Lighting White Candles In Ireland
 

Toward the end of our journey in Ireland,
I find myself wandering into churches.
In Galway, where discoverer Christopher Columbus is said to have
worshiped,
there’s Christ’s Collegiate Church.
At a side altar, I discover a Zen Peace Garden with smooth stones and
silky sand.
I kneel and pray for peace
in this country,
In the Dafur Region of the Sudan where genocide is occurring,
and for peace within my heart.
As I rise to leave,
a man rushes down the center aisle and begins to play beautiful,
melodious music on the organ, which floats through this ancient church.

In the picturesque village of Sneem,
Where many artists come,
I leave Quill’s Store with its tempting laces, linens, woolens and
Celtic jewelry, and the warm fire and food in the local pub.
Around a corner on a side street, I find the Church of St.
Michael
With its Celtic cross in front surrounded with holly and blooming white
and lavender heather.
Inside the wind howls savagely around this sanctuary.
I light my white votive candle.

In Killarney, on our last morning there, I leave my friends, my
favorite haunt: Ireland’s bookstores, and a bakery filled with the melt-
in your-mouth scones.
I walk 20 minutes to St. Mary’s Cathedral- a magnificent edifice, and a
tribute to what community really means.
Started in 1842, the Irish members here stopped building this cathedral
during the potato famine to house the desolate in whatever structure
they had in place and to feed the starving.
I belong to a faith community like that (which reaches out to the
needy) which was started by Irish immigrants, also in 1842, in the
United States, in Hales Corners, Wisconsin. Its name is St. Mary’s
Faith Community.
I marvel at the coincidence I find here, thousands of miles from home,
and I light my white candle.
Finally, in Adare (Adar th a), which is said to be the prettiest
village in Ireland with its thatched roof cottages, I discover my
favorite church: Holy Trinity Abbey.
It began as a monastery in 1230.
After a wedding party leaves the church, I step inside and see white
votive lights twinkling near the window seals.
On the altar, fragrant white, wedding roses lie interspersed with
bright, red berries.
Golden angels surround this altar.
And at a side altar I see the prettiest and most unique votive candle setting:
A heart shaped frame carefully holds the tiny, luminous white candles.
This time I don’t strike a match to light my candle.
It’s magic.
I drop my coins in the box, press a red button and behold, my candle
flickers with radiant light.
Near these glowing candles is one of the small signs,
Present in most Irish churches, which have carried me along on this
spiritual journey.
It reads, in part," "to light a candle warms one’s heart and serves as
a beacon to guide one in life."
That is why I light white candles in Ireland.