Pilgrim walk at Ardfert with the Community of Brendan the Navigator

On Saturday 6th October thirteen of us gathered in the nave of the ruined Cathedral of St Brendan the Navigator, Ardfert for a pilgrim walk organised by the Community of Brendan the Navigator, led by Archdeacon Simon Lumby with the assistance of Sylvia Thompson of the Tralee International Resource Centre. The cathedral dates from the 12th century, but it is on the site of the monastery established by Brendan the Navigator in the 6th century. From there we walked to Tobar na Molt (Wethers’ Well), the reputed site of Brendan’s baptism by St Erc, about 10km there and back.

Pilgrims in the nave of the Cathedral of St Brendan, Ardfert

Simon and Sylvia led us in prayer in the cathedral before we set out. We also sang the hymn ‘This day God gives me’ unaccompanied - we did pretty well, I think! Then we set out on the road through the charming village and out into the country, walking two by two and chatting, getting to know each other.

About half way to the well we stopped to gather our thoughts. Simon reflected on a cottage overgrown with briers, and Sylvia read to us from Mary Shanahan’s book ‘In honour of nature’.

The hermit and his blackbird

I need to watch the sun, 

to calculate the hours that I should pray to God. 

But the blackbird who nests in the roof of my hut 

makes no such calculations: 

he sings God’s praises all day long.

I need books to read, 

to learn the hidden truths of God. 

But the blackbird who shares my simple meals 

needs no written texts: 

he can read the love of God in every leaf and flower.

I need to beg forgiveness, 

to make myself pure and fit for God. 

But the blackbird who drinks with me from the stream 

sheds no tears of contrition: 

he is as God made him, with no stain of sin.

A break to gather our thoughts on the way to Wethers' Well

Leaving the road, the green path to the Well is beautifully mown, as is the sacred enclosure around the well – it is clear that the place is much loved and regularly visited by pilgrims.

The Well itself was dry – no doubt a result of the summer drought, but as winter rains fall and the water table rises we know that it will be filled again. There are stone steps down into it, and the stone walls are covered with moss up to the level it fills to, with projecting stones upon which a pilgrim immersed in the water can rest.

Wethers' Well was dry on the day of our visit

Simon led is to reflect on the symbolism behind springs and wells reaching back to pre-Christian times – the water springing from the earth is a portal to another domain.

The legends of the site are that St Ita is buried in a grave here; the well sprang up in answer to her prayers; St Erc baptised St Brendan here, his fee was three wethers which sprang miraculously out of the well; mass was said on the altar in penal times – a priest saying mass there was surprised by soldiers with bloodhounds, but three wethers sprang out of the well and led the chase away, leaving the priest to finish the mass.

Medieval carved figures on the penal era altar at Wethers' Well,
said to be (l-r) St Erc, St Brendan, St Ita

I spoke briefly about my own back-to-front pilgrimage. Exactly a week before, I had been at St Brendan’s Cathedral, Clonfert – once the site of another monastery founded by Brendan, the place where he died, or as the early Irish monks would have called it, the place of his resurrection. A large stone outside the great hiberno-romanesque entrance is reputed to mark his grave. After his Christian birth in baptism at Wethers’ Well, Brendan’s travels were guided by God to his place of resurrection at Clonfert. I had travelled his path in reverse over a single week.

We returned from Wethers’ Well to the cathedral the same way that we had come. After a brief time of prayer in the cathedral, we finished the day with tea or coffee and packed lunches in the Community Centre opposite, where all agreed that it had been a most worthwhile and spiritual day out.

Prayer and Reflection at St Senan's Church, Iniscarra

As a small spiritual discipline, part of my commitment to the Community of St Brendan, I made a vow to make a post to this blog at least once every week, but I see that it is a month since my last post - Miserere mei, Deus!

St Senan's Church, Iniscarra - set among beautiful trees

Yesterday 26th August, with 18 others, I attended an afternoon of prayer and reflection in St Senan's Church, Iniscarra, facilitated by Robert Ferris, Associate Minister of the Carrigrohane Union of Parishes and founding member of the Community of St Brendan. 

