"If there was no appearance of the pilgrim, he was given up for lost"

"If there was no appearance of the pilgrim, he was given up for lost"

Lough Derg--Pilgrimage--Magazine--Narrative

An account of Lough Derg from a late-nineteenth-century pilgrim.

Matthew Russell, 1834-1912

'Lough Derg: By a Recent Pilgrim', The Irish Monthly: A Magazine of General Literature Sixth Yearly Volume, p.27

M.H. Gill & Son, Dublin

1878

Sponsored and digitised by Google, Princeton University Library

Public domain

Article

English

Magazine Article

DD_0441

54.6083, -7.8714

https://archive.org/details/irishmonthlyvol01unkngoog/page/n5

"Before any person was permitted to enter this cavern, and few even of those who made the pilgrimage had the courage to enter it, it was necessary, in the first place, to get the permission of the bishop by letter addressed to the Prior, and the bishop always dissuaded the pilgrims from attempting it. Having presented the bishop's letter to the Prior, the latter, also dissuaded the adventurous individual, but if he persisted in his purpose, he had to remain five days in retreat ; then a Requiem Mass was celebrated at which he received the Holy Communion, and he finally made his will. After these somewhat terrifying preliminaries, if he was still determined to visit the cavern, the clergy, in solemn procession, accompanied him to the pit's mouth, singing the litanies, the Prior unlocked the door, the adventurer took holy water, signed himself with the Sign of the Cross, and entered the cave, which was closed after him. Next day the clergy went again to the pit's mouth ; if there was no appearance of the pilgrim, he was given up for lost, but if he did appear, he was taken out, the clergy with great joy conducted him to the church, where he spent fifteen days more in thanksgiving for his deliverance, which was almost regarded as a mark of predestination."

Article