Sad that we’re approaching the end of this search for Holy Wells. It’s been really interesting, reading these regular accounts. Many highlights, but I particularly love the schoolchildren of the 1930s - my Irish Dad’s era. Thank you, Paul.
"It is simply that reminder that God is in all things living, including our landscape. A reminder that the saints still live. A reminder that the world is a much greater mystery than we can ever fathom. I’m an Orthodox Christian, and one reason for that is that the Christian East, unlike much of the West, never lost sight of this reality. God fills all things. Matter can be blessed. Prayer works. Nature sings to us hourly of the glories of its creator. The saints live. I can prove none of it, and yet I am sure it is true."
I never learned that those realities were not true as a Western Catholic Christian. Or to rephrase positively, I believe and was (apparently) taught all those things. Rhine mystics and all that.
The water still runs fresh even when covered by the flood. That is a very hopeful sentiment for Western Christianity because the flood is covering everything at the moment.
Reminds me of a favorite quote of mine from Fitzjames Stephen (paraphrase): Just because we're being swept away by the flood doesn't mean we have to sing Hallelujah to the river god.
Thank you Paul for sharing your pilgrimages to so many holy sites and wells. As a fellow Orthodox Christian, a big part of my journey was exploring the many early Irish Christian holy sites in and around my home county of Kerry. In this I was encouraged to do this by the remarkable Fr John Musther of eternal memory. Fr John based in Cumbria, was an Orthodox Christian priest, who was brought towards Orthodox Christianity by St Sophrony of Essex. Fr John laboriously and with great joy and enthusiasm created a database of early Christian sites in Ireland, including many holy wells.
Fr John Musther reposed in February 2023 having, through God's grace, established a thriving Orthodox Christian community and parish in the area of Cumbria he spent the latter days of his life. It was an honour to have met him, and it is a very nice to recall it was Fr John Musther who whilst staying with us here in Listowel, Co Kerry, blessed our house. Eternal Memory!
Sadly that labour of love, his Early Christian Ireland database has ceased to be readily available on the Internet. Thankfully, an Orthodox Christian called Elie pointed me in the direction of its continued presence on the "way back machine" a trove of archived websites. Most of the details are still there on the site, and it really is extraordinarily comprehensive, being the fruit of over two decades of regular visits in the summer months to Ireland by Fr John and his wife Jenny (Bega in Orthodoxy).
May I request that readers of the Abbey of Misrule say a prayer for, and to, Fr John. I am adding here his obituary and a beautiful short documentary made about him:- See https://youtu.be/Z5kXitpU14I?si=tL8dKAUElMhNaIeI
Lastly, (and this is a long shot, I know), do any of the more tech knowledgeable readers know how this database can be restored to a full presence on the Internet? It would be such a shame for all of these precise locational details and short histories of hundreds of early Christian sites in Ireland to be lost in a cyber black hole.
Thanks for this John. I had not heard of Fr John, or his database. What a labour of love. It would certainly be a very good thing if somebody tech-minded could resurrect this. Are there any readers out there who could volunteer?
Looks like Fr John's church is very near where I used to live in Cumbria too.
I’ve gotten used to reading well stories every Sunday and can’t believe there’s just one left. Thank you for sharing these journeys. I started reading your Substack because of the perceptive essays into dark complicated things. These well visits are pretty much the opposite of that and yet they cover a breadth of history and there is something profound about returning to the well (s).
"I’m an Orthodox Christian, and one reason for that is that the Christian East, unlike much of the West, never lost sight of this reality. God fills all things. Matter can be blessed. Prayer works. Nature sings to us hourly of the glories of its creator. The saints live. I can prove none of it, and yet I am sure it is true."
