REAL CELTIC SPIRITUALITY

I've just found, at the website of the Irish Bishops, an interview with Archbishop Michael Neary (Tuam) where he talks about his experience of Croagh Patrick, Ireland's Mount Sinai, a mountain in Co. Mayo. It brought me back to past pilgrimages to the mountain and to Lough Derg in Co. Donegal. If you meet anyone who says they're into Celtic spirituality and they haven't done these pilgrimages (at least three times each according to tradition) then they know nothing about real Celtic spirituality. They're not easy. Especially at Lough Derg one comes face to face with an entirely penitential spirit. It was here that St. Patrick is said to have spent forty days in prayer in a cave. At Croagh Patrick he is said to have spent a similar amount of time in prayer for the Irish people. An angel came to demand he vacate the mountain but our bold patriarch would not give in. Like Moses he haggled and got the promise that on the last day there would be enough Irish people saved to fill as far as the eye can see. One can see a long way from the top on a cloudless day. I hope it's clear on the Last Day. If you want to renew your following of Christ you could do worse than trying these paths.