#8211; it is also necessary in regions where Christianity has been present for a longer time and is more established. Indeed, a [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/06\/23\/at-the-end-of-the-sky\/","og_site_name":"Home","article_published_time":"2021-06-23T18:59:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-07-01T16:31:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":592,"url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/At-The-End-Of-The-Sky.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Fr. Neil Xavier O'Donoghue","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Fr. Neil Xavier O'Donoghue","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/06\/23\/at-the-end-of-the-sky\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/06\/23\/at-the-end-of-the-sky\/"},"author":{"name":"Fr. Neil Xavier O'Donoghue","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0f7362fbadbf041d262868e0dd315fc1"},"headline":"At the End of the Sky","datePublished":"2021-06-23T18:59:54+00:00","dateModified":"2021-07-01T16:31:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/06\/23\/at-the-end-of-the-sky\/"},"wordCount":473,"commentCount":3,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/06\/23\/at-the-end-of-the-sky\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/At-The-End-Of-The-Sky.jpg","articleSection":["4_THE PLAZA","Inculturation","Music: General","Popular Piety"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/06\/23\/at-the-end-of-the-sky\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/06\/23\/at-the-end-of-the-sky\/","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/06\/23\/at-the-end-of-the-sky\/","name":"At the End of the Sky - Home","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/06\/23\/at-the-end-of-the-sky\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/06\/23\/at-the-end-of-the-sky\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/At-The-End-Of-The-Sky.jpg","datePublished":"2021-06-23T18:59:54+00:00","dateModified":"2021-07-01T16:31:27+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/06\/23\/at-the-end-of-the-sky\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/06\/23\/at-the-end-of-the-sky\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/06\/23\/at-the-end-of-the-sky\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/At-The-End-Of-The-Sky.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/At-The-End-Of-The-Sky.jpg","width":600,"height":592},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/06\/23\/at-the-end-of-the-sky\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"At the End of the Sky"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/","name":"Home","description":"Worship, Wit &amp; Wisdom","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#organization","name":"Home","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/cropped-BlogHeaderFinal2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/cropped-BlogHeaderFinal2.jpg","width":1340,"height":209,"caption":"Home"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0f7362fbadbf041d262868e0dd315fc1","name":"Fr. Neil Xavier O'Donoghue","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/2024_09_NeiL_Portrait-96x96.jpeg?crop=1","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/2024_09_NeiL_Portrait-96x96.jpeg?crop=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/2024_09_NeiL_Portrait-96x96.jpeg?crop=1","caption":"Fr. Neil Xavier O'Donoghue"},"description":"Neil Xavier O\u2019Donoghue is originally from Cork, Ireland. He is a presbyter of the Archdiocese of Newark, NJ who has ministered in parishes on both sides of the Atlantic. He has spent many years as an academic mentor to seminarians. Neil currently serves as Programme Director for Liturgical Programmes at the Pontifical University and as Acting Director of the National Centre for Liturgy. Since 2020 he has also served as the Executive Secretary for Liturgy to the Irish Catholic Bishops Conference. He has studied at Seton Hall University (BA, MDiv), the University of Notre Dame (MA), and St Vladimir\u2019s Orthodox Theological Seminary (MTh). He holds a Doctorate in Theology (Ph.D.) from St Patrick\u2019s College, Maynooth and is in the process of completing a second doctorate (D.D) in the Pontifical Facultad de Teolog\u00eda Redemptoris Mater in Callao, Peru. Neil has published a translation of the Confessio of St. Patrick: St. Patrick: His Confession and Other Works (Totowa, NJ, 2009), as well editing the third edition of Fredrick Edward Warren\u2019s The Liturgy and Ritual of the Celtic Church (Piscataway, NJ, 2010). In 2011 the University of Notre Dame Press published The Eucharist in Pre-Norman Ireland an adaptation of his doctoral thesis and in 2017 the Alcuin Club published his Liturgical Orientation: The Position of the President at the Eucharist. His articles have appeared in The Irish Theological Quarterly, New Blackfriars, The Furrow and Antiphon. He writes a monthly article on some aspect of the theology of Pope Francis in the Messenger of St. Anthony and blogs regularly at PrayTell.","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/author\/nxodonoghue\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/At-The-End-Of-The-Sky.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56626"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56626\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56632,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56626\/revisions\/56632"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}