Day 7: Sunday, Sept 22, 2019 Killarney – Burren – Galway

Day 7: This morning, eat an early breakfast than walk over to St. Mary’s Cathedral for an 8am Mass

before departing for Adare. Take some time to stop here and take some photos of some thatched roof cottages before moving on to Bunratty. Here you will stop to visit the Bunratty FolkPark and Castleto see how life was in medieval times. Then onto Liscannor to visit St. Bridget’s well before stopping for a visit at the incredible Cliffs of Moher. Continue onto Galway for dinner and overnight at the Imperial Hotel in Galway.

REFLECTION

Liscannor, near Cliffs of Moher, St. Brigit’s Well

St. Brigit was renowned as a peacemaker, for in her time there were many disputes that threatened to erupt into armed conflict. As Mary Condren in The Serpent and the Goddess: Women, Religion, and Power in Celtic Ireland (San Francisco: HarperSan Francisco, 1989) says: “…she caused enough confusion that she fooled each side into thinking it had won, thereby ending the battle without bloodshed.”

St. Brigit and St. Monenna were close friends. Brigit appointed her portress at the hospital in Kildare where she was known for her healing ministry. The Annals of Ireland report that Brigit gave Monenna a silver shrine as a gift. Monenna moved back to Faughart, and eventually founded a monastery near Slieve Gullion in N. Ireland.

(Praying With Celtic Holy Women (2003) Bridget Mary Meehan and Regina Madonna Oliver,P 54-58) 

PRAYER

We call on Brigid and Monenna,
and all the saints of Celtic lands,
to be our companions on the way.
We call on the good people
who have lived and prayed in this place
to pray for us now
that we may have the strength and heart
for this pilgrimage.

We gather all our hearts and minds into our walking.
We gather all our longing and seeking into our walking.
We gather all our sorrow for sin into our walking.
We gather all our thanksgiving and delight into our walking.
We gather all our sorrow and heartbreak into our walking.
Let our every step be a prayer of all that it in us—
All that we know and all that is dark and obscure.
Bless the path on which we go.
Bless the earth under our feet.
Bless the friends who walk by our side.
Saint Brigit and Saint Monenna, 

walk with us on our sacred journey to peace.

Prayer When Arriving at the Well

Wellspring of the Ages, we gather at Saint Brigit’s Well to pray for reconciliation and peace for ourselves, our loved ones, and for our planet. We are aware that this is a “thin place,” a place where earth and heaven meet, where the saints on earth and the saints in heaven become aware that there is only a transparent veil between us. Amen.

Closing Ritual

The Spirit of Love is with you, waiting to embrace you and all whom you carry in your heart. The Holy One makes sacred all things. Every mistake or failure in life can be “blessed.”

Cup your hands and fill them with cool water. Bless, drink, or wash in this life-giving spring. Let it fill you, heal you, refresh you, and transform you. Give thanks for the blessing you have received today.

SONG

Come to the Water by John Foley, SJ
https://youtu.be/kEqCgMmV7n0

And Let all who thirst,
let them come to the water.
And let all who have nothing,
let them come to our God:
Without money, without price.
Why should you pay the price,
Except for our God?

And Let all who seek,
let them come to the water.
And let all who have nothing,
let them come to our God:
Without money, without strife.
Why should you spend your life,
Except for our God?

And Let all who toil,
let them come to the water.
And let all who are weary,
let them come to our God:
All who labor, without rest.
How can your soul find rest,
Except for our God?

And let all the poor,
let them come to the water.
Bring the ones who are laden,
bring them all to our God.
Bring the children without might.
Easy the load and light:
Come to our God.