Tuesday 6th September 2011 - St Peter's, Dalbeattie
The oldest post- Reformation Catholic church in Galloway. The original place of worship was established around 1745 but the present church of granite dates from 1814-15 with a tower added in 1854.
It’s another wet Tuesday but as I’ve said before, “what’s a little rain?”. This will be my twenty-second Mass on my pilgrimage and today I’m heading for St. Peter’s in Dalbeattie, so off I go on the 246 Dumfries bus.
I’m now recognizing all the workers on this route and I play a little game in my mind wondering what kind of work they do. The first wee lady comes on at Kirkconnel and before that it’s a quiet bus so I settle down with my thoughts and prayers. No sunshine on the hills this morning, in fact I could barely see the hills through the raindrop patterns on the window. But isn’t this life Lord? We have our rainy times and our sunny times.
As we drove into Dumfries the rain was lashing down so it was a quick dash across to the shelter at the Dalbeattie bus stance. The number 796 arrived within minutes and there I was heading for Beeswing and the sun came out, only for a little while though. It was going to be one of those days of sunshine and showers. It was a school bus and I enjoyed the chatter of the young teenagers.
I was in Dalbeattie at 8.50 and I asked directions to the church. Father Neil O’ Donnell had told me over the phone the previous day where to find the church but it’s a few years since I had been there so it took me a few minutes to get my bearings.
As I was early I turned back to the main street to look for a café and what a friendly one I found. It was so welcoming. I enjoyed my coffee and chat with Anne, it was lovely to meet you Anne (With or without an ‘e’? My daughter is Anne with an ‘e’ so I have added an ‘e’). I walked round to St Peter’s at 9.30. There I found May Coyle working quietly around the altar. She told me that Mass is in a room downstairs on weekdays so I knelt in prayer and then lit a candle at Our Lady’s altar before going downstairs.
There were six of us at Mass including two sisters, Sister Enda and Sister Baptiste. After Mass Father Neil O’ Donnell invited me to the Parish House for a cuppa. We had a good wee chat about my pilgrimage, where I had been and where I still had to go.
It always amazes me of how the Lord works in mysterious ways. Father Neil was going to Dumfries and offered to take me there but first had a few things to do so he switched on the TV for me and there on the screen was “The Big Silence” by Abbot Christopher Jamieson. I told Father Neil that I was also going on a Silent Retreat on Friday 16th September at Skelmorlie, so as I settled down to watch part two of the programme I felt it was a good taster for next week. Thank you Father Neil for your kindness.
I was back in Cumnock at 1.40pm. Later that afternoon I received good news about a family member who has responded very well to cancer treatment. Thank you Lord for a wonderful day.
St Peter
Simon son of Jona, brother of Andrew was among the first of Christ’s disciples. He was the first in rank, their leader and their spokesman. He was fisherman, and easily carried away by his feelings, very human and lovable. Christ looked upon him and promised to make him a fisher of men. Peter’s love for Christ is as passionate as is his admiration and loyalty. The Gospel shows him as a man full of goodwill, of sudden enthusiasms and sudden misgivings. Christ trained him for the part he had destined for him. “And I say to thee, that thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it”[ Matthew 16]. “Where Peter is, there is the Church.”
Saturday 10th September 2011 - Our Lady and St Cuthbert, Maybole
This church built in 1878 and B-listed, is reputed to have been modelled on the medieval Crossraguel Abbey nearby. The carved faces round the outside are of leading churchmen of the day.
There was no morning Mass here in St John’s today, and Michael kindly offered to take me to 10am Mass at Our Lady and St.Cuthbert’s in Maybole.
It’s forty-nine years since I had been in this lovely old church. Father Philip is parish priest and we both knew him well, he was deacon here in St John’s three years ago.
