Clarification, Apology And Holy Day.
The Open Gate is a small retreat house on Holy Island run by the international Community of Aidan and Hilda, which has only five members on the island. It’s purpose is to serve those pilgrims who value what it offers. It is a registered charity which means none of those who work there make a profit out of it. I am sorry if we have given any other impressions. We love the island and seek to listen to it.
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I had the honour of being invited to an island wedding, so I postponed my holiday by 36 hours. It was a delight to share in the joy of someone I knew as a child. I left England’s Holy Island at 4.30 am (to beat the incoming tide) and drove to Wales’ Holy Island. By the Roman fort at Holyhead is Saint Cybi’s Church, where this seventh century saint was buried. Cybi was the son of a Cornish warrior chief. He became a Christian and preached widely in Britanny, Cornwall and South Wales. He used to walk half way across Ynys Mon (Anglesey) there to meet with his soul friend, Seiriol, whose hermitage was at Penmon. I asked the church guide if the English had publicly repented of their ravagings of this church. He said “They were all thugs, the Welsh as well as the English”. I said, “There is a thug in every person, but also the possibility of nobility”. Our Community has a vocation to renew prayer at holy sites and to bring healing to wounded memory. www.stcybi.co.uk
I had a meal with Voyager Richard Adams who shares in a ministry at Penmon. I also called on Anne and Nigel Snaith. They have formed a trust whose purpose is to establish a nearby retreat house. Anne runs H’Artworks, a gallery and design workshop at 6 Church Street, Beaumaris. They and the Trust need financial support. hartworks@btinternet.com I stayed in a retreat cottage administered by our Voyager James Percival, overlooking the idyllic coast at Llandonna. Please pray for this Ynys Mon group.