Journal

Lent – a journey from death into life

February 22nd, 2012

Another springtime. Another Ash Wednesday.

As we stand once more on the threshold of the great journey from Lent to Easter, it is appropriate to pause for a moment and reflect on the meaning of what lies before us.

In Ezekiel 37, we hear God declare his intention to act: “I am going to open your graves, O my people, and bring you up from your graves.” “I will put my Spirit in you and you will live and I will bring you back to your own land.”

This is what lies ahead of us: a journey from death to life, new life in the Spirit.

In Jewish culture of the time, the dead were buried in graves or tombs that were sealed with a heavy stone. When Jesus was raised, the stone was rolled away from his tomb just as previously he had commanded the stone to be rolled away from the grave of Lazarus.

There are areas of deadness in all our lives, parts of ourselves that lie buried beneath the weight of a heart turned to stone, trapped deep in the shadows.

As we pause before embarking on our journey, it is timely to ask ourselves where is there deadness in our lives? What needs to be released from the imprisoning weight of the stone: disappointments, old hurts, anger, fear, our struggle with suffering of all kinds?

What are the wounds in us that need to be healed this Lent? What do we need to bring on this journey to the transfiguring power of the cross?

But more importantly, do we want Jesus to roll away the stone? Are we prepared to let God act in our lives, raising what is dead to life, life in His Spirit, releasing us from darkness and oppression?

In a recent Sunday gospel, we heard a leper say to Jesus: “if you want to, you can cure me.” Lent is a time when we turn this around so that God now says to us: “I will cure you, if you want me to.” Do we want God to cure us? Will we surrender our wounds to His healing?

Ash Wednesday is an exciting time. God wants to act in us. He will bring us up from the grave, He will roll away the stone, He will lead us from darkness to light, from death to life. All things are possible in this new life of the Spirit.

We stand on the threshold of this great journey. God wants to roll away the stone that traps us and holds us back. Will we let him?

FRIENDS OF SAINT KEVIN

January 22nd, 2012

We are increasingly aware that Glendalough is a sacred place, full of spiritual energy.

We are currently involved in a number of projects related to The Hermitage Centre. There are others who are aware of the spiritual potential of the Monastic Site and the surrounding beauty of nature. We hope that together we can work to awaken people to the richness of this holy place and what it can offer to ones’ spiritual journey.

In this regard we would like to announce the launch of ‘FRIENDS OF SAINT KEVIN.’

We will be bringing you further information about this in the near future.

In the meantime we invite you to reflect on whether you might like to become a ‘FRIEND OF ST. KEVIN’.

Christmas Greetings

December 23rd, 2011

Warmest Christmas greetings from all at Glendalough Hermitage Centre.

During these days we are thinking of all our families, friends and guests who are here at present and who have been with us during this, and previous years. You are in our thoughts and prayers.

In response to requests the Hermitage Centre remains open during Christmas.

It is a privilege to be able to welcome and accommodate people who wish to ‘get off the wheel’, leave a rushed and busy life and come away to a quiet place to rest and ‘be with’ the Mystery of Christmas in a personal and meaningful way.

What’s it all about?

Christmas is a time of simple human beauty, a time when a baby is born in an isolated stable. Since the time of St. Francis this event is depicted in churches all over the world, and is relived in school pageants everywhere, as it was here in Glendalough last week. The children of St. Kevin’s School gave us a glimpse of its simple wonder. As they became accustomed to their angels’ wings, shepherds’ headdresses and golden crowns they retold and relived the story and sang their hearts out around a ‘real live’ Baby Jesus. As we watched, amid smiles and tears the ‘loving kindness of God our Saviour was revealed (Titus3:4).

Christmas is a tender human event, full of poignancy and familiar simplicity as we observe a young mother nursing a child.

But Christmas is a time of Divine Majesty, Mystery and Might. The Eternal Word Who existed forever, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, in the stillness of the night ‘leapt down’ and came among us. It was God who was laid in a manger. The Divine became human and in doing this penetrated every level of material and living being in the vast universe. Divine energy and life throbs through all creation.

God wishes to suffuse, penetrate and transform every level of our human lives and our human consciousness. Christmas is an invitation to us to awaken to this. The Divine is already within us, a gentle, waiting and respectful presence. But we are not fully aware of this the gift. If you but knew the gift of God…………………

Eckhart, a medieval monk laments

‘What good is it to me?

If this eternal birth of the Divine Son

Takes place unceasingly, but does not take place within myself?