As we quietly entered this beautiful church we found one lady quietly at prayer soon to be followed by a few more. I find as I visit so many churches that it is heart warming to find so many people in private prayer. I think of all the millions of people throughout the world in conversation with God and the words of a hymn came to my mind, “The Day Thou Gavest Lord has Ended” -
“We thank Thee that Thy Church, unsleeping,
While earth rolls onward into light,
Through all the world her watch is keeping,
And rests not now by day and night.”
After Mass there was Exposition till 11.00am when we ended with Benediction. All in all, it was a beautiful way to spend a Saturday morning. Thank you to Father Philip and to the parishioners at Maybole and thank you to Michael.
I’m half way through my pilgrimage Lord, and it’s been a joy.
St Cuthbert
St Cuthbert, known as St Cuthbert of Lindisfarne was born in Northumbria about the year 635, the same year in which Aidan founded the Monastery on Lindisfarne. When Aidan died, Cuthbert had already been considering a possible monastic calling. He went to the monastery in Melrose, also founded by Aidan and asked to be admitted as a novice.
For the next 13 years he was with the Melrose monks. In 644 AD, The Synod of Whitby decided that Northumbria should cease to look to Ireland for its spiritual leadership. The Irish monks of Lindisfarne went back to Iona. The abbot of Melrose became also abbot of Lindisfarne, and Cuthbert became prior. He lived there for the next 10 years and ran the monastery and was in demand as a spiritual guide. When he was 40 he believed that he was being called to be a hermit and moved to Inner Farne. At the age of about 50 he was asked to leave his hermitage and became Bishop. For two years he was an active travelling Bishop as Aidan had been. Cuthbert returned to the hermitage where he died on March 20th 687 AD
Saturday 17th September 2011 - Notre Dame Retreat Centre, Skelmorlie
At 'Lincluden', 29 Shore Road, Skelmorlie, owned by the Sisters of Notre Dame since 1902, facilities are provided for retreats, conferences, educational visits and holidays with self-catering accommodation. Spiritual direction is also available.
This has all worked out well because months ago I booked at The Ignatian Centre in Glasgow for a Silent Retreat at Notre Dame Centre, Skelmorlie on 16th September. So here I am half way through my pilgrimage and what a beautiful time for silence. Time to reflect on all the Masses at each church and where I am in my relationship with God. On Saturday our wee group were blessed with the most beautiful Mass on this very picturesque setting on the Firth of Clyde as part of our Silent Retreat, and I decided to make this Mass part of my pilgrimage. On the Sunday we began to talk and share our thoughts. I wanted to stay there but I had to leave it all behind because I had to go back to my home and my parish. Jesus would be coming with me.
I gratefully thank Father Tom, Brother James, Jane, Fran, Jean, Stella, Marie, Eleanor, Ann and Irene and last but not least Sister Denise of the Sisters of Notre Dame.
Thank you Lord for leading me to this special time in my life.
At 'Lincluden', 29 Shore Road, Skelmorlie, owned by the Sisters of Notre Dame since 1902, facilities are provided for retreats, conferences, educational visits and holidays with self-catering accommodation. Spiritual direction is also available.
This has all worked out well because months ago I booked at The Ignatian Centre in Glasgow for a Silent Retreat at Notre Dame Centre, Skelmorlie on 16th September. So here I am half way through my pilgrimage and what a beautiful time for silence. Time to reflect on all the Masses at each church and where I am in my relationship with God. On Saturday our wee group were blessed with the most beautiful Mass on this very picturesque setting on the Firth of Clyde as part of our Silent Retreat, and I decided to make this Mass part of my pilgrimage. On the Sunday we began to talk and share our thoughts. I wanted to stay there but I had to leave it all behind because I had to go back to my home and my parish. Jesus would be coming with me.
I gratefully thank Father Tom, Brother James, Jane, Fran, Jean, Stella, Marie, Eleanor, Ann and Irene and last but not least Sister Denise of the Sisters of Notre Dame.
Thank you Lord for leading me to this special time in my life.
