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.

On the Island of Birds

The Navigatio or Voyage of St Brendan is filled with fabulous tales which cannot be taken as history. This extract from chapter 11 beautifully illustrates the spirituality of the people Brendan inspired. Notice their attention to creation, which they relate to scripture, in this case the familiar psalms which they would chant every day - the words the birds chant are verses from different psalms.

On the approach of the hour of vespers, all the birds, in unison, clapping their wings, began to sing ‘A hymn, O Lord, becometh Thee in Sion, and a vow shall be paid to Thee in Jerusalem’ (Ps 65:1); and they alternately chanted the same psalm for an hour; and the melody of their warbling and the accompanying clapping of their wings, sounded like unto a delightful harmony of great sweetness. When supper was ended, and the divine office discharged, Brendan and his companions retired to rest until the third watch of the night, when he aroused them all from sleep, chanting the verse: ‘Thou, O Lord, wilt open my lips’ (Ps 51:16), whereupon all the birds, with voice and wing, warbled in response: ‘Praise the Lord, all His angels, praise Him all His virtues’ (Ps 103:21). Thus they sang for an hour every night; and when morning dawned, they chanted: ‘May the splendour of the Lord God be upon us’ (Ps 90:17) in the same melody and rhythm as their matins praises of God. Again, at tierce, they sang the verse: ‘Sing to our God, sing; sing to our King, sing wisely’ (Ps 47:6); at sext: ‘The Lord hath caused the light of His countenance to shine upon us, and may He have mercy on us’ (Ps 67:1); and at nones they sang ‘Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell in unity’ (Ps 133:1). Thus day and night those birds gave praise to God. St Brendan, seeing all this, made thanksgiving to the Lord for all His wonderful works; and the brethren were thus regaled with such spiritual viands until the octave of the Easter festival.

Our God-given world is full of real life wonders too - watch this amazing video of a murmuration of starlings on Lough Derg, just a few miles up the lake from my home.

Weather & Climate

This editorial appeared in the September 2018 issue of Newslink, the diocesan magazine for the United Dioceses of Limerick & Killaloe.

What extraordinary summer weather we’ve been having. Many will have enjoyed the hot, dry, almost Mediterranean conditions, even though it brought hose-pipe bans. But farmers are in despair: grass has stopped growing, and crops have withered in the fields.

Those with animals have been feeding fodder intended for next winter, since the pastures are bare and the late, wet spring depleted reserves. They fear that without a good autumn grass crop they will not have enough fodder for the winter. High prices for scarce bought-in fodder threaten losses that could bankrupt them, and I hear tales of farmers selling stock at low prices.

Will there be enough fodder for the winter?

Some tillage farmers have been selling poor standing crops for silage. Yields are down, though a neighbour says he is compensated by a high price for his barley straw to use as feed.

Is this all down to climate change? Climate is about statistics - a single hot, dry summer doesn’t prove anything. But it is consistent with what the climate modelers are telling us is the likely future here in Ireland – more frequent hotter, dryer summers and wetter winters.

One canny retired farmer tells me he thinks this year will cause farmers to change their behaviour to reduce the business risks posed by climate change. He suggests the higher stocking levels promoted by Government policy such as Food Harvest 2020 are unsustainable – the probabilities of long, wet winters and hot, dry summers in a warming world causing fodder shortages are just too high. We can expect to see many farmers go to the wall, he says, as lower stocking levels will not provide the income they need to service the loans they took out to intensify their businesses.

Farmers need our prayers at this time of crisis. Let us pray that they may receive a fair return for their labour, and that in the providence of God the sun will shine, the rain will fall, the grass will grow, and all God’s creatures will be fed.

God bless, Joc Sanders

Animals in the 2018 Summer Garden

The 1st of September is the first day of autumn for me, so this is the last day of summer. It is a good day to look back and reflect on what summer 2018 has been like in the garden I share with Marty.

The trees and shrubs and herbs which we tend are the ever-changing backdrop of the garden, but the forground is animated by the animals we share it with, and that includes the people who have visited it - everyone made in the divine image.

My garden highlight this year is the visit of two daughters and three grandsons. What joy it was in early August to see my daughter Ellie's three boys, Jonah, Cormac & Soren racing around Marty's Labyrinth garden, and to play 'Grandpa's Footsteps' with them and their Aunt Amy - their energy made me tired just to watch them!

Cormac, Ellie, Jonah, Soren & Amy at the entrance to the Labyrinth

Soren, Amy, Cormac, Jonah and Grandpa played 'Grandpa's Footsteps' - Ellie took the photo

We did so much else in God's wider garden too of course - swimming and paddling in Lough Derg at the swings below Coolbawn, meeting cousins at the Nenagh Show, rowing to Meelick in Luska Bay, cruising with my brother Tom from Portumna Bridge to Dromineer...

And then there was a lovely Waller family barbecue in July on the patio, all descendents of William Thomas Waller of Prior Park (my Great-great-grandfather) and their spouses.

Descendents of William Thomas Waller of Prior Park and spouses

I saw few other mammals in the garden this year, except for the feral cats, but I saw traces of the the badger, and I suspect woodmice took a lot of Marty's pea and bean seeds.

Of the birds, I was delighted to have a calling yellowhammer in the hedge (a little bit of bread and nooo cheese), as we missed him last year, and I saw my first swift, no doubt one of those that nest in St Mary's of the Rosary in Nenagh, passing through.

