Evening star., 1909-09-03

Four Years Ago.
There is ample evidence Of the very
ancient character Of this pilgrimage to
Croagh Patrick. In the annals OF the
Vatican there is testimony Of two priests
who in 1856 visited In devout pilgrimage
the holy mountain on which St Patrick
.asted forty days and forty nights with
out earthly food and there is also the
record Of Pope Eugene w, who in 1892
granted "a relaxation of two years and
two quarantines'' of the purgator.al suf-
ferings of pilgrims who would ascend
the mountain the last Sunday of July
and make offerings toward the repair OF
the little chapel.
This was apparently a chapel built by
st. Patrick himself, and in which he
celebrated mass. For several centuries
two neighboring bishops fought for its
possession. as good Christians ought. un-
Ill nnally the pope granted it to the Arch
bishop Of Tuan In the penal days. how
ever, the edifice came to grief.
1t was only about four years ago that
the pilgrimage to Croagh Patrick was re-
vived in national sense. The lame and
the halt, the blind and the deaf. the con-
surnpt:ve, the decrepit and the deformed
nad always kept up the custom of pray
ing on the summit for the saints inter-
cession. and dragging their sores and
their affections over the place hallowed
by his footsteps, and finally returning
home full of the faith that is more pow
eTful than youth or medicine. But il was
with the coming of DR.. Heaiy to the
arch bishopric of Tuam that the national
pilgrimage was introduced. A new chapel
was built on the summit and a new call
issued to the people; and now from all
parts of the world the pilgrims flock 70
pay homage at the shrine OF the saint.
Wonderful Imagination.
Not all of the thousands who today
climb the torn sides of the mountain
know its history or it's claims. But none
may want for information, for where
history and even tradition fail the won-
derful Celtic imagination. full Of mysti-
cism and superstition. comes in with de-
tails tnat might make the saint blush II
he had not himself come TO believe in
the tales 50 often repeated and inter
eStingly varied.
If YOU express the opinion that ST.
Patrick smoked cigars there will be one
ready to show you the very ledge Of rock
with which he Tipped off the ashes; ii
YOU doubt the visit os the angels they
will al once procure the ridge over which
they dangled their legs while they sos-
sped. You can have the print of st. Pat
rick's foot for the asking. and have a
chip off the stone pillow where he laid
his head If you want it.
There is of course. lake with sacred
trout, and the things those fish have
done would make their fortune al all
exhibition.
A Great Spectacle.
But everything is hallowed. every
miraculous achievement is the outpourlng
of an abiding faith that has no limits in
time nor distance nor mere conventional
ity. Amid the rugged, simple grandeur
of Connemara there are no impossibillties
and no laws of science. Thought is not
harnessed to solid facts; imagination is
no nag that ambles, but wild. untamed
steed that bears the rider away beyond
the horizon Of things that are.
One has need of an Imagination at this
annual pilgrimage. for the scene IS not
one mel ely of acts. and words, and ma
terialistic elements. There is solemn
grandeur in il all. in the thousands toll
ing up the mountain side over Wedrying
roads and pathways from the town OF
Westport in the great shaggy form OF
the mountain cone-a giant among Con-
nenara giants-in the hundred thousand
people o.. more that crowd around the
httle chanel among the clouds. all tense
and silent fun OF the solemn emotions
of the mountain top mass over which
the spirit of Ireland's patron saint pre-
sides
bra,ed in the place on Pilgrimage day.
each service SEES thousands kneelinS
around the chapel outside. These peop:e
have no eyes 70. the grandeur around
them. no admiration for the sfea; At
la 1lic waters stretching far below, with
The is and gems of Clew bay set to eaten
all the. glGries of morning sun. but
they have the imagination Wn.ch the
casual tourist lacks. tAeN have the tradi-
tions that gild everything III colos which
paint the pigment cannot eaten.
Ni3ht-Long Prayers.
Exeurs on trains arrive from all parts
during the night and morning of the
pilgrimage. Many of the pilgrims, declin-
ing the comforts of a bed at Westport
make their way TO the mountain top on
Saturday evening. and there spend the
night in prayer and devotion. Custom has
prescribed certain forms of devotion for
the pilgrims. and during the whole of the
night iosaries and pious CALCULATIONS rise
increasingly to the stars. During the daY
the same fervid Cevotions continue in
the same faith that animated the pill