Saint Michael's Mount and Land's End

Saint Michael's Mount from a distance

The old monastery on the Mount from up close

Dear Friends and Family,

I had the special joy of spending this Sunday with my parents here in Cornwall. After Mass and breakfast, I took them to see St. Michael's Mount: a small island off the south coast of Cornwall, where Benedictine monks built a monastery where they worked, prayed, sacrificed, and received pilgrims for several centuries until the reformation. While the visit was bittersweet, realizing that their monastery had been seized by the Crown and turned into a secular castle, which now hosts protestant services in its chapel, it was nonetheless a joy to visit a holy site where so many prayers and sacrifices were offered up, and where tradition holds that St. Michael appeared.

Please find below a few more photos:

Some of the gardens below the monastery.

The lower part of this room used to be the monks' refectory, while the upper half was their dormitory, and all the ornate carvings were not present at the time.

Looking down on some of the gardens.

Back window in the stone chapel.

We then visited Land's End--the farthest point West you can go in England before the land is swallowed up in the ocean and the next stop is... North America.

Looking toward the U.S. from Land's End. A last lighthouse is perched on the rocks.

But before all of this the day began with a special joy: to offer Holy Mass for my parents as part of the congregation, and then to introduce them to many of the parents and children who have been confided to me here as a little flock. (For those in Plymouth, I am sorry that my parents did not get to meet you this time!). It was a real joy to let them meet those I have spoken about these past few years.

I will finish by presenting you with a theory of my father's. His theory is that the key to good health is eating donuts. Though you might be skeptical, there is a certain logic in this theory. He says that when you eat donuts you are happy. And when you are happy this helps your health. Therefore...

Since he practices what he preaches, we stopped into the Land's End donut shop. And I must say that their donuts were particularly tasty.

May Jesus and Mary watch over you and guide you this week.

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Pillari