This Sunday, Pieta House will host “Misneach - Nourishing Hope” in Galway. Coinciding with four similar events in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Tralee, the reflective events take place on the cusp between the months of November (traditionally a month of remembrance, honour and reflection ) and December (traditionally a month of hope, joy and celebration ) – to create a space and time for people to honour and celebrate lives present and lives passed and to move into December and the Christmas season with hope and celebration.
The events are free and people of all ages are welcome to attend Misneach at The Augustinian Church in Galway at 3.30pm on Sunday.
Pieta House CEO Brian Higgins says it is symbolic that Misneach will take place in late November, just on the cusp of December. “We chose this date to allow people to move into Christmas with a sense of hope. When people are gathered on the day we want to move from remembrance, honour and reflection into hope, joy and celebration,” he said.
“At Pieta House, our values are to treat everyone with respect and dignity, to be rooted in compassion and care, to generate and nourish hope and to empower. We see Misneach as a real way to embody our values at Pieta House,” he said.
“Misneach - an ancient Irish word - means both ‘hope and courage’ and so we want to create a space for people who have been bereaved by suicide to reflect and celebrate the lives of people they’ve lost; and it’s also for people who can celebrate that they have worked through the issues that had brought them to a point of suicide but who can now move forward in a more hope-filled future.
“We would like to think that Misneach will also appeal to anyone who supports our work, anyone who has gone through our services or anyone who wants to support someone who has used our services.” So please join us in what we hope will become an annual event from this November on, to honour the lives of people who have passed away and to celebrate the people that are still with us,” added Mr Higgins.
For more information, visit www.pieta.ie, Twitter.com/pietahouse and Facebook.com/pietahouse Admission is free, but people will be able to make a donation at ticket sign-up or on the night if they wish.
