The Celtic Islands Pilgrimage 2027
Register and pay on the Website link in the Contacts section Our small monasteries live in the heart of a hidden treasure for the Orthodox world in the West. The Saints of these Isles shone bright in the first millennium and they are our direct historical link to the very roots of Orthodoxy, our Orthodox DNA. Our monastic communities have a duty to rediscover these Saints and to bring them back into our lives. More appropriately, we have a duty to educate and to get us back in touch with our own spiritual past. If we forget our roots, we have already condemned our fruit. Apart from offering free accommodation and board throughout the year, our Monastery organizes and leads several paid week-long Pilgrimages to destinations related to the Saints of the Isles. Our mission is to expose our modern hearts to the spiritual treasures of the first millennium, with the firm conviction that Grace will enter and work our salvation from within. Seek peace, be still and allow the winds and the waves of this ‘ocean desert’ to speak to you about our Creator and the amazing Saints who served Him ‘at the ends of the world’. The price of the Pilgrimage includes: Accommodation in a twin room (two single beds) for seven nights on the Isle of Iona and the Isle of Mull (split between our Hermitage on the Isle of Iona and our Pilgrimage House on the Isle of Mull); All breakfasts, dinners and packed lunches (as we shall be travelling somewhere every day); Transport by car everywhere on the Isle of Mull; One motor boat to take us to St Brendan’s Isle (weather permitting); One sailing boat to take us to St Kenneth’s Isle (weather permitting); Entry tickets to all places we visit. We aim to make sure that, once you arrive to the Isle of Mull, there is nothing else for you to worry about for the entire week. This way, we may focus on the pilgrimage itself, on personal prayer and communion with one another. If you need help with any aspect of the trip, we are here to advise and help you. We visit some of the most remote and authentic places connected with early Celtic Christianity. Some of these places have been uninhabited for centuries, with no touristic or religious routes linking them to other destinations. The pilgrimages organised by the Monastery are the only way one can visit some of these isles. Among many other places, we shall get to the Isle of Iona (Iona Abbey, Martyrs’ Bay, the Nunnery, St Oran’s Chapel, the famous Celtic High Crosses, St Columba’s Bay, the Hill of the Turning Back to Ireland and the Machair); the ruins of St Kenneth’s monastery and the ancient hermit cells; St Brendan’s monastery on his uninhabited Isle; and some of the great Celtic Christian places on the Isle of Mull (The Nuns’ Cave, the Carsaig Arches, Kilninian etc). The schedule depends on the weather and the state of the ocean.
