Coracle news
The Way of a Pilgrim
Posted Sunday 11 November 2007
Canterbury Cathedral, 102 pilgrims
Peregrinatio
Let's start off our pilgrim stories with an old story, one that contrasts the the lost word peregrinatio with the standard word, pilgrimage, as described by Esther de Waal in her The Celtic Way of Prayer:
The word itself is almost untranslatable but its essence is caught in the ninth-century story of three Irishmen drifting over the sea from Ireland for seven days, in coracles without oars, coming ashore in Cornwall and then being brought to the court of King Alfred. When he asked them where they had come from and where they were going they answered that they’ stole away because we wanted for the love of God to be on pilgrimmage, we cared not where’
She concludes, Ready to go wherever the Spirit might take them, seeing themselves as ‘guests of the world’ what they are seeking is the place of their resurrection, the resurrected self, the true self in Christ which is for all of us our true home. May the light of your soul guide you. John O'Donohue, a blessing