Celebration of St. Paul in the Arts Centre

This year commemorates the 2000th anniversary of St Paul"s birth, and to celebrate, one of the main parish events for the year takes place with a dramatic celebration in the Mullingar Arts Centre on March 22.Local people involved in the performing arts are taking to the stage to depict the life of St Paul, incorporating music, story, song, dance and drama.Speaking about the night, Fr. Michael Kilmartin said 'The celebration is for the people of Mullingar and we hope to present St. Paul in a way that is engaging, interesting and joyful. Funds raised on the night will go towards a memorial to St. Paul for St. Paul"s Church on the Delvin Road, Mullingar'.Fr. Michael, who is a member of the parish committee for the Pauline Year, went on to say that:'This year, Pope Benedict is doing something totally new in declaring a year in honour of a particular Saint. We have had the Year of the Eucharist, the Year of the Family, but not the year of a Saint.''After, Our Lord himself, no individual"s words have had such an influence on the Christian faith as Paul, whose letters are the earliest Christian documents that we have. He is the one who was responsible for shaping Christianity,' continued Fr. Michael.A local committee working on ways to commemorate St. Paul in 2009 looked at the idea of doing a drama on the Saint"s life, and decided to hold the night in the Mullingar Arts Centre, because Paul himself went outside of churches and onto the streets, bringing the message of Christ.CelebrationThose involved on Sunday night"s celebrations are a group of people involved in the performing arts in Mullingar, who have an excellent track record on the stage, but this venture is somewhat new.The part of St. Paul will be played by Mark Irwin, and soloists on the night include Emmet Cahill, John Smyth, Paul Doolin and Niamh O"Shea.Murt Ennis and Valerie Moore are the narrators for the show, which was put together by Paul Doolin, Sean Lynch and Fr. Michael Kilmartin.Veronica McDonagh, Mary Hughes, Gemma Smyth, Olga Aughey, Jeanette McDonnell, Liam Gilleran, Christy Cole, Gary Nolan and Gillian Flynn will read excerpts from Paul"s letters, while Siobhan Murphy, Fionnula Kenny, Catriona Martin, Samantha Molloy, Joanne MacDonagh, Jenna McNamee, Kim Darby, Celeine Gillen and Niamh O"Shea are nine dancers from the Mullingar Panto Group who will perform.St. Mary"s CBS Primary School Boy"s Choir directed by Catherine Kelly will participate on the night together with Loreto School Choir directed by Carmel O"Grady. Members of the "Schola Cantorum" from St. Finian"s College under the direction of Gerard Lillis will also perform.Produced and directed by Sean Lynch, and musical direction by Angela Lynch, a set designed by Christy Neary, Gavin Moore on lighting and sound, this is gearing up to be a memorable evening.TicketsTickets priced at €10 are on sale now from the Mullingar Arts Centre box office on 044 9347777, and from reception.Proceeds raised on the night will go towards the purchase of the statue of the saint, which will be erected in St. Paul"s church, ahead of the saint"s feast day at the end of June.