Fr La’s weekly ‘Pause and Ponder’ from along the Pilgrim Path at Lough Derg. This week’s reflection is ‘Birdsong Blessing’.   Birdsong Blessing   Last week on the Path found me looking for life, seeking some spawn in the wayside water. In the meantime the frogs have surely recalled the Lord’s Genesis blessing: ‘Multiply and […]

  It is no surprise that one of the Beds would be dedicated to St Patrick.  You may be surprised to learn that until the 12th century the main saint of Lough Derg was not Patrick but his disciple Davog who founded the monastery on Saints Island.  Patrick never lived at Lough Derg. It is […]

With you on your Lenten Journey. This week’s reflection ‘At St Patrick’s Bed’ is read by pilgrim, Lisa Russell.   Dear friends, at the Large Penitential Bed, we circle six times round the outside. On the level ground, we can find ourselves tempted to pick up the pace – both in our steps and in […]

Fr La’s weekly ‘Pause and Ponder’ from along the Pilgrim Path at Lough Derg. This week’s reflection is ‘Looking for Life’.   Out there today I was looking for life. In this shamrock season I knew there’d be none of it along this stretch of path through the pines. But the three-leafed sorrel was springing […]

  As well as the fourth penitential Bed, one of the Lough Derg boats is named for St Columba.  He was born in 521, 1500 years ago this year.  Naturally gifted and a born leader, he founded his first monastery at Derry.  A dispute over a manuscript of the Psalms that Columba had copied escalated […]

With you on your Lenten Journey. This week’s reflection ‘At St Columba’s Bed’ is read by pilgrim, James McKenna.   Dear friends, as we pray on St Columba’s Bed, we are usually feeling relieved to be half-way through another Station Prayer.  At this half-way point on our Lenten journey, it might be good to recall […]

Deacon Martin Reflects on St Patrick   On holiday, I often stand at the statue of St Patrick in the Octagon in Westport and read the inscription ‘I am Patrick, a sinner, most unlearned, the least of all the faithful, and utterly despised by many’. As I reflect, I believe that Patrick was totally convinced […]

Fr La’s weekly ‘Pause and Ponder’ from along the Pilgrim Path at Lough Derg. This week’s reflection is ‘The Rising Sap’.   On the radio recently I heard a question in a quiz: They say that in Spring the sap rises: true or false? Along the Path there are signs of Spring to be seen, […]

  The saint of the third bed is the only one from outside Ireland: St Catherine of Alexandria, in Egypt.    Catherine was a thinker and a scholar.  She was martyred for Christ about 310.  Her tomb is venerated in a monastery on Mount Sinai.  With the returning Crusaders, devotion to St Catherine spread to the […]

With you on your Lenten Journey. This week’s reflection ‘At St Catherine’s Bed’ is read by staff member, Maureen Boyle.   Dear friends, we are into the third week of Lent.  By the time we reach St Catherine’s Bed in the Station Prayer, we are treading on more level ground and the stones are smoother.  […]