The Pioneer Total Abstinence Association have launched their annual Lenten campaign, inviting all to take the short-term pledge and abstain from alcohol during this Season of Lent.
The three conditions of the Lenten pledge are to abstain from all intoxicating drink, to wear the Pioneer emblem (commonly referred to as the Pioneer pin), and to recite the following pledge prayer twice daily:
I promise, in honour of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and with the help of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to abstain from all intoxicating drink until 16 April 2017.
Registration for the short-term pledge can be completed online at www.pioneerassociation.ie or at any local Pioneer office.
The Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart was founded in Ireland in 1898 by Father James Cullen SJ to address the enormous damage that he saw excess alcohol was doing in the Ireland of his times. From the beginning, members pledged three things: to abstain from alcohol for life (which Fr Cullen referred to as ‘The heroic sacrifice’); to say the Pioneer prayer twice a day; and to bear witness by wearing the Pioneer pin at all times. The PTAA has always been underpinned by devotion to the Sacred Heart, and its emblem reflects this.
For more information on The Pioneer Total Abstinence Association see www.pioneerassociation.ie.