PILGRIMAGE SEASON AT OUR LADY'S ISLAND

Fr Jim Cogley

This Friday is the 15th August and the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady. It is the day when people gather in their thousands for the opening ceremony of the Pilgrimage Season on Our Lady’s Island. They later traverse the ancient pilgrimage path, praying the traditional prayer of the Rosary. This is one of the oldest if not the oldest Marian Pilgrimage site in the world stretching back to the 6th Century when Marian Devotion was in its infancy. From early times it was associated with Lough Derg, when the opening here would coincide with the closing of the season up there, and many pilgrims would walk that long distance along poor roads to take part in the ceremonies here. Such was the level of faith and devotion in the country during that time when Ireland was the land of saints and scholars. During the season a heightening of the spiritual energy becomes evident as pilgrims gather for this annual season of prayer. Like all places of genuine prayer, the veil between two worlds becomes lighter and that mysterious reality we call Grace is something that becomes palpable and real.

In the community of Lady’s Island we have a wonderful tradition of hospitality built up for the past 50 years that is largely based in the local community centre. There had been nothing for many years when a local woman brought her own electric kettle and a large tea pot to what was then the old school and began making tea for pilgrims. Soon she was joined by other wonderful women, and today that tradition continues and a multitude are fed. Pilgrims and tourists alike are amazed and impressed that such a large operation can be carried out on a voluntary basis, with a similar degree of commitment and participation taking place across the road in a Gift Shop close to the Church. While volunteers willingly and generously give of their time and energy, they always claim that they receive even more than they give. New members in the community have an ideal opportunity to make connections with the local people and for the regulars there is a real sense of belonging, of doing something useful and giving back to society, as well as enjoying the daily banter of those who just enjoy being together. This gift of hospitality is our living miracle of the loaves and fish and all thanks to one lady who gave her all of what she could.

The pilgrimage path that is less than a mile is traditionally walked clockwise. This makes sense on two scores. It maximises the shelter from the prevaling SW wind, and for the more discerning pilgrim it accurately reflects the journey towards adult faith. The first stage of faith is ‘unquestioning acceptance’ where we accept everything we are taught, and it acts like a comfort blanket against the harsher realities of life. Stage one of the pilgrimage is where the wind may be blowing, but the path is sheltered. Stage two is questioning non-acceptance where the full force of life’s unanswerable questions assail us and we may even doubt that there is a God. At the Head of the Island the wind hits us with full force and reflects this very uncomfortable stage characterised by suffering, pain and questioning. The third phase is awakening or enlightenment. This phase follows a letting go and surrender where we have a sense of new life and being carried. This is the experience of Grace. The return pilgrimage journey is similar, as we go around the Head everything changes; we feel the wind on our backs and now seem to be carried homeward.

Sometimes I just marvel at the faith of the people that helped make Lady’s Island what it is today. Central to the place is a magnificient church that is an architectural masterpiece and as asthetically pleasing as much on the inside as the outside. It is known as the Church of the Assumption. Some time ago I read an ancient document that contained the minutes of the Parish Council meeting held before the church was built. It read, ‘With a famine just behind us and an uncertain future ahead, we have decided to go ahead with the building of a new church in Our lady’s Island’. The year was 1861 and it was opened just two years later in 1863, an astonishing feat of workmanship at the time. The cost interestingly was 1863 pounds. If the building were being built today it would definitely cost in excess of 10 million. What faith propelled and inspired those people to make such an extraordinary leap of faith?