Tim O’Reilly

Walking the Kerry Way

ireland_s

By Tim O'Reilly

A candle in a dark church illumines family history.

I hadn't spent much time with my brother Frank since he was about twelve years old, back in 1973. That was the year I'd gotten engaged to a non-Catholic, and my parents wouldn't let me bring her home because "it would scandalize the children." I was nineteen and equally sure of myself, so I refused to come home without her.
Walking the Kerry Way2017-04-24T02:32:53-07:00

Illumined in Sainte-Chapelle

Louis IX left Notre Dame to the ordinary folk and heard Mass himself across the square, in his exquisite private chapel.
After visiting Notre Dame, I headed across the street, nose in a map, driven by a faint memory of a passing mention of a small church "with the best stained glass outside of Chartres."
Illumined in Sainte-Chapelle2015-12-21T22:49:37-08:00