Priest sings to empty church amid COVID-19 social distancing

A Parish Priest plays ukelele and sings moving hymn to empty church on Mothering Sunday as the congregation is banned due to Coronavirus outbreak.

IrishCentral Staff

Mar 23, 2020

A Parish Priest plays ukelele and sings moving hymn to empty church on Mothering Sunday as the congregation is banned due to Coronavirus outbreak.

Father Pat Ward, the Parish Priest of Kilcassalagh, Kincaslough, in County Donegal didn't let the fact that he had no congregations stop him performing on Sunday. At

Ward was live-streaming his Sunday service, this Mother's Day, to an empty church as all mass gatherings (pun intended) are now banned due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The popular priest chose to sing the recessional hymn and whipped out a ukelele.

Hugh McGonagle reached out to IrishCentral with the video and said "Always entertaining and emotive, today he produced a ukulele from under his cassock at the end of mass and sang a very poignant and moving hymn to an empty church- but to a global congregation!

As Father Ward said himself at the end of the video "Move over, Father Ray Kelly!"

Here are the lyrics to this beautiful hymn:

Father, in my life I see,
You are God who walks with me.
You hold my life in Your hands.
Close beside You I will stand.
I give all my life to You, help me Father to be true!.

Jesus, in my life I see,
You are God who walks with me.
You hold my life in Your hands.
Close beside You I will stand.
I give all my life to You, help me Jesus to be true!.

Spirit, in my life I see,
You are God who walks with me.
You hold my life in Your hands.
Close beside You I will stand.
I give all my life to You, help me Spirit to be true!