County Mayo, Ireland
Before I was humiliated I was like a stone that lies in deep mud, and he who is mighty came and in his compassion raised me up and exalted me very high and placed me on the top of the wall.
—Saint Patrick (ca. A.D. 387–493), Christian missionary and bishop
When English missionary Patrick desired to fast and pray in solitude during the season of Lent in preparation for Easter, he climbed the cone-shaped mountain that rises from the verdant plain of County Mayo and stayed up there for forty days and nights. Legend says he banished the snakes from Ireland while on that mountain and, before descending, threw down a silver cup that turned black, symbolically gathering all the blackness from Ireland into that vessel.
If you feel the urge for penance and seek spiritual redemption and wholeness, walk Mount Croagh Patrick, Ireland’s most important holy site of pilgrimage. Travel to Westport by train, bus, or car from Dublin or Galway. Westport is 5 miles from the mountain.
Stop at each of the three marked stations on your ascent and pray, make declarations, or perform spiritual rituals as suggested on the signs. If your beliefs differ from Judeo-Christian, take time to honor your beliefs. At the summit, enter the small white chapel to reflect. Then ask forgiveness for any unkind thoughts and actions and forgive others to make things right with the Higher Power in your life.
Roughly a million people reach the top of Mount Croagh Patrick each year, with close to half that number climbing the mountain the last Sunday in July, some on their knees.