Old pic Priest on Camino

[MickMac]

Carraig an Aifrinn (Mass on the Camino)

• MickMac
• Aug 22, 2014

Carraig an Aifrinn

 

[MickMac]

IMG_20180709_095435.jpg

• MickMac
• Jul 14, 2020

 

[MickMac]

 

[stevepjq]

I'm trying to picture that scene of the mass. Is that just before Astorga?

 

[MickMac]

Think in retrospect I only walked as far as Burgos so mybe not.

 

[Kathor1]

Think in retrospect I only walked as far as Burgos so mybe not [= maybe it is not just before Astorga].

I am really curious and would like to know more about the first photo in this thread with the stone altar and the open air mass cerenomy, especially the location.

I assume that you took the photo yourself? Why do you label it: Carraig an Aifrinn (Mass on Camino)? Doesn't Irish Carraig an Aifrinn mean Mass Rock in English and does it not describe something typically found in Ireland where, unlike in Spain, there was religious persecution of the Catholic Church in Ireland during the 17th and 18th centuries, and such open air stone altars served as a location for secret and illegal gatherings of faithful attending the Mass offered by outlawed priests, see:

Mass rock - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Perhaps you can tell from the sequence of your other Camino photos whereabouts this photo was taken if you took it yourself. This stone altar is an unusual fixed structure for Spain with its numerous hermitages and small chapels scattered all over the countryside, and if it is on the Camino Francés I am surprised that it appears to be unknown on the forum. I've never seen this before or heard of it before.

It would be great if you would provide some background to this photo.

 

[HBS60]

I might be wrong, but the OPs initial pic reminds me of this place as I was walking from Torres Del Rio to Viana. I had just climbed a hill and I found this curious structure, not quite as it looks in the OPs picture but I remember trying to figure out its purpose. It’s from a different angle, and the OPs pic could have been of a different area just a few meters away. Or I could be wrong, of course.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

@MickMac, what an interesting set of pictures, and lucky for you to be able to witness that special and intimate moment.

 

[Theatregal]

The stone altar is at the Hermitage of the Virgen del Poyo after Torres del Rio just before Bargota. The first 3 photos were taken in September 2012 and the last one, the tiled image was taken in September 2023.

 

[HBS60]

The stone altar is at the Hermitage of the Virgen del Poyo after Torres del Rio.

View attachment 183702 View attachment 183703View attachment 183701View attachment 183700

Actually, I wasn’t too far off. From my photo roll, I took a pic at the same place but it doesnt’ have the altar. I then went up the hill and found the run-down structure I posted earlier in this thread, maybe 1-2 Km uphill from your pic.

 

[MickMac]

I am really curious and would like to know more about the first photo in this thread with the stone altar and the open air mass cerenomy, especially the location.

I assume that you took the photo yourself? Why do you label it: Carraig an Aifrinn (Mass on Camino)? Doesn't Irish Carraig an Aifrinn mean Mass Rock in English and does it not describe something typically found in Ireland where, unlike in Spain, there was religious persecution of the Catholic Church in Ireland during the 17th and 18th centuries, and such open air stone altars served as a location for secret and illegal gatherings of faithful attending the Mass offered by outlawed priests, see:

Mass rock - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Perhaps you can tell from the sequence of your other Camino photos whereabouts this photo was taken if you took it yourself. This stone altar is an unusual fixed structure for Spain with its numerous hermitages and small chapels scattered all over the countryside, and if it is on the Camino Francés I am surprised that it appears to be unknown on the forum. I've never seen this before or heard of it before.

It would be great if you would provide some background to this photo.

Took them all myself 2013 Aus Annie was with me it looked a fairly recently constructed altar at time the priest was American, some pilgrims remembered him from past he walked with his curate in full priest outfit wide brimmed hat.

The stone altar is at the Hermitage of the Virgen del Poyo after Torres del Rio just before Bargota. The first 3 photos were taken in September 2012 and the last one, the tiled image was taken in September 2023.

View attachment 183702 View attachment 183701View attachment 183700 View attachment 183703

Still there wow.

 

[Theatregal]

Actually, I wasn’t too far off. From my photo roll, I took a pic at the same place but it doesnt’ have the altar. I then went up the hill and found the run-down structure I posted earlier in this thread, maybe 1-2 Km uphill from your pic.

Yes! Not far off at all! Here's my photo from 2012 matching yours

 

[MickMac]

@MickMac, what an interesting set of pictures, and lucky for you to be able to witness that special and intimate moment.

The priest and curate walked with our group he was going to a new monastery as far as I remembered.

