On Saturday 21st December in An Tairseach, Wicklow, we hosted a beautiful ceremony to mark the winter solstice, the longest night of the year in the Northern hemisphere. Friends, neighbours, Dominican sisters, past pupils gathered in the conference room where we heard from Angie Kinsella about the ‘why and the what’ of the solstice; how our ancestors celebrated two halves in the year, the dark and the light. Colette created a short movie looking back over the year through the lens of the Celtic calendar/wheel, pondering on the warp and weft of life and through light and dark moments, we gave thanks for all that has happened. During a reading entitled ‘Daring the Dark’ (based on 1Kings 19:9-12, Luke 1:39-44) in a book called ‘If Darwin Prayed’ we heard
Help us, O Holy One–
You who are discovered
In the silence of the cave
And in the darkness of the womb–
To learn the mysteries of life
That are obscured by bright lights
And buzzing brains.
Giving thanks and moving on – our large gathering of over 70 participants processed out into the foyer. As we crossed the ‘threshold’ Angie and her little daughter Sadhbh (four years old) ‘smudged’ us in an act of purification as we moved forth. In the foyer, we stood and honoured the darkness. It was very atmospheric, all the lights were out and the last rays of daylight peeped in through the windows; young and old, stood/sat in silence until, as someone said, we could ‘feel the darkness’. The solstice flame was lit; a litany of light was pronounced and our response ‘We give thanks for the return of light’. Some volunteers took light from the solstice flame and proceeded up to the chapel, a small group of friends sang the hymn by Feargal King ‘Lord of Light’ as the rest of the group followed and we took our seats in the choir stalls. In this sacred space we hailed the ‘Christianising’ of the winter solstice, marking the grafting onto this ancient celebration the feast of the Incarnation of the Son of God, Emmanuel – God with us. We were given small votive lights and invited to focus on the light, after which we turned to our neighbours and wished them a blessing of light. As we sang the carol ’Night of Silence’ a crib scene was arranged around the solstice flame, lit to celebrate the return of the Sun, now celebrating the coming of the Son of God. After a blessing this part of the ceremony concluded with the singing of Joy to the World. We then made our way down to the dining room and enjoyed mulled wine, brack, home-made tray bakes, cups of tea and lots of neighbourly chat! The whole gathering was thoroughly enjoyed by all who came from the infants to the over 90 year olds!!
In these dark times, may the star the Magi followed illumine our world.
Colette Kane OP
Final prayer
May the beauty of this solstice time bring energy and inspiration to the whole community of life.
May the stars bless us all with the sparkle of eternity.
May the shepherds bless us with a love for all creatures.
May Joseph bless us with good-humoured acceptance of that which we cannot change.
May Mary bless us with faith in the impossible.
May we remember our home, our beloved earth and commit ourselves to care for her and for the whole community of life. Amen
