Pilgrimage - Saint Melangell, Patron Saint of Hares

This particular shrine was completely unexpected. I needed to get from Caernarfon eventually to Nottingham where I was staying with an old friend. So I looked around for pilgrimage sites along the way and stumbled on this place. It turned out to be one of the absolute highlights of the whole pilgrimage. The drive to get there was pretty crazy itself. The route took me all the way through Snowdonia National Park which was absolutely stunning. The weather that day was spectacular which didn't hurt at all.

Pheasants

There were many things that made this stop so memorable. One of them was that I had to make the last part of the journey on foot. As I was driving up from the little village, I actually had to stop the car and pull off the road by a little sheep gate. The road had become impassible. There was a commercial pheasant farm and the road was completely covered in pheasants. They could fly, but they simply refused. After about twenty minutes of driving at pheasant pace, I gave up and parked the car.

So I had to walk about a mile and and half up to the shrine.

Asking prayer from Saint Melangell

Holy Melangell, your love for creation inspired you to protect one of God's most vulnerable creatures; pray that God will grant us the courage to place ourselves between the vulnerable and those who would do them harm.

Collect for Saint Melangell

Holy God, in the beginning, you created the world, blessed it, and called it good; strengthen the heart of your Church that, through the intercession of Holy Melangell, we might work to protect the creation entrusted to us and preserve its goodness for those who will come after us. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.