There is a unique sense of God’s presence at Lough Derg
Six hundred and fifty pilgrims came to St Patrick’s Purgatory, Lough Derg, over the June Bank Holiday weekend to participate in the opening of the three-day pilgrimage season for 2014.
It is claimed that the first monks settled at Lough Derg in the fifth century, not long after St Patrick came to Ireland. It would seem to have been well established as a place of pilgrimage by the ninth century, and there is a famous world map of 1492 on which the only place marked for Ireland is the penitential island.
It is striking how, despite the downturn in attitudes to Church and religious practice, Lough Derg continues to hold significant appeal. As Patrick Kavanagh said, “The Twentieth Century blows across it now but deeply it has kept an ancient vow”.
People undertake this arduous retreat for all sorts of reasons: to make reparation to God for their sins; to reflect on a life-changing decision; to overcome a loss in their lives through death or the ending of a relationship.
Some are there because they have lost their jobs, or because their workplaces have become difficult and stressful since the economic collapse. Others who come are dealing with mounting debt and have come to pray for guidance, patience and peace of mind.
Depression
Some are trying to find God in their lives as they come to terms with their sexual orientation. Others are there to pray for themselves or a loved one in difficulty because of illness, an abusive relationship, addiction or depression.
There are always a few pilgrims, mainly young adults, who are searching, literally, for God knows what. They may be successful in the sense of having a job and good friends but somehow their life seems to be in a bit of a rut and they lack any sense of deep satisfaction or fulfillment.
The pilgrimage can give them just the lift they need to enter into a new phase in their lives and in their relationship with God.
Quite a few come to give thanks to God for joy in their life: the safe birth of a child or grandchild, exams passed, a new life-giving relationship. Every year a number of engaged couples make their way to the island, as well as those celebrating significant wedding anniversaries. Last year, there was a group of people on pilgrimage for a kind of ‘spiritual stag-party’; a groom-to-be came with his father, brothers and friends.
For many people, Lough Derg is simply an indispensible part of their relationship with God. They come every year so they can better face the challenges of their day-to-day lives.
Whatever brings people to Lough Derg, it is always a place of surprises. Pilgrims will often tell you that what they got out of the pilgrimage was something entirely unexpected.
Holiness
And this is as it should be. We live in a world that programmes us to think we know exactly what we need in life, and how to go about getting it. The reality, of course, is different. It can be difficult to know what we really need, and we are easily distracted from living at depth.
Without shoes, food and sleep, and by undertaking the ‘stations’ of repetitive prayers and celebrating the sacraments, we become humble and vulnerable, and therefore open to what God wants us to receive, and not just what we think we need.
There is a unique sense of holiness, of God’s powerful and healing presence, enveloping Lough Derg. Over centuries, the island has witnessed countless moments of burdens lifted, wounds and hurts healed, and what can seem like unforgiveable sins forgiven.
In ancient days what happened at Lough Derg was spoken of in terms of doing battle with demons, and people used to spend days locked in a cave on the island, or in the building that later replaced it and which was known as the ‘prison chapel’.
This part of the pilgrimage is now replicated by the 24-hour vigil. And for people today, the vigil can still be a time of doing battle with whatever evil holds them bound and diminishes them. In the course of the pilgrimage they build up and strengthen their ‘spiritual muscle’.
Miracles happen on Lough Derg every day, often during the Sacrament of Penance, which lies at the heart of the pilgrimage. In a unique way this sacrament seems to enable people to get out of whatever rut their life is in, or to free themselves of whatever demons are holding them bound.
God’s healing grace is experienced on Lough Derg in an intensity seldom encountered elsewhere, through the various spiritual exercises, the companionship of fellow pilgrims and the sheer holiness of the place.
It would be great to see more parishes, dioceses and youth groups giving consideration to organising a pilgrimage there this summer.
Fr Eamonn Conway is a priest and theologian.