Robert Ferris

Robert led us to reflect on how different spiritual disciplines can help us to grow as Christians. He used the framework of the seasons to illustrate how our need for a discipline changes in response to the cycles of our lives. And he introduced us to the spiritual growth planner devised by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun in her 'Spiritual Disciplines Handbook' (paperback, Inter-Varsity Press, 2015 - available on Amazon for £18.99). It is designed to encourage readers to reflect on their individual needs for spiritual discipline, and to select something appropriate.

One strong finding for myself is the difficulty I have following disciplines I would like to establish regularly - when something more pressing or exciting comes up, all my good intentions go out the window! I was asked to say a few words about my experience with spiritual disciplines. I spoke about my use of daily prayer following the form in the Church of Ireland Book of Common Prayer (now available as a smartphone app). And I spoke about this blog, God in the Garden. It is hard, I confessed, to establish regularity - but the fact that something is hard is not a good reason not to persist at it. God is merciful and our lapses will be forgiven.

As we met I was very aware that Pope Francis was presiding at the Mass in Phoenix Park attended by hundreds of thousands of brothers and sisters in Christ. At the end of the afternoon, I led our group in praying for all Christian leaders, especially Pope Francis, and in praying his prayer for our earth, taken from his encyclical Laudato 'Si, that great gift he has given to Christians of all traditions.

A prayer for Christian leaders

Hear us, O Lord, as we lift up before you 

all who bear the bewildering responsibility 

of Christian leadership among the churches of the world.  

Especially at this time we pray 

for Pope Francis and his visit to Ireland, 

for Justin, Archbishop of Canterbury 

and for His All Holiness Bartholomew, Ecumenical Patriarch.

Give them wisdom beyond their own, 

integrity in all their dealings, 

and a resolve to seek first your kingdom 

and your righteousness for all humankind.

We ask it in your name. Amen

A prayer for our earth

All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe

and in the smallest of your creatures.

You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.

Pour out upon us the power of your love,

that we may protect life and beauty.

Fill us with peace, that we may live 

as brothers and sisters, harming no one.

O God of the poor,

help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth,

so precious in your eyes.

Bring healing to our lives, 

that we may protect the world and not prey on it,

that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.

Touch the hearts

of those who look only for gain

at the expense of the poor and the earth.

Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,

to be filled with awe and contemplation,

to recognize that we are profoundly united with every creature

as we journey towards your infinite light.

We thank you for being with us each day.

Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle

for justice, love and peace. Amen

I am glad I attended the day, even though it meant a 2 hour drive there and back. If I have one small criticism it is that we did not have introductions, nor any time to get to know each other - we left as strangers to those we did not already know. I hope that time will be allowed for this in future Community events.

Restarting God in the Garden

The Editorial in the July 2018 issue of Newslink, the diocesan magazine for the United Dioceses of Limerick & Killaloe, which I edit.

Editorial - God in the Garden

What a wonderful world we live in, overflowing with the diversity of living things, filled with beauty at every scale from the gigantic to the minute, and able to feed us all if we use it as we should. It is our Garden of Eden - God has made it for us and all his creatures, he continually remakes it through evolution, and in the words of Genesis he sees it to be good.

One of the delights of summer for me is to spend time in the garden - my wife Marty and I have our own parts, since 2 gardeners into 1 garden does not go. Other pleasures are visiting other people’s gardens, and botanising in wild places like the Burren, a natural rock garden. Such places are miniature versions of God’s good world.

A view of Marty's labyrinth garden with oriental popies and aquilegia 

in the foreground and the wysteria arch in the background.

Back in 2006 I started a blog called ‘God in the Garden’ in which I celebrated the glories of God’s creation including my garden, and mused on our place as Christians within it. Five years later I abandoned it and have posted nothing for years, but like all things digital it still lives on in cyber space – you can find it at godinthegarden.blogspot.com.

I have decided to restart it and set myself the goal of posting something at least weekly as a small spiritual discipline, part of my commitment to the Community of Brendan the Navigator. I know that God is in the Garden, and I pray that in words and pictures I may praise him and reflect his glory, however dimly. Do have a look if you have any interest in the idea, and feel free to comment.

God bless, Joc Sanders