John Cooney: Wrath of elements cannot keep devoted from reaching summit

IT takes more than bad weather to turn away a dedicated pilgrim.

Yesterday was one of the worst days in the recent history of Reek Sunday.

But one of the best for the numbers who turned out to brave the harsh conditions to get to the top of Croagh Patrick.

They climbed and climbed in spite of the chilly and wet conditions, with many penitents wondering if even the deity was conspiring with the treacherous elements.

As a veteran reporter of the annual Reek Sunday pilgrimage, it seemed to me as if the wrath of God was being vented on the church's mountain militants for increasingly secular Ireland's abandonment of the tabernacle.

From before dawn, the vanguard of pilgrims had begun the assault of Croagh Patrick in the footsteps of Ireland's national saint who, in the year 441, spent 40 days and nights fasting on the summit.

Enshrouded in mist and cloud at the summit, the early morning pilgrims at the 8am Mass shivered in the pre-dawn freezing cold while following the 1,500-year-old Christian tradition.

A boy named Cahal tied a lamp around his red hoodie to illuminate his way in the dark

As the early bird pilgrims were coming down the slopes, others, some in their bare feet, were navigating their way upwards along slippery rocks and mud slides with the help of sticks.

Young and old stoically endured aching pains as they offered up their sufferings as penance for their own sins or for special prayerful intentions for loved ones.

A delighted Leanne Beirne (12), from Longford, reached the top bare-footed for a special intention.

A bereaved father who had travelled a long distance to Mayo said he felt it worthwhile because he had felt a spiritual reconnection with his two dead sons.

Tom Maloney, from Limerick, said he had come to pray for his two sons, one who had been murdered and the other who had been involved in a tragic accident.

"I was thinking of them all the way up," said Mr Maloney. "I felt more close to them as soon as I got to the top."

Padraig O Duinn, from Cork, who stopped at a rest spot to chat with Sylvia McDonald from Carrickmines, Co Dublin, said he found strength in the knowledge that previous generations of pilgrims had endured the climb.

The practice of saying prayers for special intentions got the blessing of Archbishop of Tuam Michael Neary. "Every pilgrim climbing the mountain came for a particular intention," he said. "I respect that, I would want to support and encourage them in that."

At the principal 10.30am Mass, the archbishop told the pilgrims the Catholic faith was never more important than at a time of much doubt, uncertainty and concern for the future.

Remembering the piety of his 83-year-old mother who died recently, the archbishop spoke of maintaining the faith that had kept the tradition alive through many difficult centuries.

In atrocious conditions, the faithful tried to live up to the good bishop's counsel of perfection.

SIC: II