Your series on 50 holy wells is a great reminder of the life giving nature of Christianity. In spite of the Church's great efforts to keep Christians ignorant for so many centuries, the few things that were allowed to Christians--the holy wells, the icons, the prayers, the saints, and the church structures themselves--so captured their imaginations that they have preserved them long after the Church left them unsupported officially and let then fall into disrepair. It's not just the saints that still live, it's the symbols of faith that helps the faithful keep the flames from being extinguished by the cares of the world. The life giving waters continue to to bubble forth long after the lights of the priesthood have gone out.
Out of curiosity, which Church was it that kept Christians ignorant, as you say? I cant imagine that you are speaking of the Orthodox church whose goal has been to enlighten rather than to darken humanity. Maybe Catholicism??
Prior to the Reformation few outside the clergy were educated, none by the church. The same can be said even in this day about the educated in general.
Christians are directly responsible for teaching common people to read. Most of the Universities and Hospitals were founded by Christians. The teaching Cross thing is cool and a unique way to minister to people but being able to read for oneself is a blessing.
The Irish Golden Age lasted for roughly 400 years and then faded away. Surely, those living through it thought it would last forever, probably similar to how we view our curent Rational, Scientific and Mechanistic Age, which arguably kicked off about 400 years ago, as stable and permanent. But it too will end, as its limitations become apparent and cultural fatigue sets in. I think it is premature to announce that we are at the end our age, but it does seem to be fraying a bit. And while we may not at the end, nor even close, surely we are at the beginning of the end. Slowly but inevitably, for reasons which may become clearer as the downward slide continues and the bill for our profligacy becomes due, the old stories and belief systems will calcify, and the towers will crumble. Well, it was a good run, and we made a lot of cool stuff. Now, we must begin to build something new, and the question is how. Somehow, I don't think monasteries are going to bail us out this time. I actually think places like Substack might the key to a renewal. As I scroll around, I am amazed by the depth and insight of so many writers who, while attacking problems from different angles, all seem to be asking much the same thing: Well, here we are, what is to be done now? I am very confident that new solutions will emerge in due time, and I am pretty sure they will involve the spiritual. East and West, the green shoots of a new spiritual flowering are already beginning to appear, after being dormant for centuries. While the numbers may not be there yet, I believe I see an enthusiasm that didn't exist even 20 years ago. I may not live to see its outcome, but I am grateful to have seen the beginning of something new, and I am very hopeful for the future.
This well series has been a good way for me to worship on Sunday, albeit over the Internet, and without leaving my unbeliever husband too long to his own resources. Thank you, Paul.
I'm looking forward to the upcoming (fresh) water of life...
Must agree whole heartedly with this very real need of the reminder of God you have touched upon.
It reminds me (sorry) of the 1983 Templeton Prize acceptance address by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn whereby he stated an observation pertinent to our own times as well when he said:
"But if I were asked today to formulate as concisely as possible the main cause of the ruinous revolution that swallowed up some 60 million of our people, I could not put it more accurately than to repeat: 'Men have forgotten God; that's why all this has happened'"
“God fills all things. Matter can be blessed. Prayer works.”
…but I think we’re talking about different Gods.
Mine doesn’t inhabit man-made buildings, or expect me to repeat words written by men from years ago, or try to control me by scaring the sh*t out of me by threatening me about what might or might not happen to me when I die if I don’t do what HE tells me to do.
So yeah, there is a mysterious power out there amongst the trees and rivers and mountains, but I can’t see any connection with that and a man-made formulaic religion.
If 'your God' does indeed fill all things, then he presumably does 'inhabit man-made buildings'?
Every Christian, of course, knows also that God is not to be confined in a building. That was a point that Christ himself made. But people gather in buildings to worship. To create community. To sing the praises of the creator and to taste his blood and body. And that is a beautiful thing, which has enriched my life without telling. I can't say how grateful I am to have been led to it. I spent years on the outside inventing my own religion. Thank God that's over.
I don't know what your objection is to 'repeating words written by men from years ago' (I quite like Shakespeare and Wordsworth myself) but - as I also felt when practicing Buddhism - I am grateful that the words of the wise have been preserved and passed down to me, because I could certainly not write the equivalent myself. This is why I value tradition.
