A few months back, we watched the movie The Way. We reflected upon how during pilgrimage it is important to allow yourself to be worked on and allow others to work on you. We have now been together for 100+ hours, and you can feel the bond growing between the group and between individuals. This can range from giving someone a euro, to a Bandaid, to a portable charger, to a hug, to a prayer. As you hear a little bit about what we did today, you will understand why our bond is continuing to grow.
To begin our day, we met our bus driver Michael, who we will be with until next week when we return to Dublin. We begin our hour drive to Glendalough. We were awestruck at the sites we saw on the way and while we were there; most indescribable. Sister Sheila shared her wealth of knowledge on the monastic city with us.
We had the opportunity to bond together ribbons and tie them around a large tree in prayer for those who may need them. There were several members from our Pittsburgh community who visited this site back in May who did this exact act; we intertwined our ribbon with theirs in hopes that our prayers may be that much stronger. Finally, we had the opportunity to walk to the Upper Lake. (A fun fact: the movie P.S. I Love You was filmed here.) No picture can do these sites justice, but we were all in our glory here.
We then made our way to County Carlow making a short stop at Wicklow to learn some history of Ireland. Once we arrived in Carlow, we went to St. Leo’s Convent. We were able to have tea and meet some of our Sisters of Mercy. We thought we felt our glory and peace at Glendalough, but we really found it here. We felt like we were at home. We learned more about our heritage and took a tour of Carlow College.
We wrapped up the visit by exploring the city, which resembles our Carlow back home. The streets were one way with many shops and food chains–college town as we would call it!
It was a long day but extremely satisfying in so many ways. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the pilgrimage has in store for us, as a group and as individuals.