Iona: Small island offering a vision of Hope

Catholic House of Prayer, Iona. Image: ICN/JS

As the ferry pulled away from the tiny Hebridean island of Iona I ran a contemplative eye along the retreating coastline. There was Martyrs Bay to the south, the Catholic House of Prayer on the hill above it, the ruins of the Augustinian nunnery, 1000-year-old Celtic crosses, the restored thirteenth century Benedictine Abbey, and on the northeast coast the pristine sand of the white strand of the monks.

Iona has been a spiritual centre for Scotland since the time of Saint Columba, who founded the first monastic community on the island in 563. Perhaps it is the centuries of prayer in a beautifully rugged landscape - a tranquil environment which also seems to honour God with its ancient rocks, sandy beaches, fresh air and glorious sunsets - which draws so many back regularly for spiritual refreshment. Or perhaps it is also the love felt as people gather for prayer around the island.

My latest stay was at the Catholic House of Prayer, stunningly situated overlooking the Sound of Iona. Cnoc a' Chalmain or 'Hill of the Dove' was opened more than two decades ago. Eight beds are available to visitors, and priests can stay for free if they celebrate a daily Mass. Last week the resident priest was a Missionary of Africa with many years' experience in Tanzania and DR Congo. Such interesting discussions around the supper table! Breakfast and evening meal are provided. Behind the altar in the house's serene Oratory sits a Celtic cross made from distinctive Iona green marble and the house is adorned with paintings of Iona by Mary Burn-Murdoch, who spent a decade working towards setting up the house, famously drawing in Frances Shand Kydd as a trustee and fundraiser.

There are ample opportunities for reconnecting with God in the natural environment of Iona. Walking down to the wonderfully named Bay at the Back of the Ocean and just sitting there for a couple of hours, hearing the waves lap, is one of them. Another is a stroll down to the evening service at the Abbey, which is always lay led and participatory, but bring a torch because the island can be pitch black when you leave. Noticing stars for the first time in several years is wonderful, but it's nice to be able to find the way home! One lunchtime visitors were invited to a 'Singing for Creation' session where we had enormous pleasure finding ourselves singing in glorious harmonies.

My first two visits involved workshops and retreats at Iona Abbey, which is run by the ecumenical and international Iona Community. They were worship-focused, using music from the world church, and led by the famous Wild Goose Resource Group. The group's name comes from the representation of the Holy Spirit as a wild goose in Celtic tradition. Indeed, as you walk around the island you can often hear wild geese overhead. The content reflects the Community's commitment to linking worship with social justice. Course participants helped plan the services, held around sunset after the day visitors had gone. Communal singing with Revd John Bell, Graham Maule and Alison Adam was a joy.

On this visit, we experienced a healing service of prayers for healing. We took three names from a basket of names of people requesting prayers. I still remember and pray for my three names, and it is a wonderful affirmation of Christian community that we care for each other. On another evening prayer, the focus was on God's Creation, and I marvelled at the effort of displaying a large circular 'globe' and covering it with plants and animals as the creation narrative from Genesis was read. Then there was a symbolic destruction of elements of God's creation and a penitential call for humanity to value the diversity and fruitfulness of creation. Walking around the abbey afterwards I noticed its permanent memorial to victims of conflict and a 'gift to the Iona Community' in Arabic Calligraphy, 'Peace be with you.' The abbey exudes inclusivity and engagement with world issues, as well as a sense of peace.

For years, the Community has led a weekly pilgrimage around the island. Nowadays there is a simultaneous easier version, but it is the long one that I have done twice. It takes around five hours and stops at places of historical and religious significance. All ages participate, travelling together, sharing food, jokes, stories, songs, prayers and silence - a chance to help each other over stiles, up and down hills and out of bogs! At the island's crossroads pilgrims are encouraged to reflect upon their life journeys and chosen paths. There is the stop at Columba's Bay, where St Columba first landed in the 6th century. Here, pilgrims pick up two stones from the pebbly beach. One is thrown back into the sea as a symbol of something in our lives that we want to leave behind and the other is kept back as a sign of a new commitment made.

Martyrs Bay is so named because of the murder of 68 monks there in the ninth century by Vikings, but it is also the site of the island's war memorial. An 18-year-old and 19-year-old were among young islanders killed in the 1914-1918 war. We were reminded that, despite the quietness of the island, violence has visited it throughout the centuries, and we prayed for peace.

Forthcoming residential events with the Iona Community include a youth festival at the end of July and, into August, a creative worship workshop led by the inspirational Wild Goose Resource Group. And what about Christmas on Iona in December. All Iona Community work is permeated by the core values of the Iona Community: working for justice, healing and peace in our localities and for the whole of creation. They have a big presence in Glasgow and a huge group walked in the COP26 march for Climate justice through the city last November.

Bishop's House is the oldest retreat house on the island and the Anglican/Episcopalian centre is situated close to Iona Abbey. A field path from the house leads into the back of the Abbey, which a visitor has described as "an entrancing walk above the shore, through calling corncrakes in midsummer". And look out for the mauve heath-spotted orchid, purple thistles and red poppies. A delight is watching the sparrows at play in the ruined nunnery, which they have made their home.

Iona may be remote, and at the end of two boat trips and a trek across Mull, but, as I looked back on the lovely island diminishing into the mist, I thanked God for a few days of utter tranquillity.

A card I picked up in the Iona Community Gift Shop showed an Iona Dawn and the lines:

Look to this day;

Yesterday is already a dream

And tomorrow is only a vision,

But today well-lived

Makes every yesterday a dream of happiness

And every tomorrow a vision of hope.

LINKS

Catholic House of Prayer: www.catholic-iona.com/
Iona Community: https://iona.org.uk/