It was a mixed year for butterflies in the garden - no holly-blues this year, but plenty of speckled-woods, ringlets and meadow-browns. I was pleased to see a single small-copper, and also a couple of fritilleries, probably silver washed. I was very worried by the absence of vanessids until the last fortnight, but now we have small-tortoiseshells, red-admirals, peacocks and even a painted-lady.

That is enough for this post I think, but I shall post again about the plants of Summer 2018.

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.

The drought is broken, thanks be to God!

What a hot, dry summer we have been having, with barely a drop of rain since early June. Parts of the lawn are completely brown - except for the long rooted weeds such as dandelions (now would be a good time to get rid of them). Many garden plants are visibly suffering, and I expect we will lose some, as with the hosepipe ban we are watering only the most precious. Marty is keen to avoid wasting as much precious water as possible, so I bought a large plastic tray to put under the shower - the kind you keep under the bed for shoes and such. Since it is too heavy and awkward to pick up full of water, we have to bail it into a bucket and carry the water outside to where it is needed.

Our farming neighbours are finding it much worse. Those with animals are struggling to keep them watered, and since the grass is not growing they have had to feed them reserves intended for the winter. I talked to a young farmer over my hedge who says that he has had to let the beasts down to water in a drain, that he is feeding them meal and sillage, and that the coming winter will be a real crisis. He was spreading artificial fertiliser on a field grazed to the bone in order to encourage grass growth, hoping to graze it again in 6 weeks time.

Another neighbour has just finished harvesting barley and wheat. I suspect yields have been poor enough, but that will be partially compensated by higher prices, and I hear the price of barley straw has soared, since it can be fed to animals.We were blessed yesterday to see a good sized flock of geese grazing in his stubble, fattening up for the winter on the fallen grain. I'm not sure what species they were, but they are probably feral Greylag (Anser anser) which stay in Ireland year round, unlike their cousins from Iceland who come only for the winter.

Geese grazing on my neighbours field on 27th July 2018

We have been praying for rain for weeks, and our prayers have been answered. We have had good rain over the last two days and the waterbutts are full again - I see that our nearest Met Éireann weather station at Gurteen has recorded a total of 12.4mm of rain over the last two days of intermittent showers. But I expect we will be back to hot and dry conditions by this time next week. So we must keep on praying.

Almighty God, whose Son Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd of the sheep,

we pray for those who give their lives to the care of animals

and whose livelihood depends on the well-being of creatures in their care.

At this time of crisis in the farming community,

we pray that in the providence of God

the sun will shine, the rain will fall, the grass will grow,

and God’s creatures will be fed.

We give thanks for the sense of local community support,

the willingness to offer practical help

and the attentiveness of neighbour to neighbour.

This we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Mr Brock comes calling

Someone has been digging holes in the croquet lawn, and I feel sure it is Brock the badger. I met him at the bottom of the Lime Alley at dusk one evening last autumn, as I carried a glass of wine with me to my place of contemplation. I froze and looked at him, and he froze and looked at me. We looked at each other for at least a minute, and then he trotted off through a hole in the hedge.

Mr Tommy Brock, from Beatrix Potter's 'The Tale of Mr Todd'

That's the only time I've seen him, but I often see signs of his nocturnal visits. He dug holes in the croquet lawn last autumn too - no doubt in search of grubs, such as cockchafer or ghost moth larvae. When the cobnuts are ripe and falling I suspect it is he that comes to hoover them up, because he leaves his scat around. This summer too I am finding the scat, which includes lots of undigested blackcurrants - the blackbirds have almost stripped the bushes already, and a lot fall to the ground, where they make easy picking for badgers. Here are some photos:

A hole dug in the croquet lawn

Badger scat with blackcurrants

I shall have to fill the holes with sand to make the croquet lawn flat again before the grandsons come to visit, because they will surely want to play croquet. But I don't really mind the small inconvenience. It is good to be reminded that my garden is a part of the wider landscape in which other creatures God has created live their lives.

The only place in the garden Brock has gone digging seems to be the croquet lawn, and I wonder why. It is mown close, but that can't be the reason, as so are other places in the garden. Perhaps it is because it is at the bottom of a slope down from the drive border, and the watertable there is closer to the surface, so that the grubs are easier to reach in the current drought.

I like the old English name Brock for the badger. It is a loan word from the Celtic languages that were once spoken in England before the Anglo-Saxons arrived on the scene - cf 'broc' in Irish and Scottish Gaelic and 'broch' in Welsh.

Badgers can contract bovine tuberculosis (TB) from cattle, and are a significant reservoir of infection, reinfecting TB-free herds. Humans can also be infected with TB from raw milk or handling cattle, though with pasteurisation this is much rarer than it once was, thanks be to God. TB is a significant problem for farmers with cattle in Ireland, and for many years the State has supported a TB eradication programme, requiring all cattle to be tested for TB annually, and reactors to be slaughtered. This has also included the culling of badgers in areas where there is evidence they are reinfecting herds, even though they are a protected species. Happily, in January this year the Government announced a programme to vaccinate badgers against TB. It will commence in the areas which have already been part of field trials demonstrating the effectiveness of badger vaccination, and it will roll out incrementally to other parts of the country over time, with vaccination gradually replacing the need to remove badgers. The aim is to totally eradicate TB in Ireland whilst both protecting the badger population and protecting cattle and the livelihoods of farmers.

Let us pray that this new initiative, based on solid science, will be successful, so that we can continue to enjoy the presence of badgers alongside our livestock industry.