The Lesson of Lough Derg By Rev. Robert Barron / from Catholic
New World Our Catholicism Project film crew arrived at the
shores of large lake in far northwest Ireland, in the county of
Donegal. We stepped onto a ferry and were taken to an island in
the middle of the lake. On the island was a collection of
buildings, which in both architecture and color reminded me
vividly of Alcatraz prison. The weather that day was horrific:
temperature around 50, heavy winds, and a steady cold rainfall.
Our hosts offered us tea and scones and then we made our way
onto the island to begin our work. Out of the mists and the rain
emerged the figures that we had come to film. They were swathed
in raincoats, hoods, and jackets, but their feet were bare. Most
of them carried rosaries in their hands, and some of them were
praying aloud. A few were making their way, on their knees,
around rude “beds” of stone, and one woman was standing against
a wall in the attitude of the crucified Christ. Some of the more
elderly denizens of th