I am sorry if you have been controlled by people trying to scare you. That has never happened to me in church.
I think really, those of us who can actually feel it, are connecting with the same God. Regardless of whether it’s via an organised religion or not. To me it’s just a choice of the path that feels right to you.
I can feel something very strongly when I’m out in nature, and yes Paul, sometimes even in a church! 😁. I’ve felt it too at Avebury, and in a mosque.
Also, when I’ve felt I had nowhere else to turn, I’ve asked for help, and it has come, although not always in the way I was expecting!
I’m very happy outside ‘inventing my own religion’ 😊
I’m not big on mass worship, I value solitude a lot more than doing stuff in a big community.
I'm more of a solitary myself, by nature. Certainly that connection can be found much more easily in solitude. It's one reason my idea of a good time is wandering off to obscure holy wells in the mountains ...
As for 'each to their own', though - well, that depends on whether you think God intervened in human history at one particular point, and in doing so, changed it. If you do - and I do - then you have to follow that to where it leads.
Even without that though, I find immense value in the wisdom of the ages. I believe tradition exists not to 'control' us, but to guide us, and to keep us from falling into the errors of self-will and delusion. These are errors I am especially prone to!
Sad that we’re approaching the end of this search for Holy Wells. It’s been really interesting, reading these regular accounts. Many highlights, but I particularly love the schoolchildren of the 1930s - my Irish Dad’s era. Thank you, Paul.
Wonderful!
And this is beautiful:
"It is simply that reminder that God is in all things living, including our landscape. A reminder that the saints still live. A reminder that the world is a much greater mystery than we can ever fathom. I’m an Orthodox Christian, and one reason for that is that the Christian East, unlike much of the West, never lost sight of this reality. God fills all things. Matter can be blessed. Prayer works. Nature sings to us hourly of the glories of its creator. The saints live. I can prove none of it, and yet I am sure it is true."
I agree. Thank you.
I never learned that those realities were not true as a Western Catholic Christian. Or to rephrase positively, I believe and was (apparently) taught all those things. Rhine mystics and all that.
Our ancient faith shares many thingd
That is something, I think every Christian can affirm, even if we differ on other matters. Our God lives, and He is not silent.
The water still runs fresh even when covered by the flood. That is a very hopeful sentiment for Western Christianity because the flood is covering everything at the moment.
Reminds me of a favorite quote of mine from Fitzjames Stephen (paraphrase): Just because we're being swept away by the flood doesn't mean we have to sing Hallelujah to the river god.
“Sewn into the landscape.”
Thank you Paul for sharing your pilgrimages to so many holy sites and wells. As a fellow Orthodox Christian, a big part of my journey was exploring the many early Irish Christian holy sites in and around my home county of Kerry. In this I was encouraged to do this by the remarkable Fr John Musther of eternal memory. Fr John based in Cumbria, was an Orthodox Christian priest, who was brought towards Orthodox Christianity by St Sophrony of Essex. Fr John laboriously and with great joy and enthusiasm created a database of early Christian sites in Ireland, including many holy wells.
Fr John Musther reposed in February 2023 having, through God's grace, established a thriving Orthodox Christian community and parish in the area of Cumbria he spent the latter days of his life. It was an honour to have met him, and it is a very nice to recall it was Fr John Musther who whilst staying with us here in Listowel, Co Kerry, blessed our house. Eternal Memory!
Sadly that labour of love, his Early Christian Ireland database has ceased to be readily available on the Internet. Thankfully, an Orthodox Christian called Elie pointed me in the direction of its continued presence on the "way back machine" a trove of archived websites. Most of the details are still there on the site, and it really is extraordinarily comprehensive, being the fruit of over two decades of regular visits in the summer months to Ireland by Fr John and his wife Jenny (Bega in Orthodoxy).
