Living in area known for its orchards we were drawn to our house by its apple trees.
One of the other attractions was its outhouse which is a popular feature of houses in Ireland.
I duly named it the Wee Apple and turned into a bar.
I promptly set up a grotto too which I christened The Wee Chapel.
All of which is my roundabout way of saying that prayer houses don’t have to be as grand as St Paul’s Basilica.
Any church you go into in Italy of course will beckon you in to pray.
This is what it’s all about… https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/08/04/see-rome-on-e50/.
And https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/small-roads-lead-to-rome/.
And it’s not just us Catholics that have the best churches, as we’d like to think. Here’s the Frauenkirche in Dresden… https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/dresdens-renaissance-martin-luther/,
And the Muslims have their Blue Mosque in Istanbul https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/wham-bam-thank-you-hamam/.
We really do find God in the smallest of things and the quietest of places, in nature and in us.
Catholic priests, who tried to say Mass during the days of Henry VIII and then again under Cromwell, would often find a hidden room in an estate.
While in Ireland it was a Mass rock.
For Muslims a makeshift prayer place can be set up anywhere.
With a few stones placed in the right direction… towards Mecca.
As I found in Wabi Rum in Jordan this year https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/petra-jordan-jesus-and-the-sands-of-time/.
The Blue Cross
The reason why I’m talking about my Wee Chapel this week is because I have come back with more trinkets from my latest pilgrimage.
Of course I was falling over holy paraphernalia in Medjugorje https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/10/20/give-us-this-day-confessions-and-medjugorje/.
Now Our Lady and the Blue Cross will be taking up residence in my Wee Chapel.
Which means that when I’m out picking up the apples I will say a wee prayer as I pass.
Me picking up apples?
Now The Scary One really will consider that a miracle!
