‘Pause and Ponder’ is a series of reflections inspired by the Pilgrim Path at Lough Derg.
The latest reflection from this series is highlighted below.
‘Back where it Began’ with Fr La.
Back where it Began
On Station Island for the weeks ahead, I become again a pilgrim.
Here near Saints Island, where it all began, I think
on the thousands who have been and gone before me.
The pier near Pilgrim Patrick became a boating place only in Famine times.
From 1600 the boats rowed out from this site at Portcreevy –
“the branchy harbour” – where the ancient path came down to the shore.
Before that again, as long as the monastery lasted,
the path led onward to the causeway of stones and timbers
across to Saints Island. From there the monks were their boatmen,
rowing their fasted guests to the Purgatory Island farthest from the shore.
The timbers and the monks are long since gone. The stones remain,
a tribute to their engineering – and their imagination.
And I pause and ponder on what is yet to come.
Fr La Flynn, Prior
7 June 2021
The earlier reflections are listed below:
Bluebells in May www.loughderg.org/bluebells-in-may
Reflection Three Mysteries https://www.loughderg.org/three-mysteries/
Reflection Harvest Spring https://www.loughderg.org/three-mysteries/
Reflection Harvest Spring https://www.loughderg.org/the-pilgrim-path-at-lough-derg/
Reflection https://www.loughderg.org/pause-and-ponder-along-the-pilgrim-path/
Reflection https://www.loughderg.org/roots-unseen-a-reflection-from-along-the-pilgrim-path-at-lough-derg/
Reflection https://www.loughderg.org/the-path-to-emmaus/
Reflection https://www.loughderg.org/birdsong-blessing/
Reflection https://www.loughderg.org/looking-for-life/
Reflection https://www.loughderg.org/the-rising-sap/
Reflection https://www.loughderg.org/as-if-brigid-might-forget/
Reflection https://www.loughderg.org/pilgrim-waters-at-lough-derg-co-donegal/
Reflection https://www.loughderg.org/along-the-pilgrim-path-at-lough-derg/
Reflection https://www.loughderg.org/my-friends-the-catkins-reflection/
Reflection https://www.loughderg.org/puddles-on-the-path/
Reflection https://www.loughderg.org/brigid-at-lough-derg/
Reflection https://www.loughderg.org/fir-trees-first/
Reflection https://www.loughderg.org/latching-on-to-lichens/
Reflection Frosty Lockdown
Reflection Day of New Beginning
Reflection Muddy Tracks
Reflection ‘Midwinter Holly’
Reflection ‘Pilgrimage in the Frost’
Reflection ‘Old Roots, New Shoots’
Reflection ‘The Blessing of Space’
Reflection ‘Reflecting on Reflections’
Reflection ‘Insignificant Sphagnum’
Reflection ‘The Magic of Mushrooms’
Reflection ‘The Gift of the Rainbow’
Reflection ‘The Uphill Path’