May I request that readers of the Abbey of Misrule say a prayer for, and to, Fr John. I am adding here his obituary and a beautiful short documentary made about him:- See https://youtu.be/Z5kXitpU14I?si=tL8dKAUElMhNaIeI
Fr John's obituary issued by his Deanery https://thyateira-deanery.uk/node/436
The link to the way back machine archived version of Fr John's early Christian Ireland database database is on this link. https://web.archive.org/web/20230331150432/https://www.earlychristianireland.net/contributors/
Lastly, (and this is a long shot, I know), do any of the more tech knowledgeable readers know how this database can be restored to a full presence on the Internet? It would be such a shame for all of these precise locational details and short histories of hundreds of early Christian sites in Ireland to be lost in a cyber black hole.
Wonderful link to Early Christian Ireland.net on the web.archive. This will keep me fascinated for many months. Thanks.
Thanks for this John. I had not heard of Fr John, or his database. What a labour of love. It would certainly be a very good thing if somebody tech-minded could resurrect this. Are there any readers out there who could volunteer?
Looks like Fr John's church is very near where I used to live in Cumbria too.
Saints alive as they say!😊👍 It has all been unexpected. Thank you.
I’ve gotten used to reading well stories every Sunday and can’t believe there’s just one left. Thank you for sharing these journeys. I started reading your Substack because of the perceptive essays into dark complicated things. These well visits are pretty much the opposite of that and yet they cover a breadth of history and there is something profound about returning to the well (s).
I will miss the simple joy of these stories.
Very beautiful...Thank you for doing this series . The spirit is alive in the land.
"I’m an Orthodox Christian, and one reason for that is that the Christian East, unlike much of the West, never lost sight of this reality. God fills all things. Matter can be blessed. Prayer works. Nature sings to us hourly of the glories of its creator. The saints live. I can prove none of it, and yet I am sure it is true."
Your series on 50 holy wells is a great reminder of the life giving nature of Christianity. In spite of the Church's great efforts to keep Christians ignorant for so many centuries, the few things that were allowed to Christians--the holy wells, the icons, the prayers, the saints, and the church structures themselves--so captured their imaginations that they have preserved them long after the Church left them unsupported officially and let then fall into disrepair. It's not just the saints that still live, it's the symbols of faith that helps the faithful keep the flames from being extinguished by the cares of the world. The life giving waters continue to to bubble forth long after the lights of the priesthood have gone out.
Out of curiosity, which Church was it that kept Christians ignorant, as you say? I cant imagine that you are speaking of the Orthodox church whose goal has been to enlighten rather than to darken humanity. Maybe Catholicism??
Prior to the Reformation few outside the clergy were educated, none by the church. The same can be said even in this day about the educated in general.
Christians are directly responsible for teaching common people to read. Most of the Universities and Hospitals were founded by Christians. The teaching Cross thing is cool and a unique way to minister to people but being able to read for oneself is a blessing.
Quite true.
I have read that it was not until about 1850 that the UK had as many schools as it did when Henry dissolved the monasteries.
The Irish Golden Age lasted for roughly 400 years and then faded away. Surely, those living through it thought it would last forever, probably similar to how we view our curent Rational, Scientific and Mechanistic Age, which arguably kicked off about 400 years ago, as stable and permanent. But it too will end, as its limitations become apparent and cultural fatigue sets in. I think it is premature to announce that we are at the end our age, but it does seem to be fraying a bit. And while we may not at the end, nor even close, surely we are at the beginning of the end. Slowly but inevitably, for reasons which may become clearer as the downward slide continues and the bill for our profligacy becomes due, the old stories and belief systems will calcify, and the towers will crumble. Well, it was a good run, and we made a lot of cool stuff. Now, we must begin to build something new, and the question is how. Somehow, I don't think monasteries are going to bail us out this time. I actually think places like Substack might the key to a renewal. As I scroll around, I am amazed by the depth and insight of so many writers who, while attacking problems from different angles, all seem to be asking much the same thing: Well, here we are, what is to be done now? I am very confident that new solutions will emerge in due time, and I am pretty sure they will involve the spiritual. East and West, the green shoots of a new spiritual flowering are already beginning to appear, after being dormant for centuries. While the numbers may not be there yet, I believe I see an enthusiasm that didn't exist even 20 years ago. I may not live to see its outcome, but I am grateful to have seen the beginning of something new, and I am very hopeful for the future.