Tuesday 20th September 2011 - St Peter- in Chains, Ardrossan
Designed in 1938 by Jack Coia of the Glasgow firm of Gillespie, Kidd & Coia. This A listed brick building is one of the early works of this world-renowned and influential Scottish architect.
So here I was on the X76 heading for Kilmarnock and what a busy bus it was. Some students going to Kilmarnock College, and the rest of the bus going to Glasgow to their different universities.
At Kilmarnock I joined the no.11 Ardrossan bus because today I am heading to St Peter-in-Chains, Ardrossan.
I’m not early today Lord, I forgot about colleges. So here I was running late, first time ever on my pilgrimage. A little reminder to me that I don’t always have everything spot on. This journey was teaching me a lesson in that we don’t know all the answers.
We stopped at every bus stop from Kilmarnock to Ardrossan and as I looked at my watch as we passed St Mary’s in Saltcoats it was 9.55am.
I tried Lord but the lesson from all of this is, I am vulnerable. I took things for granted. Since my first Mass on 3rd June, the colleges and universities have been on holiday but now it’s a different story, so the next time I’m heading to north Ayrshire I’ll leave on an earlier bus.
I got off the bus as near as I could to St Peter in Chains, and followed a wee lady in a pink coat through a side door just as Father McManus came on the altar. What a beautiful church with an equally beautiful Mass.
With a few smiles from parishioners I left the church and headed home. I spoke to the wee lady in pink on the bus to Saltcoats. She invited me back some other time and as she walked from the bus at Saltcoats Railway Station, we waved to each other. Thank you to that wee lady. Who knows, we may meet again.
St Peter in Chains Feast Day August 1st
To please the enemies of the Christians, Herod Agrippa had put St James to death and now planned to do the same to St Peter, the Head of the Church. Once he had him in prison, he set a heavy guard about him to make sure he would not escape. But all the Christians of Jerusalem were begging the Lord to save St Peter, and their prayers were answered. The night before he was to be condemned, St Peter was sleeping in his prison cell bound tightly by two chains. He was unafraid of death and ready to do God's will. Suddenly an angel appeared and tapped him on the side to awaken him. He told him to get up at once, put on his cloak and sandals and follow him. At the same moment, both the chains fell from his hands; out the two went, past two sets of guards, to the gate. The angel led Peter out to the street then he disappeared. Up to then Peter thought he was dreaming, but now he knew that God had really sent an angel to free him. What joy and gratitude filled his head. He then made his way to the home of Mary, Mother of Mark, where many Christians were praying for his safety.
Designed in 1938 by Jack Coia of the Glasgow firm of Gillespie, Kidd & Coia. This A listed brick building is one of the early works of this world-renowned and influential Scottish architect.
So here I was on the X76 heading for Kilmarnock and what a busy bus it was. Some students going to Kilmarnock College, and the rest of the bus going to Glasgow to their different universities.
At Kilmarnock I joined the no.11 Ardrossan bus because today I am heading to St Peter-in-Chains, Ardrossan.
I’m not early today Lord, I forgot about colleges. So here I was running late, first time ever on my pilgrimage. A little reminder to me that I don’t always have everything spot on. This journey was teaching me a lesson in that we don’t know all the answers.
We stopped at every bus stop from Kilmarnock to Ardrossan and as I looked at my watch as we passed St Mary’s in Saltcoats it was 9.55am.
I tried Lord but the lesson from all of this is, I am vulnerable. I took things for granted. Since my first Mass on 3rd June, the colleges and universities have been on holiday but now it’s a different story, so the next time I’m heading to north Ayrshire I’ll leave on an earlier bus.
I got off the bus as near as I could to St Peter in Chains, and followed a wee lady in a pink coat through a side door just as Father McManus came on the altar. What a beautiful church with an equally beautiful Mass.
With a few smiles from parishioners I left the church and headed home. I spoke to the wee lady in pink on the bus to Saltcoats. She invited me back some other time and as she walked from the bus at Saltcoats Railway Station, we waved to each other. Thank you to that wee lady. Who knows, we may meet again.
