And after the MAD Weekend, well literally the next day I left with the 7 other YAVs and Doug for our very first YAV retreat. So, the first day we left to head to Mayobridge, where we were staying. It was a really scenic drive and the sun was shining and there were plenty of sheep to see on the way so there wasn't much to complain about.
On our way there, we stopped in Armagh, which is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland, where the Roman Catholic and Anglican Archbishops reside. It is also very historic and a major destination on the trail of St. Patrick. While in Armagh we visited the Anglican St. Patrick's Cathedral and visited with Rev. Grace Clunie who is the Director of Celtic Spirituality.
She gave us a tour of the cathedral and explained different statues and aspects of Celtic Spirituality. I loved listening to her talk about Celtic Spirituality because I feel like it's a form of spirituality that I can really relate to and take and use myself. She also taught me a bit of Irish... however, I don't quite remember how to pronounce most of it. We also took part in a Celtic worship lead by Grace which was really great to experience.
Anglican St. Patrick's Cathedral
Anglican St. Patrick's Cathedral
Anglican St. Patrick's Cathedral (notice the Townsend)
Anglican St. Patrick's Cathedral
‘Tandragee idol’ Anglican St. Patrick's Cathedral
Anglican St. Patrick's Cathedral
Anglican St. Patrick's Cathedral
From that cathedral we moved on to visit the Catholic St. Patrick's Cathedral in Armagh and got to look around on our own. It was incredibly beautiful just like the other cathedral and felt very calm. I always really enjoy going to different churches and seeing the architecture and art as well. I also think it's a good experience to go to churches outside of your denomination because it opens your eyes to different ways of worship.
After Armagh we continued to Mayobridge to our incredible cute holiday home where we stayed.
Our wee house
The house was really nice and in the country (well Mayobridge is a country town.) We had a view of the Mourne Mountains and it was just fabulous. We unpacked our stuff and then headed out for a walk to get some fresh air. We didn't go on any particular path, but on the way we got to see more sheep ( I really love the sheep here, if you can't tell) and also pet some horses.
Below is a video taken by Tricia of our attempt to get the sheep to come over to us. However, we realized there was another fence before the one where we were standing at and so they couldn't actually reach us. Oh well, we had a lot of fun trying. The loud "Yay" in the video is me.
Horses from our walk
View from our walk
After our walk, we had dinner and shared in worship and devotional time. I can't really explain how great it was to just be with everyone and even if we weren't all talking or doing the same thing, there was a real sense of community then and the rest of our retreat. I spent some time reading and just hanging around. I was battling a cold (still kind of am) and so I tried to get some good sleep.
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