Glenstal Abbey

Sunday morning we went to church for the first time since being in Ireland at Glenstal Abbey. It was, from what I gathered, a very traditional catholic mass and since I am Lutheran, it was different for me but I still really enjoyed going! After mass Brother Colman told us a little bit about the history of the abbey. Before it was an abbey it was a castle owned by the Barrington family so it looks really cool. Glenstal Abbey is a Benediction monastery just like CSB/SJU!

Front of Glenstal Abbey

Inside the chapel

Next, Brother Patrick took us to a chapel that is filled with Icons from Russia. It was a tiny, cold, slightly creepy room shaped like a cross. Filled with 15 Bennies and Johnnies, our two advisors, and Brother Patrick, it was still a powerful experience. Brother Patrick told us stories of how the icons came to be in their possession and how they were majestically put on display and opened to the public. One year after they were put on display, the Berlin wall came down and ten years after the chapel opened Northern Ireland and Ireland signed the Belfast agreement. The icons were against a beautiful blue wall that could only be seen when we took a photo because it was very dark in the chapel. The icon that intrigued me the most was the Healing Icon. There have been numerous people healed by the Healing Icon and four sets of twins conceived after the mothers prayed to the icon. Brother Patrick was telling us about how powerful the icons are and I was not very familiar with any of this so I asked a lot of questions. One thing he told me about the Healing Icon was that people aren’t necessarily healed by the icon but rather they have been praying for a long time before and they continue to pray about their troubles after they leave. He said sometimes they learn to accept their illness and that is a kind of healing.

Healing Icon

Brother Patrick showing us an icon calendar

Afterwards we all took a walk to the guesthouse and then we had a fabulous lunch of salmon, potatoes, vegetables, and passion fruit and mango cheesecake. Then we took a walking tour of the grounds where a monk who was a tree expert showed us all the different trees at Glenstal Abbey.

After we left the abbey, we went to a pub called Crokes where we watched Galway vs. Kilkenny in the All-Ireland Hurling Finals which they tied and the winner will be determined in two weeks when they play each other again. The entire county of Galway supports the hurling team 150%. Every store and most of the houses have flags displayed in support of their team! 

Go Gaillimh!