Thanks for this. It's a very good summary and I feel the same way.
This well series has been a good way for me to worship on Sunday, albeit over the Internet, and without leaving my unbeliever husband too long to his own resources. Thank you, Paul.
I'm looking forward to the upcoming (fresh) water of life...
Please please please turn this series into a book!
Must agree whole heartedly with this very real need of the reminder of God you have touched upon.
It reminds me (sorry) of the 1983 Templeton Prize acceptance address by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn whereby he stated an observation pertinent to our own times as well when he said:
"But if I were asked today to formulate as concisely as possible the main cause of the ruinous revolution that swallowed up some 60 million of our people, I could not put it more accurately than to repeat: 'Men have forgotten God; that's why all this has happened'"
“Waiting until the tourists had turned the other way to take photos of the round tower, I vaulted the stone wall and headed down towards the Shannon.”
I loved that image! A true “spiritual athlete”!
I totally agree with this..
“God fills all things. Matter can be blessed. Prayer works.”
…but I think we’re talking about different Gods.
Mine doesn’t inhabit man-made buildings, or expect me to repeat words written by men from years ago, or try to control me by scaring the sh*t out of me by threatening me about what might or might not happen to me when I die if I don’t do what HE tells me to do.
So yeah, there is a mysterious power out there amongst the trees and rivers and mountains, but I can’t see any connection with that and a man-made formulaic religion.
If 'your God' does indeed fill all things, then he presumably does 'inhabit man-made buildings'?
Every Christian, of course, knows also that God is not to be confined in a building. That was a point that Christ himself made. But people gather in buildings to worship. To create community. To sing the praises of the creator and to taste his blood and body. And that is a beautiful thing, which has enriched my life without telling. I can't say how grateful I am to have been led to it. I spent years on the outside inventing my own religion. Thank God that's over.
I don't know what your objection is to 'repeating words written by men from years ago' (I quite like Shakespeare and Wordsworth myself) but - as I also felt when practicing Buddhism - I am grateful that the words of the wise have been preserved and passed down to me, because I could certainly not write the equivalent myself. This is why I value tradition.
I am sorry if you have been controlled by people trying to scare you. That has never happened to me in church.
I think really, those of us who can actually feel it, are connecting with the same God. Regardless of whether it’s via an organised religion or not. To me it’s just a choice of the path that feels right to you.
I can feel something very strongly when I’m out in nature, and yes Paul, sometimes even in a church! 😁. I’ve felt it too at Avebury, and in a mosque.
Also, when I’ve felt I had nowhere else to turn, I’ve asked for help, and it has come, although not always in the way I was expecting!
I’m very happy outside ‘inventing my own religion’ 😊
I’m not big on mass worship, I value solitude a lot more than doing stuff in a big community.
Like I said, I think it’s each to their own.
I'm more of a solitary myself, by nature. Certainly that connection can be found much more easily in solitude. It's one reason my idea of a good time is wandering off to obscure holy wells in the mountains ...
As for 'each to their own', though - well, that depends on whether you think God intervened in human history at one particular point, and in doing so, changed it. If you do - and I do - then you have to follow that to where it leads.
Even without that though, I find immense value in the wisdom of the ages. I believe tradition exists not to 'control' us, but to guide us, and to keep us from falling into the errors of self-will and delusion. These are errors I am especially prone to!