Tuesday 4th October 2011 - St John's, Evangelist, Cumnock
Built 1882 through the generosity of the Marquess of Bute who owned nearby Dumfries House, to commemorate the birth of his son Ninian. A B-listed building designed in Norman style by the Victorian architect William Burges, it is reputed to be the first public building in Scotland and the first church in Britain to have electric lighting.
I haven’t been well so no travelling this week, as my body tells me I need to rest. However there is a meeting tonight, Tuesday, in the parish house after Mass and Father Stephen has asked anyone who has been involved with the RCIA to come along. I thought about giving it a miss and then thought better of it but I had to have a rest in the late afternoon to give me the strength to go to Mass first, then the meeting.
As I knelt in prayer in church I thought, this will be the twenty-seventh Mass of my pilgrimage.
It was a beautiful Mass as we shared the sorrow of a young family, I wanted to hug the young mother but I don’t know the family very well and felt I would be intruding so I prayed for them and remembered back to my own daughter’s pain in a similar situation many years ago. This got me thinking. How many of our parishioners have had heartaches that we never know about? so we should treat each other with respect and love each other. In the introduction to the poem “The Priest, a Prayer on Sunday Night”, Michel Quoist wrote, “A priest needs no praise or embarrassing gifts, what he needs is that those committed to his charge should, by loving their fellows more and more, prove to him that he has not given his life in vain.” Lord, thank you for leading me to my own parish this evening.
St John the Evangelist. Feast Day, December 27th
St John, son of Zebedee and brother of St James the Great, was called to be an apostle by Our Lord. He became the “beloved disciple” and the only one of the twelve who did not forsake the Saviour in the hour of His Passion. He stood faithfully at the cross when the Saviour made him guardian of His Mother. His later life was passed chiefly in Jerusalem and Ephesus. He founded many churches and wrote the fourth Gospel and three epistles. The Book of Revelations is also attributed to him. He lived to an extreme old age, surviving all his fellow apostles and died at Ephesus around 100AD.
Saturday 8th October 2011 - St Conal's, Kirkconnel
A small white church by the side of the A76 opened in 1921, for the inhabitants [mostly miners] of Upper Nithsdale.
Our neighbouring parish to the north of Cumnock is St. Conal’s Kirkconnel, served from St Teresa’s, Dumfries. Their only Mass is Saturday at 2pm and this is their Sunday Mass. Jamie from our parish offered to drive me there so I’m blessed with friends who are helping me on my pilgrimage.
It seemed unusual to be heading for Sunday Mass at this time on a Saturday but here we were. The New Cumnock hills were covered in a mist of rain as we drove from Ayrshire into Dumfriesshire. St. Conal’s was on our left as we left the village and two cars were in the car park. As Jamie parked beside them a young woman drove up and smiled as she left the car. I discovered this was Alice and she was the key holder.
St Conal’s is a lovely church and everyone was very welcoming but it was very cold and soon a heater was moved to where an elderly lady was sitting.
The Church may have been cold but the people had warm hearts and Father Jim Hayes served a beautiful gentle Mass. At the end of Mass he said there was good news and he left it to Alice to tell us. St Conal’s had been granted money from the Coalfield’s Regeneration to install new heating in the church.
I was delighted for this small community whose ancestors had toiled in underground black tunnels under the village and surrounding area, many being maimed or losing their lives in the process. Well done to Alice and the parishioners of St Conal’s.
St Conal, Feast Day, March 18th
St Conal was an Irish Bishop who flourished in the second half of the 5th Century and ruled over the church at Drum, County Roscommon. St Conal died about the year 500 and although his feast is celebrated on 18th March, some assign 9th February as the date.
Sadly, Since this website has been created, St Connel's Church has now closed.
Tuesday 11th October 2011 - St Palladius, Dalry
One of the oldest Catholic churches of the diocese, this simple
Gothic church of 1851 is a listed building.
This was my twenty-ninth Mass and after a good night’s rest I decided to take the X76 to Kilmarnock to catch the no.11 to Irvine where I would join the X34 to Dalry.
This was new territory for me; I hadn’t travelled this road very often so I would have to be on my guard to know where to get off the bus. However I could see that the bus was veering to the left away from what looked like the direction of the town centre and decided to get off.
Thank you to the lady who walked with me till we reached the village cross and then she pointed me in the direction of St. Palladius’ Church. People are kind.
I arrived to a locked church but then a car arrived and a lady called Agnes opened the church. She asked if I was visiting Dalry and I told her I was going round the diocese and this was my first time at St Palladius’. I told her that her priest, Father Gerry Donnelly, used to be our priest in Cumnock. Father Gerry was in the Sacristy preparing for Mass and came through to say hello.
St Palladius’ was a church at prayer, very reverent and peaceful.
