Photo was taken yesterday outside the Sacred Heart Church, Minane Bridge, Co.Cork
This was just a section of the large crowd that attended the 800th celebrations of the founding of Tracton Abbey. Thankfully the mist and drizzle cleared just in time for everyone to enjoy refreshments and a cuppa after Mass. (More in the Thought Below)
On This Day
On September 16th 1978 25,000 died in a 7.7 earthquake in Iran
Saint For Today
Today September 15th is the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. It is a feast that recognises that Mary the mother of Jesus was not shielded from the knocks of life. Spiritually she also knows and understands our sorrows and difficulties too.
Significance Of Today
Today is International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer. It is like a natural sunscreen and protects the Earth from the sun’s harmful rays. It is essentially a fragile shield of gas. and it plays a massive role in helping to preserve life on our planet. Today creates the awareness about how important it is to preserve the ozone layer from depletion.
Interesting Quote for Today
“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” ~ Confucius
Did you know that the 1987 Montreal Protocol phased out production of CFC’s and other substances that deplete ozone. These bans have had a big positive impact on the ozone layer.
My Latest Video 🎥
My latest video is called ‘My Beautiful Old Teapot – you are unique and special’.
Thought For The Week
Yesterday Tracton Abbey Parish, which is about 25km south of Cork city, celebrated the 800th anniversary of Tracton Abbey. It was 800 years ago on the shoreline at Ringabella, where the first Cistercian monks arrived from Wales. They located their monastery very close to Minane Bridge and lived here for many years.
Their influence is still felt today. One of the stones from the old monastery can be seen as you walk into the church at Minane Bridge today. To celebrate the occasion a special Mass was organised yesterday in Minane Bridge and the main celebrant was Bishop Fintan Gavin. Lots of planning went into the event by Tracton Abbey Parish Council. It was a lovely occasion and after Mass there was refreshments for everyone.
Tracton Abbey Parish is famous for its good land, its coastline with beautiful sea views and some of Cork’s well-known beaches such as Fountainstown, Robert’s Cove and Rocky Bay. Most importantly it has a lovely vibrant community, with a great community spirit and where you will find a welcome for everyone. Agriculture is of course the backbone of this rural parish.
Even though the Cistercian monks are long gone, it is good to remember their presence in Tracton. We can still learn so much from the life they lived. Our busy and modern world needs some of the basic principles they lived each day: prayer, work, study, hospitality and renewal. For the monks having balance was the key to happiness and to having a deep sense of meaning and purpose in life.
In the world we live in today, we are out of balance. Our lives are so busy today, there is little time for quiet prayer, for reflection, for reading a book, for a quiet walk, for relaxing mindfully and so on. It is all about finding the balance.
We congratulate Tracton Parish this week. We congratulate a close community, who are remembering an important part of their history, while also looking forward in hope. For all of us, we try our best to find balance in everything we do in life.
The Thought For The Week is updated each Monday
