Recently, at the annual gathering of the members (Voyagers) of the international Community of Aidan & Hilda—of which we are the Irish Branch—one of our Cairde an Anama members was inducted into the monastic group. As a Monastic Voyager Br Brendan seeks to live out a monastic spirituality within his life and work. As a married monastic he is following in the tradition of the early Irish saints, many of whom were married. He will continue to live with his family and continue in his professional work, but he will do this seeking to put God first in all things. At this time of Lent, as we prepare ourselves on this Ash Wednesday for the deeper journey into the cleansing of our humanity, we celebrate with Br Brendan the power of God’s Love and the presence of God’s healing and we pray for Br Brendan on this new stage of his journey of faith in the Coracle of Hope on the Sea of Faith.

We also welcome another Cairde an Anama member into the noviciate of the Monastic Voyager group. She will explore the monastic spirituality within her own context and seek to prepare herself for the step of becoming a monastic, inspired by the early Irish Christian monastic tradition. God bless her this Lent.