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| Learning hurling |
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| Fr. Michael talking to all pilgrims, with a 1000-year-old tower in background |
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After a combination of 2 bus rides, we arrived at Glendalough, a glacial valley in County Wicklow, founded in the 6th century by St Kevin as a monastery. There we saw the ruins of the ancient monastery, including Kevin's churches and the round tower (see above), which is about 1000 years old!
When we first arrived to the site, there were beautiful fields of grass in which we stood while Fr. Michael gave us an introduction before our walking tour (see above). He talked about how we were young and he was old (77), and how you can use a walk (like the walking tour we were just about to take, and like the larger pilgrimage we are on) as a way to reflect and ask ourselves three important questions: 1) What am I really happy with or about? 2) What am I sad about? 3) What should I change in myself? He pointed out that the place where Jesus taught the best was on the road.
Before setting off on our walk, however, he told us that the 1000-year-old tall round tower had a bell and was used to call the monks to prayer five times a day, to store and protect hand-written manuscripts, and to keep a look-out. However, besides these concrete things, he told us that he liked to look at the tower symbolically, as having 7 levels or stories, one for each decade of a human life. The top floor, where he "lives," had 4 windows, one in each direction, but the lower floors, where most of us currently "live," have 0 or 1 window, and that when you are younger, you tend to see in just one direction, but when you are older and on the top floor, then you see in all directions.
Half of us then took a tour a walking with Fr. Michael, and half with Fr. Patrick. Both tours had a LOT of nature imagery. Fr. Michael's walk started along a bright, sunny path with a happily splashing stream and during this part we walked in silence thinking about the 1st question above: what makes us really happy. Then after about 15 minutes we stopped and he asked us to think in silence about the 2nd question, what we might be sad about, and we turned left into the woods and walked a difficult, steep, path up the mountain where is was darker, shadier, colder, with a lot of dead pine needles and broken branches. Then we stopped near the top where we talked again about the difference in view or perspective. At this point he became a bit of a bard, and recited two pieces of American poetry:
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?”
- by Mary Oliver, from The Summer Day
and
"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep."
- By Robert Frost, from Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
Finally we descended the slope but this time encouraged to quietly talk about the 3rd question while walking: what we should change in ourselves.
On Dr. Patrick's walk, he discussed the imagery of the Trinity in nature:
God the Father as a tree.
The Holy Spirit in the rising sun.
And Jesus in the green leaves at Easter time.
As the tour continued we came along a very large stone cross with a circle around the intersection of the cross (Kevin's Cross). The circle represents the sun. What some of us found interesting was that the monks chose the circle to represent the sun then later it changed to be son (Jesus). We also learned of the tradition that if someone could wrap their arms around the cross they would be even more blessed (see above). Even though not everyone could reach quite all the way around, we all still felt blessed!
So far, the pilgrimage has been an amazing opportunity. We have all felt blessed and welcome at wherever we have stayed.
- Bridget and other pilgrims
So exciting to see pics of Rory and Fr Michael who now feel like extensions of our SJEC community! Love being a virtual pilgrim with you all!
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