His believed that ‘the fullness of time’ happens ‘when the Son of God is begotten is us’.

Christmas Candle Tagore, a Hindu poet was extremely aware of this divine presence within and all around us.

‘Have you not heard His silent steps?

He comes, comes, ever comes.

Every moment and every age, every day and every night He comes, comes, ever comes’

As we celebrate Christmas, we pray that we may all awaken to the breath and width, the height and depth of this great Mystery, the gift which is offered to us all. The little Child will lead us to the truth of who we really are.

Today may you know that the Lord will come, and in His coming recognise your own glory.

A Celebration of 10 Years of Hermitage in Glendalough

October 8th, 2011

‘Following in the footsteps of monks and others who have lived and prayed here for centuries, we draw our energy from the inspirational and sacred landscape of mountains, valleys and lakes and open ourselves to its healing and restoring power. We are conscious that in this place, we walk on holy ground.’

To mark our 10th anniversary and the launch of our new website, we in Glendalough Hermitage Centre hosted a celebration on Friday night last, 30 September featuring a Concert of Music and Spiritual Reflection with Fr. Liam Lawton and the St. Kevin’s Parish Choir. We were delighted with the number of people who came, friends, the founders and those who helped get the Hermitage Centre off the ground, our neighbours, parishioners and past guests.

The celebrations began as evening fell. The gathering dusk was lit by beautiful glass candle holders decorated by the children of the nearby Scoil Chaoimhin Naofa as Fr. Oliver Crotty PP of St. Kevin’s Parish, Glendalough blessed the grounds. As a light mist fell on the gathering, a cherry blossom tree was planted amidst the Hermitages by Andrew Doyle T.D.

Andrew recalled being present ten years ago when Fr. Sean O’Toole, then PP at St. Kevin’s Church, saw a dream become a reality, when the five hermitages were officially opened.

At Fr. Sean’s invitation in 2001, two Sisters of Mercy – Sr. Kathleen Delaney & Sr. Mary McKeever – came to run the hermitages and to accompany pilgrims on their spiritual journey through the sharing of prayer, silence and conversation. Since then, Mercy sisters have maintained a contemplative and compassionate presence in Glendalough, seeking to make the riches of its peace and tranquility available to those who are looking for rest or are troubled or anxious in an increasingly busy and stressful world.

Andrew said that the Hermitage Centre was at the heart of the essence of Glendalough and that its continued growth and development would leave a legacy for the generations of pilgrims to come as had been the case with the thousands of pilgrims who had flocked to the Monastic Site in the past. He pointed out that Glendalough, while having a unique setting, had the edge on other tourist locations given its history as a centre for Celtic spirituality. “Anything we do here should sustain and enhance the special place that we have,” he told the gathering.

Chair of the Board of the Centre, Bernie Healy, said that ‘Spiritual Tourism’ was attracting ever increasing numbers as pilgrims of all persuasions find a welcome in an atmosphere of peace and tranquility. “The Sisters here offer a space of silence and solitude where the peace and beauty of Glendalough can nurture and heal the soul,” she said.

The tree-planting was followed by the hauntingly beautiful and reflective music of Fr. Liam Lawton. Fr. Liam spoke movingly about how Glendalough has been a place of refuge for him over the years and has inspired much of his music. The landscape is filled with echoes of the lives of people who have come to this sacred place through the centuries seeking God and spending their lives in prayer and solitude.

These lives were remembered in a Ritual of Light held towards the end of the concert when Fr. Sean carried a lantern symbolizing the light of Christ which was tended so faithfully over the years and has now been rekindled in the Hermitage Centre. Mercy sisters passed the light from the lantern among the congregation until the whole church was a blaze of light. Sisters then invited people to see this light as a reflection of the light of Christ within and to nurture it by taking time apart for prayer – whether by themselves or by joining them in the Hermitage.

The evening ended with the large congregation enjoying refreshments at the nearby Brockagh Resource Centre. Pat Casey, a local councillor, and Sr. Peggy Collins rsm both spoke of the contribution made by the Hermitage Centre in its ten years of existence and looked forward to future possibilities and development.

