On Sunday, a group of us got up early and took a bus to Westport in County Mayo to take part in Reek Sunday. It is the annual pilgrimage up Croagh Pádraig, the hill that St. Patrick climbed barefoot in order to fast and pray for 40 days. The bus ride took about an hour and a half. I wish I could rent a car and spend a straight week driving through Ireland. Living in the middle of nowhere does not bother me at all because we have the most beautiful commutes. I am constantly in awe of what I see out of my window. We arrived around 10:30 and started the climb at around 11. A few people in the group were brave enough to try it barefoot. I wanted to try it but the rainy weather deterred me. I will definitely be returning and trying it barefoot at some point in my life. The climb itself started out wonderfully. I love the constant ascension of hiking and I was eager to get higher and higher. I kept having to turn back and wait to make sure I was still with my friends because I was getting so excited. The higher I got, the more beautiful the view became. While at first I was nervous that we would be climbing with approximately 20,000 other people, I was so thankful once I was up there to have everyone around me. It was so inspiring to see people of all ages and walks of life coming together and working through the same obstacles. The climb was fairly difficult but I was sure I could see the top in my sights. Little did I know that the place I thought was the summit was just a turning point. Beyond it, there was another smaller, but much steeper, incline to the top. We took a quick sandwich break so we could give our legs a rest and so we could enjoy the incredible view. I think it is the most beautiful view I have ever seen or will ever see. On one side, there was the incredibly blue water with islands scattered throughout. It looked like it belonged in the Caribbean. On the other side, there were other hills with as many shades of green as a paint sample book. I have never seen anything like it in my entire life. The following climb was much more difficult than what we had done thus far. With about a half hour left until the top, I realized that I had gone faster than everyone else and I was on my own. I was so focused on getting there. It got much steeper and rockier as we approached the top. I was struggling to not slip and start an avalanche. At one point, I looked back and had to catch my breath because I was so scared of how high I was. A kind man next to me gave me some words of encouragement and I continued to climb. While I had been saying some prayers and keeping St. Patrick in mind during the whole climb, the last 20 minutes were very reflective. It was amazing to think about how religion had moved people to come together and do this amazing thing to feel closer to God. There were people that looked as young as 7 and as old as 80 climbing. Only something truly spectacular could make these people able to accomplish this feat. I felt incredibly blessed to be a part of it.
I arrived at the top about ten minutes before the next mass. Even though being in the clouds obstructed any view of anything below, the climb still felt so worth it. The mass that was celebrated will live in my memory forever. It was incredible to stand among so many Catholics who had worked so hard to get to where we were. We listened and prayed together. In a perfect twist of events, the Gospel this week was the Sermon on the Mount. I feel like the Beatitudes perfectly encapsulate what it means to be a Catholic. During Communion, the fog cleared a bit and you could briefly see the beautiful view. After mass, the weather suddenly seemed to get a lot colder. It may have been that we weren’t exerting ourselves as much as before or that we did not have nearly enough layers on, but suddenly we were all freezing. We piled into a huge group hug to stay warm while we waited for some people to finish taking pictures by the sign and going to Confession. The line for Confession was inspiringly long. Before heading down, I had to get rid of the rock that I had carried. I had carried it from the very beginning and imagined putting all of the things I wanted to let go of inside of it. I had planned on throwing it off the top but once I got up there I realized that I wanted part of me to stay up there. I ended up leaving it on “Padráig’s Leaba,” or Patrick’s bed. I also grabbed a rock to take on the way down.
The climb down was easier physically but more difficult in that we were much more prone to slipping and falling. We finally got back down and relaxed for a bit before the bus came. We were all exhausted, but in the best way. I’m so proud of what we accomplished and what we experienced. I can’t wait to try it again!