 

[MickMac]

2013 walked with a group of Australians including Aus Annie they were back from senior world hockey champions not Annie.

 

[OzAnnie]

Australians including Aus Annie

Yes- I (OzAnnie) was walking with you at that time. I started alone.
The other 3 Ozzie’s had been in Turín competing in their age bracket of world masters for hockey .. something like that. I walked with one of those ladies all the way, but the other two went their own way / they were very religious and had expectations of a certain speed to attain - the eldest one carried a tonne of weight (books) in her pack. One was a huge bible.
Those two peregrinas were at that mass (in the pic).
It was Michael’s first camino. (My 2nd). He was such a hoot !! Talk about overpack.!! His feet had to finish by Burgos that year. They were in a very sad state.

I did see that priest and his curate ? in the cathedral in Santiago when I arrived later in September. 2013.

Great memories.

 

[JabbaPapa]

 

[Kathor1]

The stone altar is at the Hermitage of the Virgen del Poyo after Torres del Rio just before Bargota. The first 3 photos were taken in September 2012 and the last one, the tiled image was taken in September 2023.

@Theatregal, thank you so much for these photos. I have only the vaguest of memories of having walked past the hermitage (on the left) and this area with the stone structure and steps leading up to it (on the right).

I had imagined, merely looking at the first photo in the thread, that the structure was somewhere isolated on the top of a hill and that there was some connection to ancient worshipping, perhaps a Celtic connection. But I had mislead myself. The "stone altar" looks actually quite recent and there is no Celtic background story. I understand that the town of Bargota, to which the territory of the hermitage belongs, organises a pilgrimage on the third Sunday in May and a pilgrimage mass is then held "on the esplanade". I presume that this is the reason for the structure.

Thanks again!

 

[MickMac]

Yes- I (OzAnnie) was walking with you at that time. I started alone.
The other 3 Ozzie’s had been in Turín competing in their age bracket of world masters for hockey .. something like that. I walked with one of those ladies all the way, but the other two went their own way / they were very religious and had expectations of a certain speed to attain - the eldest one carried a tonne of weight (books) in her pack. One was a huge bible.
Those two peregrinas were at that mass (in the pic).
It was Michael’s first camino. (My 2nd). He was such a hoot !! Talk about overpack.!! His feet had to finish by Burgos that year. They were in a very sad state.

I did see that priest and his curate ? in the cathedral in Santiago when I arrived later in September. 2013.

Great memories.

That fills a few gaps Annie your compatriot is sitting behind priest if you zoom in.
It was my first Camino and definitely the "best" my poor feet looked like someone had taken a hammer a mashed them, never fully recovered.
I carried too much weight in pack and around my stomach the boots were wrong and the two socks a disaster .
Only made it to Burgos and sadly left on my own to Biarritz from bus station incidentally the bus did not come till 04.00 it was a nightmare.
Never lost the walkaway on last day of my Caminos I am a strange individual do not like goodbyes. Goodbye
Oops about the Oz bit. !!!

 

[JabbaPapa]

I had imagined, merely looking at the first photo in the thread, that the structure was somewhere isolated on the top of a hill and that there was some connection to ancient worshipping, perhaps a Celtic connection. But I had mislead myself. The "stone altar" looks actually quite recent and there is no Celtic background story. I understand that the town of Bargota, to which the territory of the hermitage belongs, organises a pilgrimage on the third Sunday in May and a pilgrimage mass is then held "on the esplanade". I presume that this is the reason for the structure.

I took a welcome rest there last year.

Yes, I understand that the local devotion is clearly the original purpose -- though it is just as clearly available for other open air Masses as time goes by.

I encountered several such open air altars between 2022 and last year, including some quite rustic.

 

[Kathor1]

In an earlier thread, the priest in the photo in post #1 is identified as "Father Lawrence". The internet knows what happened after his Camino so many years ago. His full name is Father Lawrence Carney. Google any combination of his name, with or without the word Camino added to the search.

Father Lawrence did not join a monastery, he created a new order. According to a 2018 news article:

The Vatican approved his request for the new order Dec. 8 — to accept men into the Canons Regular of St. Martin of Tours. The new community will be based in St. Joseph. About a dozen men have indicated an interest in joining, Carney said.​

​

The Camino changed his life, too:

Following his 2007 ordination, Carney served as a parish priest in the Wichita Diocese. His life changed when he chose to walk the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route in Spain — opting to wear a cassock — talking to about 1,000 people during his 32 days on the trail. The experience led to his decision to walk the streets.​

​

He wrote a book that was published in 2017: Walking the Road to God: Why I left everything behind and took to the streets to save souls. In his book, Carney expressed his dream of a new order of priests, clerics and brothers, who walk and pray in cities around the U.S. to reach out to lukewarm and fallen-away Catholics and non-Catholics.

