The Pilgrimage Has Begun



I'm within hours of beginning my journey to Ireland but in many ways it began long ago. I don't really remember the first time I recognized a desire to travel there, but it was as a child. In my teen years, my aunt and uncle traveled there with my grandmother, taking her back to County Mayo where she was reared and I remember thinking: "I'll go there one day." As recently as 2006, I flew over the country on my way to Tel Aviv. The pilot interrupted the darkness of that flight by pointing out the Emerald Isle to those of us on the left side of the plane. I woke up for only a few minutes but remember thinking "I'll be back." So here it is.

My first four days will be spent in Northern Ireland (NI) in County Down and the small town of Rostrevor. There, five Benedictine monks established a monastery as an ecumenical witness in 1998. They have welcomed me for these first days of my trip.

I learned this week that the monks website has a webcam of the chapel[very modern monks]. On Saturday, August 6th and on Sunday August 7th both at 12:00 Eastern Time and 5:30 Eastern Time -- I'll be in the chapel for Vespers and Compline. I'd be pleased to know you are joining us for prayer at those times.
Their web address is: www.benedictinemonks.co.uk/ The bottom tab on the left is for their web cam. These French monks, in Ireland, pray, chant and read in English.

The monks are situated in the Kilbroney Valley and if you've been following my blog, you'll remember that Kilbroney is an anglicization of cill (church)of Bronagh. During my stay I'll visit the ruins of Bronagh's church, a well that bears her name, the bell released from its hiding place by a storm in the 9th century, and the church where the stained glass window with her image resides. I have to remember to breathe when I think about it.

My trip will then take me south to Limerick, County Mayo, and finally Shannon in County Cork. I'll spend three days of retreat with Fr. Laurence Freeman of the World Community of Christian Meditators and conclude my trip with four days at a conference with Timothy Radcliffe,OP who was the Master of the Dominican Order from 1992-2001. He currently resides and writes from his home in Oxford.

I hope you'll journey with me vicariously, over the next two weeks. I'll both post to FB and blog when I can. Until we meet again, BLESSINGS AND JOY,Kathleen BRONAGH

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