I contributed the Thought for the Day on Radio Ulster on Monday 21 July.
You can listen here, or read the text below.
The Grande Troménie
“Desertum in Oceano”.
That may sound like a spell from Harry Potter. But it’s really an ancient Latin phrase, meaning “a desert in the ocean”. It’s used in medieval Irish texts to describe how monks left this island seeking silence and solitude. Some settled on off shore islands like Skellig Michael or Iona; others found their “desertum in oceano” on mainland Europe.
Though his Irish origins are contested, St Ronan is thought to have been an Ulsterman from present-day County Down. His quest for God led him across the sea to what is now Locronan in Brittany, sometime in the sixth century.
Yesterday marked the conclusion of The Grande Troménie – or “the Great Pardon” – in Locronan. Around 5,000 pilgrims joined the week-long festival.
The procession follows a 12-kilometer route, said to be the path that Ronan trod every day. For medieval Irish monks walking was a form of continuous prayer, facilitating communion with God and with creation.
Today Ronan’s route is only open once every six years, from the second to the third Sunday of July. Locals clear the path by mowing wheat, cutting corn, and removing brambles, creating a circuit marked by 12 granite crosses.
During the processions on either Sunday, pilgrims wear traditional Breton clothing and carry embroidered banners of the size and shape of those held high in Ulster’s traditional Orange parades.
While Ronan sought to live as a hermit, his simple lifestyle attracted admirers. It is said that a local woman, jealous of his fame, accused him of transforming into a wolf and devouring her daughter.
Ronan’s innocence was proven when he found the girl and raised her from the dead. Perhaps even more miraculously, he pardoned his accuser.
Promoters of The Grande Troménie describe it as “a procession of silence where everyone comes with what they have inside. To understand it, you have to know how to listen to the sound of footsteps …”
Fourteen centuries after Ronan’s death, The Grande Troménie reveals a paradox: When we seek God in solitude and silence we often attract others, eager to share their experiences of God.
(Image: Wikipedia)