Lough Derg welcome pilgrims back on Station Island

The Lough Derg team are delighted to welcome pilgrims back on Station Island for the first time in two years. 

On May 1, the Lough Derg team welcomed pilgrims back on the Island outside Pettigo for the One Day Retreats programme. This follows several weeks of retreat experiences for more than 500 youngsters preparing for their celebration of Confirmation.

Hundreds at March for Life event in Bundoran

"We owe it to mothers and their unborn babies to make sure that abortion is never normalised in our society"

Preparations are well underway to welcome pilgrims to the island for the Three Day Pilgrimage season which takes place from June 1 until August 15. 

In recent years before the pandemic, over 10,000 pilgrims would make their annual pilgrimage or retreat on Lough Derg during the summer months, and after the two year closure Prior Fr La Flynn is delighted to see pilgrims happily return to Lough Derg: “Our new season is now well and truly launched. This year, the theme of our One Day Retreats experience was based on three words: Pilgrimage, Presence, and Prayer. We believe these words sum up the thrust of the Lough Derg experience, both for One Day retreatants and for those who will come for the Three Day Pilgrimage beginning shortly, in June.

"These words evoke so much of what Lough Derg holds for those who come to us here to find God – or to be found by God. The memory of St Patrick is inescapable in this place. The smiling faces of pilgrims who have visited us already this month seem to suggest that Lough Derg can still offer them a real sense that God is on their side.”

Described a few years back as the 'Ironman of Pilgrimages,' the Lough Derg Three Day Pilgrimage offers a special opportunity to take time out and experience the embrace of the deep love and mercy of God. Pilgrims undertake the pilgrimage programme of prayer and quiet reflection in bare feet, keeping vigil for 24 hours and maintaining a fast from the midnight prior to their arrival, with one simple Lough Derg meal each day, in this way leaving themselves personally open to experience God’s presence to them in the unique spiritual atmosphere which pervades the out-of-the-way location of the Island. 

A Caravan, Camping, and Campervan seminar to take place on Tuesday morning

Findings from a study on this sector will be revealed

The pilgrimage follows a centuries-old pattern prayer. Details of the prescribed ‘Station Prayer’ and liturgy timetable are available to pilgrims on arrival. Advance booking is strongly recommended.

Fr La said: “This is the year for anyone who has always thought about visiting Lough Derg, or who has had the Three Day Pilgrimage on their ‘bucket-list’, to come and see what it is all about. It is an opportunity for those who particularly feel the need to ‘switch off’.  For others it may perhaps be a chance to reconnect with God. Our boats are ready to welcome pilgrims on board, no matter where their spiritual journey has taken them.”

Speaking before the pandemic one pilgrim said: “Lough Derg is a special place, a hidden treasure. It is pure and untarnished. It is a place of beauty and rhythm, which provides sanctuary from much of the slavery of modern living – no mobile phones, no Wi-Fi, no TV, just the sounds of the creatures of nature, the lapping of the lake water, and buildings and spaces which nourish the spirit.”

Information for booking a One Day Retreat, Three Day Pilgrimage, the Pilgrim Path Loughshore Pilgrimage and organised parish group pilgrimages and visits are available widely at parish level and from www.loughderg.org, email info@loughderg.org, tel 00353 (0) 71 9861518.