St Peter in Chains Feast Day August 1st
To please the enemies of the Christians, Herod Agrippa had put St James to death and now planned to do the same to St Peter, the Head of the Church. Once he had him in prison, he set a heavy guard about him to make sure he would not escape. But all the Christians of Jerusalem were begging the Lord to save St Peter, and their prayers were answered. The night before he was to be condemned, St Peter was sleeping in his prison cell bound tightly by two chains. He was unafraid of death and ready to do God's will. Suddenly an angel appeared and tapped him on the side to awaken him. He told him to get up at once, put on his cloak and sandals and follow him. At the same moment, both the chains fell from his hands; out the two went, past two sets of guards, to the gate. The angel led Peter out to the street then he disappeared. Up to then Peter thought he was dreaming, but now he knew that God had really sent an angel to free him. What joy and gratitude filled his head. He then made his way to the home of Mary, Mother of Mark, where many Christians were praying for his safety.
Tuesday 27th September 2011 - St Thomas's, Muirkirk
Built 1906 by PP Pugin, architect of many churches in the diocese of Glasgow. The material for this church was transported from Belgium.
Today, Tuesday 27th September, is my twenty-sixth Mass in the pilgrimage and I’m too tired this week to travel far, so I have decided to go the short journey to St Thomas’s, Muirkirk.
It was a nostalgic trip on the 8.45am no.46 bus. First the driver drove up the Peesweep Brae at Lugar to the offices of East Ayrshire Council. This used to be the site of the National Coal Board offices and most of the buildings are still there.
As I passed my old office, I realised it was fifty years since I last worked there. Then I passed the site of the old “Crescent” where my great grandparents settled when they came from County Down in the 1880’s.
In my memory I could see the old miners’ rows at Lugar and the home of Great Aunt Jane. A mile along the road and I was looking towards Cronberry to the places where Hugh played as a boy. Then passed the road to my right where I used to sit on the front seat of a lorry with my Dad as the driver when he drove two miles into the hills to bring the Baryta miners home from their shifts. My job was to jump from the lorry and open and close the two or three gates on the way to the mine.
As we arrived at Muirkirk I looked to the area known as “Over the water” where a great great grandfather of mine settled when he arrived from Donegal around 1840. I certainly was in a reflective mood as I walked towards St Thomas’s.
The words of psalm 89 came to mind -
“To Your eyes a thousand years are like yesterday,
Come and gone, no more than a watch in the night.
Our life is over like a sigh.
Make us know the shortness of our life that we may gain wisdom of heart.”
Our priest, Father Stephen, ministers to St Thomas’s and Our Lady and St Patrick’s in Auchinleck as well as St John the Evangelist here in Cumnock. He is in Salamanca at the moment and Monsignor Sheridan was saying Mass.
Monsignor and his brother Andrew retired to Muirkirk a good few years ago and now live in St Thomas’s Presbytery. Monsignor Jack is a great asset to our churches here in Galloway as well as helping out in his beloved Glasgow diocese.
I entered this special wee church and at first was alone. Andrew had the altar prepared for Mass. The silence was beautiful, as twelve of us had Mass on the most special of days, the Feast of St Vincent-de-Paul.
After Mass I had 45 minutes to wait for my bus home and enjoyed a welcome cup of tea with Mr Boland in his lovely home near the church.
Thank you Bill and thank you Monsignor and Andrew. And last but not least thanks to you Lord for leading me to Muirkirk this morning.
St Thomas, Feast Day, July 3rd
Thomas the Apostle, also called Doubting Thomas, was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. He is best known for questioning Jesus' resurrection when first told it, then proclaiming “My Lord and my God” on seeing Jesus in John 20:28. He was perhaps the only apostle who went outside the Roman Empire to preach the Gospel. He is also believed to have crossed the largest area, which includes the Parthian Empire and India.