Vigil for peace brings in 2018
Comrie Centre for Peace and Reconciliation being set up
A vigil for peace in the new year was held at Cultybraggan Camp on New Year’s Day.
The Comrie Centre for Peace and Reconciliation (CCPR), for those of any faith or none, is being set up in the original chapel at Cultybraggan Camp and on Monday locals joined Buddhist nun Sister Candasiri at the former PoW camp’s chapel for the two-hour observation.
The chapel is being brought back into use this year and the idea of the CCPR is for it to be totally non-denominational, who are interested in finding peace – both inner and outer.
The chapel is currently undergoing renovation work and will be formally opened in the spring.
Meanwhile, people are invited to use the chapel to “spend time quietly in stillness, prayer or contemplation”.
Speaking about the New Year’s day vigil, Sister Candasiri of Milntuim Hermitage in Glenartney said: “It was a simple beginning and I was very pleased some people braved the chill and sat with me and Tuya, who is originally from Mongolia and was visiting Milntuim over the holidays.
“We had gone along to the chapel early to light the stove, set out some mats and try to get it a bit cosy, so that people could sit comfortably for as long as they wanted to stay.
“Fortunately everyone who came had heeded the advice on the notice, and came very well muffled up as it didn’t get warm – at all!
“But we sat with candles and incense and it was very peaceful.
“An extract from a short reading taken from Thomas Merton’s ‘ The Way of Chang Tzu’ seemed to encapsulate the open, listening quality of the occasion: ‘Some power stands behind all this and makes the sounds die down. What is this power?’”
Sister Candasiri added: “Over the next weeks the chapel will stay open, the candles, mats and chairs are there for anyone who would like a few minutes’ quiet during a busy or confusing day.
“In the spring time we plan to have an official launch, with the planting of a tree or shrub in the area beside the chapel which is designated as a Peace Garden.
“Once we know when that will be there will be a note to let everyone know.”
The chapel is situated within the first hut on the right as you go into the camp.