We, Sisters of Mercy who work here would like to express our gratitude to all who came and to all who helped to make the evening such a success. We particularly thank the local people of Glendalough and Laragh who have made us so welcome and who are so much a part of our lives. We also thank our Board of Directors, in particular Bernie Healy our chairperson and the Sisters of Mercy who have provided us with so much support. We would also like to give a special mention to our fellow wayfarers, Fr. Michael Rogers and Sr. Breda Ahern of Tearmann and Sr. Genevieve of An Clochan - they pioneered the way in making Glendalough known and loved by a new generation. Finally, without the vision of Fr. Sean O’Toole and the generosity of Srs. Kathleen Delaney and Sr. Mary McKeever, the Hermitage Centre would never have become a reality and for this we thank them sincerely.

We sisters, at this time, are very aware that we hold this sacred space of the Hermitage Centre in trust for others and we continue to welcome all who come to be nourished and find peace, hope, and the Sacred here in Glendalough.

Angela, Liam and Geraldine

Lughnasa and the Heart’s Desire for God

August 19th, 2011

“Summer is over. Today is Lughna Day: the night stretches…”

August is a strange, ambivalent time. On the one hand, it is the culmination of summer, when the hopes of spring and the warmth of summer are realized in the fullness and plenty of harvest. A time when, in the words of Keats, the vines are ‘loaded and blessed’ with fruit, the cottage-trees ‘bend with apples’, the hazel shells are plumped and swollen and ‘all fruit is filled with ripeness to the core.’

On the other hand, it is a time of death and endings: the end of summer, the drawing in of autumn nights, the cessation of growth; the beginning of the long sleep of winter and the death of hope – at least for one more year.

Not surprising then that the ancient Celtic festival of Lughnasa is a mix of celebration and mourning.

Lughnasa is, of course, a celebration of the earth’s harvest, marked by feasts and games and dancing, as well as by religious rituals of thanksgiving. It is associated with hand-fasting and marriage, fertility and all that gives life. All the goodness and richness of life is celebrated and the sheer joy of being alive is affirmed.

Yet this celebration comes at a cost. Pre-Christian traditions tell us the origin of Lughnasa lies in a funeral feast for Tailtiu, the mother of Lugh, who died of exhaustion after clearing the land for agriculture. Other traditions speak of holding a wake for the corn god whose life is sacrificed for the sake of the harvest.

Death is part of life. Lughnasa acknowledges the cycle of life and seasons is based on death and rebirth. There is sadness as well as joy. All that flowers must fade; all that bears fruit must die. All things must pass and human kind itself is mortal. This is the deep truth of impermanence which lies at the heart of all great religions.

Yet, in the depths of the human heart, in that place where ‘deep calls to deep,’ there is a desire for something more than this, a desire that cannot be satisfied by the things of this world, a desire that can be met only by God, the Holy One who is in the world and yet transcends it.

Christian tradition tells us that this desire of ours is for God who is forever seeking us out in order to offer us his very self, to fill us with his love and draw us into his life. This he does through the person of Jesus Christ whose death and resurrection is the way that leads to life in all its fullness. It is as St. Augustine says:

“You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”

At this time of Lughnasa, we rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep for we, as humans, are rooted in this mortal life. Yet we remember always that we have been made for more and so we turn our eyes to the One who calls us to eternal life.

Launch of Website of Glendalough Hermitage Centre

June 1st, 2011

We are very happy to launch our new website at this time of Pentecost. It is a time of transformation, of overcoming anxiety, fear and doubt, a time of bursting forth of Divine Energy which fills the universe with peace, possibility and new life.

We view our website as a sharing and an invitation. We want to share our Hermitage Centre with those who are seeking a place of welcome, rest and peace. We hope that those who wish to’ step off the treadmill’ for a while can come to a place of silence and tranquillity that can uplift and inspire .

At Pentecost, the apostles gathered in the Upper Room had lost direction and hope, and were frightened and sad. For them life seemed meaningless and all their efforts had come to naught. ’The doors were locked’ as our psychological ‘doors’ can sometimes be shut against further pressures, pain and disillusionment.

But ‘Jesus came and stood among them’. As they gathered to take stock and reflect, to leave their busy schedules and take time to ‘draw their breath’, Jesus came and stood among them and said ‘Peace be with you’.

‘The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord.’

We here in the Hermitage Centre are very aware of what happens when people take time to come home to themselves. It gives us great joy to ‘hold a space’ so that those who wish can come and rest in a place of great natural and Celtic beauty. Many are enabled, in their own unique way to ‘unlock the doors’ of their hearts and experience peace within their own inner being.

We pray that this website may speak to those who are pilgrims, to those who are seeking, who are hungry for meaning, who are weary and long for a deeper relationship with their God.

To all of you, we say ‘Welcome’.

Glendalough Hermitage