Thank you Agnes and the parishioners of St Palladius’ and thanks to Father Gerry for the welcome coffee after Mass and also for driving me to Kilwinning to catch the no.11 back to Kilmarnock.
By the time I was back in my home, I thanked God for my pilgrimage, for all the blessings of the Masses and the lovely people I have met.
I had struggled home and knew that I had some decisions to make. My body is slowing down so I will have to cut down on some of the work I have been doing.
Thank you Lord for the Friendship Blanket a few of us started knitting. The few has now grown to fifteen and I have offered to stitch some of the knitted squares together to help form the blanket. It’s a blessing because I am resting as I sit on my couch surrounded by the brightly coloured squares. I find myself praying and reflecting on life.
St Palladius, Feast Day - July 7th
Palladius was an early Irish missionary, the first Bishop of Ireland and the immediate predecessor to St Patrick. Perhaps of British or Roman descent, he was possibly a deacon in Rome or more likely in Auxerre, France. Palladius was consecrated a bishop by the Pope who in about 430 AD sent him to preach among the Irish. He landed near Wicklow and founded at least three churches in Leinster. Palladius left Ireland and sailed for Scotland, where he preached among the Picts. He died at Fordun, near Aberdeen.
Monday 17th October 2011 - Our Lady and St John, Stewarton
Built in 1974 as a combined church and hall.
I’m still very tired and cannot travel very far so I thought my thirtieth Mass of the pilgrimage would be to Our Lady and St. John’s in Stewarton. I would share my Mass with the Requiem Mass for Mary Lynch. Mary was a lovely lady and I felt privileged to be there.
Father Eddie welcomed everyone on what was a rain drenched morning but the small church glowed as we listened to the life of a beautiful Christian lady. Thank you Mary for the times you fed my boys.
Again my pilgrimage was on hold as I gained strength and gave my extra medication time to work. Was the pilgrimage on hold? I may not be travelling but I’m still a pilgrim. As long as we spend our lives in a relationship with our Lord we are pilgrims.
Our Lady
Mary, the Mother of God, Mother of Jesus, wife of St Joseph, and the greatest of all christian saints. "I believe in God, the Father Almighty, and in Jesus Christ, his only son , Our Lord, who was conceived of the holy ghost, born of the virgin Mary". This quotation from the Creed gives some indication of the prominent position that the mother of Jesus Christ has always held in Christian belief. The information on Mary's life, sparse as it is, nevertheless contains overtones which indicate that a theology of Mary was elaborated from earliest times. St Luke makes Mary the central figure because he sees in her the fulfilment of the whole history of the Old Testament. St John goes even further, in two scenes she is the central figure. At Cana she is the means by which Christ manifests the glory which, except for her, would have been hidden. And at Calvary, where the glory is shown in all its fullness. Christ appoints her as the mother of John, who stands for all those "whom Jesus loved". She is not merely the personification of the old Israel, she is the beginning of the new Israel, The Church.
St John
St John, son of Zebedee and brother of St James The Great, was called to be an apostle by Our Lord. He became the "beloved disciple", and the only one of the twelve who did not forsake The Saviour in the Hour of his Passion. He stood faithfully at the cross when The Saviour made him guardian of His Mother. His later life was passed chiefly in Jerusalem and Ephesus. He founded many churches and wrote the fourth Gospel and three epistles. The Book of Revelations is also attributed to him. He lived to an extreme old age, surviving all his fellow apostles, and died at Ephesus around 100 AD.
Built in 1974 as a combined church and hall.
I’m still very tired and cannot travel very far so I thought my thirtieth Mass of the pilgrimage would be to Our Lady and St. John’s in Stewarton. I would share my Mass with the Requiem Mass for Mary Lynch. Mary was a lovely lady and I felt privileged to be there.
Father Eddie welcomed everyone on what was a rain drenched morning but the small church glowed as we listened to the life of a beautiful Christian lady. Thank you Mary for the times you fed my boys.
Again my pilgrimage was on hold as I gained strength and gave my extra medication time to work. Was the pilgrimage on hold? I may not be travelling but I’m still a pilgrim. As long as we spend our lives in a relationship with our Lord we are pilgrims.
Our Lady
Mary, the Mother of God, Mother of Jesus, wife of St Joseph, and the greatest of all christian saints. "I believe in God, the Father Almighty, and in Jesus Christ, his only son , Our Lord, who was conceived of the holy ghost, born of the virgin Mary". This quotation from the Creed gives some indication of the prominent position that the mother of Jesus Christ has always held in Christian belief. The information on Mary's life, sparse as it is, nevertheless contains overtones which indicate that a theology of Mary was elaborated from earliest times. St Luke makes Mary the central figure because he sees in her the fulfilment of the whole history of the Old Testament. St John goes even further, in two scenes she is the central figure. At Cana she is the means by which Christ manifests the glory which, except for her, would have been hidden. And at Calvary, where the glory is shown in all its fullness. Christ appoints her as the mother of John, who stands for all those "whom Jesus loved". She is not merely the personification of the old Israel, she is the beginning of the new Israel, The Church.
