Verona

When Maureen first mooted the idea of me joining her for part of the Italian trip, I was uncharacteristically slow on the uptake.  I’m so, so glad though that I did eventually take her up on the idea.   What a wonderful few days!

Verona provided a beautiful backdrop to long heart-to-hearts, musings and culinary delights.  The evening spent at the opera (La Traviata) was amazing – sitting on the stone steps (cushions duly hired) of the ancient amphitheatre as the sun went down over a feast of music and creativity was awesome in the truest sense of the word.  Then there was the day trip to stunning Lake Garda – all in the company of three great women: Moe, her Swedish friend Martina and Martina’s delightful baby, Juni.

Pilgrimage to St. Ninian’s Cave

June saw 19 of us (Helpers and friends) undertake a walking pilgrimage from Newton Stewart to St. Ninian’s Cave.  The 40 miles was spread over five days, and the ages spread from 28 – 78.  The scenery, sharing and solidarity made it a week to remember – as did the sing-alongs and laughs of the evenings – inevitable with 19 of us in one caravan for dinner!

On reaching St. Ninian’s cave, after a day of walking in the hot sunshine, we were as glad of the cool shade as much as spiritual heritage!  We did however locate a suitable stone, covered it with St. Ninian’s tartan and shared the most beautiful Mass – complete with birds attending their nests above and the sound of the sea lapping beside us.  

Sri Lanka Links

In May, Bruno Diaz came to stay for the weekend.  Cath, Chris and I taught Bruno in Sri Lanka and he is now studying in Brighton.  The loyalty of our Sri Lankan friends never ceases to amaze me- that we should ne so fondly remembered after all this time!  But many people do stay in touch and it was great to be able to offer return hospitality and share my city with Bruno.  Much fun was had – we even honoured Bruno’s request to visit Anfield – he humoured us by having a photo at Goodison too, but was clearly unimpressed!

On the Monday Bruno and I spent the morning at De La Salle High School in St. Helens – a nice symmetry, as it was Lasallian Developing World Projects that first took us to Sri Lanka and the De La Salle brothers who offered us such warm hospitality. 

Lindisfarne

In April I organised a parish trip to the North East.   It was a real success – parishioners came together socially, we had a hilarious tour guide possessed of the Irish gift of the blarney (Clare Bowles of local radio fame), the weather was beautiful and our itinerary of Durham, Lindisfarne, and Alnwick Garden was great.  Lindisfarne was the highlight for me – stunningly beautiful and somehow exuding a real sense of peace that befits its name ‘Holy Island’.  We had a wonderfully informal outdoor Mass sitting round the statue of St. Aidan next to Lindisfarne priory – nice to feel our Celtic roots!

Paris

In September I started my candidacy with the Helpers of the Holy Souls.  In April, as part of this, I spent a week in Paris at the ‘Maison Mère’- La Barouillère.  It was so good to visit the places associated with Mary of Providence, to learn a bit of the history, rummage in the archives, marvel at the audacity of these women and be inspired by the charism as it continues today.  It was also great to meet Helpers form other provinces – even if my limited French pretty much evaded me!  

The perks of being able to wander round beautiful Paris in glorious weather, sustained by delicious food and wine should perhaps also be mentioned!

Operation Catch Up

I started this blog mid way through a sabbatical year – a year of discovery.  Turns out the discovery is ongoing...  Also turns out that I quite liked blogging, not least to have an account for myself.  So, I’m starting a little catch up, focussing on the lovely things.  The less-than-lovely are no doubt just as important but don’t need airing!