See this article (or another news article with similar content) about Father Lawrence who walked the Camino some 10+ years ago:

‘Walking priest’ pursues street evangelization hoping listeners seek God

Father Carney talked about his street evangelization as part of the parish’s Grotto Speaker Series. A priest of the Diocese of Wichita, Kan, he is on loan to the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., where he is chaplain to the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles in Gower, Mo.

cruxnow.com

 

[MickMac]

In an earlier thread, the priest in the photo in post #1 is identified as "Father Lawrence". The internet knows what happened after his Camino so many years ago. His full name is Father Lawrence Carney. Google any combination of his name, with or without the word Camino added to the search.

Father Lawrence did not join a monastery, he created a new order. According to a 2018 news article:

The Vatican approved his request for the new order Dec. 8 — to accept men into the Canons Regular of St. Martin of Tours. The new community will be based in St. Joseph. About a dozen men have indicated an interest in joining, Carney said.​

​

The Camino changed his life, too:

Following his 2007 ordination, Carney served as a parish priest in the Wichita Diocese. His life changed when he chose to walk the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route in Spain — opting to wear a cassock — talking to about 1,000 people during his 32 days on the trail. The experience led to his decision to walk the streets.​

​

He wrote a book that was published in 2017: Walking the Road to God: Why I left everything behind and took to the streets to save souls. In his book, Carney expressed his dream of a new order of priests, clerics and brothers, who walk and pray in cities around the U.S. to reach out to lukewarm and fallen-away Catholics and non-Catholics.

See this article (or another news article with similar content) about Father Lawrence who walked the Camino some 10+ years ago:

‘Walking priest’ pursues street evangelization hoping listeners seek God

Father Carney talked about his street evangelization as part of the parish’s Grotto Speaker Series. A priest of the Diocese of Wichita, Kan, he is on loan to the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., where he is chaplain to the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles in Gower, Mo.

cruxnow.com

I have more pics somewhere of the Priest talking to pilgrims in full regalia.

 

[MickMac]

 

[MickMac]

In an earlier thread, the priest in the photo in post #1 is identified as "Father Lawrence". The internet knows what happened after his Camino so many years ago. His full name is Father Lawrence Carney. Google any combination of his name, with or without the word Camino added to the search.

Father Lawrence did not join a monastery, he created a new order. According to a 2018 news article:

The Vatican approved his request for the new order Dec. 8 — to accept men into the Canons Regular of St. Martin of Tours. The new community will be based in St. Joseph. About a dozen men have indicated an interest in joining, Carney said.​

​

The Camino changed his life, too:

Following his 2007 ordination, Carney served as a parish priest in the Wichita Diocese. His life changed when he chose to walk the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route in Spain — opting to wear a cassock — talking to about 1,000 people during his 32 days on the trail. The experience led to his decision to walk the streets.​

​

He wrote a book that was published in 2017: Walking the Road to God: Why I left everything behind and took to the streets to save souls. In his book, Carney expressed his dream of a new order of priests, clerics and brothers, who walk and pray in cities around the U.S. to reach out to lukewarm and fallen-away Catholics and non-Catholics.

See this article (or another news article with similar content) about Father Lawrence who walked the Camino some 10+ years ago:

‘Walking priest’ pursues street evangelization hoping listeners seek God

Father Carney talked about his street evangelization as part of the parish’s Grotto Speaker Series. A priest of the Diocese of Wichita, Kan, he is on loan to the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., where he is chaplain to the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles in Gower, Mo.

cruxnow.com

Well done finding those pics from 2013 I have more somewhere where did you find my pics ..

 

[Kathor1]

Well done finding those pics from 2013 I have more somewhere where did you find my pics ..

I did not find your photos, I merely found the thread from November 2013 (which, incidentally, does contain photos).

I don't remember how I did it, probably the usual way by choosing the forum's Advanced Search option and asking for posts from a specific forum member during a specific period of time.

I found the news articles also the usual way, by entering "Father Lawrence" "Camino" and similar combinations of useful search terms into Google Search. Once Google has found one article there are often other suitable search terms in the article like "Lawrence Carney" in this case to find more news articles.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I was lucky to see this priest (a Bishop perhaps) on the Via Francigena two years ago. He was tall and stately and his garment had red fabric buttons and he was wearing a red cap. I asked if I could take his picture. He obliged and I included the gardner who was working nearby.