St John
St John, son of Zebedee and brother of St James The Great, was called to be an apostle by Our Lord. He became the "beloved disciple", and the only one of the twelve who did not forsake The Saviour in the Hour of his Passion. He stood faithfully at the cross when The Saviour made him guardian of His Mother. His later life was passed chiefly in Jerusalem and Ephesus. He founded many churches and wrote the fourth Gospel and three epistles. The Book of Revelations is also attributed to him. He lived to an extreme old age, surviving all his fellow apostles, and died at Ephesus around 100 AD.
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Monday 31st October 2011 - Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Patrick, Auchinleck
The original church of 1867 was located near the miner’s rows of Birnieknowe. After they were demolished and the inhabitants moved into nearby Auchinleck, the church [with it’s adjacent school and convent] found itself in an isolated country location and many masses and services were held in the church hall in Sorn Road, Auchinleck. A new church was built alongside the hall and opened in 1964.
Another week had dawned, and Bridget Stakim from our neighbouring parish had died, so here I was, sitting in St Patrick’s sharing my thirty-first Mass with Bridget.
It was a beautiful Mass and a trip down memory lane for me as I thought back to my childhood. When Father Stephen said that yellow was Bridget’s favourite colour I was smiling to myself as I remembered Bridget bringing her sister Mary a potentilla shrub. It was a bright yellow and gave years of pleasure to Mary as she watched it grow.
My tired body is gaining strength and I’m thankful to God for the last two Masses.
St Patrick , Feast Day - March 17th
St Patrick of Ireland is one of the world’s most popular saints. Apostle of Ireland, born at Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton in Scotland in the year 387. Along with St Nicholas and St Valentine, the secular world shares our love for these saints.
Patrick’s parents were Romans, living in Britain in charge of the colonies. As a boy of 14 or so, he was captured during a raiding party and taken to Ireland as a slave to herd and tend sheep. Ireland at this time was a land of Druids and pagans.
Patrick learned the languages and practices of the people who held him. During his captivity, he turned to God in prayer. His captivity lasted till he was 20, when he escaped after having a dream from God in which he was told to leave Ireland by going to the coast. There he found sailors who took him back to Britain. In another dream the people of Ireland were calling out to him “We beg you holy youth, to come and walk among us once more”. He began his studies for the priesthood and was ordained by St Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre whom he had studied under for years. Later Patrick was ordained a Bishop and was sent to take the Gospel to Ireland. He began preaching throughout Ireland, converting many and building churches. He died at Saul, Downpatrick on 17th March 461, where he built his first church.
Patrick was a humble, pious, gentle, man, whose love and total devotion to and trust in God should be a shining example to each of us.
The original church of 1867 was located near the miner’s rows of Birnieknowe. After they were demolished and the inhabitants moved into nearby Auchinleck, the church [with it’s adjacent school and convent] found itself in an isolated country location and many masses and services were held in the church hall in Sorn Road, Auchinleck. A new church was built alongside the hall and opened in 1964.
Another week had dawned, and Bridget Stakim from our neighbouring parish had died, so here I was, sitting in St Patrick’s sharing my thirty-first Mass with Bridget.
It was a beautiful Mass and a trip down memory lane for me as I thought back to my childhood. When Father Stephen said that yellow was Bridget’s favourite colour I was smiling to myself as I remembered Bridget bringing her sister Mary a potentilla shrub. It was a bright yellow and gave years of pleasure to Mary as she watched it grow.
My tired body is gaining strength and I’m thankful to God for the last two Masses.
St Patrick , Feast Day - March 17th
St Patrick of Ireland is one of the world’s most popular saints. Apostle of Ireland, born at Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton in Scotland in the year 387. Along with St Nicholas and St Valentine, the secular world shares our love for these saints.
Patrick’s parents were Romans, living in Britain in charge of the colonies. As a boy of 14 or so, he was captured during a raiding party and taken to Ireland as a slave to herd and tend sheep. Ireland at this time was a land of Druids and pagans.
Patrick learned the languages and practices of the people who held him. During his captivity, he turned to God in prayer. His captivity lasted till he was 20, when he escaped after having a dream from God in which he was told to leave Ireland by going to the coast. There he found sailors who took him back to Britain. In another dream the people of Ireland were calling out to him “We beg you holy youth, to come and walk among us once more”. He began his studies for the priesthood and was ordained by St Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre whom he had studied under for years. Later Patrick was ordained a Bishop and was sent to take the Gospel to Ireland. He began preaching throughout Ireland, converting many and building churches. He died at Saul, Downpatrick on 17th March 461, where he built his first church.
Patrick was a humble, pious, gentle, man, whose love and total devotion to and trust in God should be a shining example to each of us.