Join Culture Honey Touring
THIS Friday, St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th, 2023 at 10am PST via Zoom
for a special talk:
“The Invitation of the Celtic Way”
featuring the Rev. Dr. Sharon Graff
and Culture Honey Touring Founder and Guide, Georgia Sanders
Celtic Cross, St Brigid’s Cathedral, Kildare, Ireland, Photo Credit: Georgia Sanders
*a look at the three patron saints of Ireland, St Patrick, St Brigid, and St Columba
*the significance of the threshold of Spring Equinox
*the importance of pilgrimage in the Celtic mindset
*a tiny prayer ritual to close out our time
St Patrick Statue Hill of Tara, Photo Credit: Georgia Sanders
The statue of St Patrick dressed in a Bishops distinction looks over the famous Hill of Tara where the kings of Ireland are buried and legend holds Patrick winning over the most powerful chief in Ireland…Patrick is depicted holding a shamrock in his right hand, where, according to legend, he used it to explain the Trinity to the people of Ireland.
Born in 385 AD, Patrick has become the most well known of the Irish saints. His story is compelling; captured from his home by pirates when he was a teenager and sold into slavery in Ireland, Patrick escaped only to return years later in answer to what he believed was God’s call to bring the gospel to his former captures. Thru legend and even myth, Patrick is Ireland’s most famous Apostle and yet, in Ireland three are revered…St Patrick, St Columba, and especially beloved, the female saint, St Brigid.
St Brigid’s Cathedral Stained Glass, Kildare, Ireland, Photo Credit: Georgia Sanders
From 1896, this set of stained glass windows from St Brigid’s Cathedral in Kildare, Ireland depict St Patrick on the left, St Brigid in the centre, and St Columba on the right…
The number of three, reflected in the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, is key in Celtic thought. Father Michael Rodgers, seen below with a Celtic Way Pilgrimage guest during our Sacred Ireland pilgrimage, encouraged us to remember, “three-in-one and one-in-three”….
Father Michael Rodgers Imparts Wisdom @ Glendalough, Photo Credit: Georgia Sanders
The Monday following this St Patrick’s day is Spring Equinox, a point of balance in earth’s yearly cycle. With spring and Easter right around the corner, we will anticipate this threshold to “newness” with eagerness!
“There is a power that has been since all eternity, and that force and potentiality is green!”
~ Hildegard of Bingen nearly 1000 years ago
Threshold to St Brigid’s Well, Kildare, Ireland, Photo Credit: Georgia Sanders
“It is wise in your own life to be able to recognize and acknowledge the key thresholds; to take your time; to feel all the varieties of presence that accrue there; to listen inward with complete attention until you hear the inner voice calling you forward. The time has come to cross.”
Thresholds, excerpt from the book, To Bless the Space Between Us
~ by John O’Donohue
Pilgrimage Guide, Georgia Sanders, at the labyrinth outside St Kevin’s Parish in Glendalough, Ireland…
“…departure…taking up the pilgrim’s staff, to ask in unknown places for the path where God knows we are waiting.”
~ Rilke’s Book of Hours: Love Poems to God
And finally we will spend some moments on the central sacrament of pilgrimage in regard to it’s importance in the soul’s care and the pursuit of clarity in life. We will end with a simple ritual and prayer to seal our time together, led by Culture Honey Touring Founder and Guide, Georgia Sanders.
We hope that many of you will join our small group this coming Friday, St Patrick’s Day, 2023 via Zoom! For more information about the Culture Honey Touring Celtic Way Pilgrimages, please visit:
