“Their prayers were songs, and as they crooned or intone them, they seem close to the continuous prayer the Orthodox describe as a murmur in the heart.” ~Esther De Waal, God Under My Roof I first published this blog post in 2011. I had this idea in my head for quite sometime and it eventually developed…
Author: Cindy Thomson
Exclusive for Newsletter Subscribers: A Celtic Christmas
Greetings! If you found your way here, that means you are a valued newsletter subscriber. Thanks for reading. I’m sharing a wee story I wrote just for you! There are festivals, market days, feasts of saints days. There are church calendar days that are important for remembering the saving grace of our faith. But to…
A Celtic Thanksgiving Prayer
Give us O God of the nourishing meal, well-being to the body, the frame of the soul.Give us O God of the honey-sweet milk,the sap and the savor of the fragrant farms. God in our waking, God in our speaking;God in our cooking, God in our eating;God in our playing, God in our digesting;God in…
So Few Words
I’m all about words. I know about how many I need for my historical novels, about 95K. A good blog post, in my opinion, is no more than 600 words. About 250 fit on a page in Times New Roman font. Maybe that’s why I struggle with poetry. Not writing it, because that I rarely…
Ellis Island Old and New
This is as much for me as for you, but I hope you find it interesting. I’m comparing historical pictures of Ellis Island with ones I took back in 2011 (mostly, I’ve added a few others.) All of the historical photographs here came from the NYPL digital gallery. Between 1892 and 1954 12 million immigrants passed…
Giveaway for the Trip!
Have you signed up for the Ancient Brigid tour to Ireland? If not, go here. The deadline is Dec. 1. On Dec. 2nd I will draw a winner from everyone who has signed up for this prize package, which includes: A Longaberger Irish tote (so cute and with an outside pocket!) A travel journal (it’s…
Happy Birthday, Lady Liberty!
The Statue of Liberty, originally called Liberty Enlightening the World, turns 136 today! You probably learned the usual things about the statue in elementary school: she was a gift from the country of France, she stands in the harbor near Manhattan, immigrants saw her as they approached Ellis Island, and she’s memorized in a number of…
Sanctuary
Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like in ancient Ireland where danger lurked everywhere and just surviving was a challenge. Here’s my imagination running wild: The forest above his head is so thick that sunlight only glimmers in as though through a sieve. If he cannot reach the monastery before nightfall he’ll be…
When the New Colossus Was New
Back when I visited New York City I was so excited about seeing the Statue of Liberty. Is there any other icon that better describes who we are as Americans? We are a country of immigrants. The original name was Liberty Enlightening the World. She is made of copper and of course aged to the color…
5 More Thoughts on Celtic Crosses
1.Said to be the tallest cross in Ireland (pictured above) the West Cross in Monasterboice stands at 21 feet tall. 2.The second tallest cross (17.5 ft) stands in Moone, County Kildare. The monastery ruins where it stands are older than the cross, possibly dating to St Palladius, the first bishop sent to Ireland. (Yes, before…
