Procession sees parishioners unite to take cross up the mountain

As part of the Outreach Programme in Cooley Parish, the Cooley Pastoral Council had a cross specially made for the season of Lent.

Everyone living in Cooley Parish was invited to put a mark on a piece of wood. Then, on Good Friday the four pieces of wood were brought together to form a cross and the cross was carried by parishioners to a place up the mountain and placed there. Every effort was made to be as inclusive as possible of people of every faith and of no faith at all.

The cross was made in four separate pieces and members of the Pastoral Council did as they promised visited every household in Cooley Parish and each household was asked if they would like to put their family name, a cross or a mark on the Cross.

When this was achieved the cross was assembled and placed on the altars of the four churches during the various Masses for the Palm Sunday celebrations. Last Friday, Good Friday, it was used in Boher Church for the afternoon ceremonies and was then taken to Mullaghbuoy where a large crowd of people had gathered to begin the procession up the mountain.

Parishioners carried the cross in relays in the direction of Maeve’s Gap. Along the way the Stations of the Cross were recited. The group eventually reached Maeve’s Gap where the cross was placed in a specially prepared base and then the 14th and final Station was said. The cross is positioned in the Gap where it can be spotted from many areas across the peninsula and from each of the three Churches.

The Parish clergy and the members of the Pastoral Council were delighted with the response to the initiative and with the big turnout of young and old on the day!