Thursday 18 October 2007

Entry to the Riverland

This morning Jamestown put on a party to farewell the Cross and Icon. The primary school children were invited to come to school in free clothes to add to the celebrations. The students were very excited about being part of the procession. Each class had made up little crosses to carry along in the procession. There were bright paper crosses, stick crosses and cardboard tubing crosses. There were also lots of helium balloons which added to the colour and festive atmosphere. They processed down the main street to the park and truly were a sight to behold. The people of Jamestown could hardly miss the procession!

We moved onto Morgan where we were met at the Church by some Morgan parishioners and people who hailed from further flung places in the region. The Cross was processed down to the picnic area near the ferry jetty. We had a liturgy and our first view of the Murray River on the national journey. St Francis Assisi’ prayer for peace was prayed as young parishioners planted seeds in a large pot. We then walked the Cross to the edge of the Murray and dipped it into the water as the Priests prayed for rain and positive growth and development in the young people of the region.

We moved onto Waikerie where we drove onto a barge to cross over the Murray. We then met the community at the Lions Community Park and gathered to process over to the riverbank. It was the shortest procession of our journey thus far; it was only about 70 meters! The parishioners were very grateful that we visited their town, as they are often overlooked.

We arrived at Barmera where some people were waiting at the Church to process the Cross and Icon to Lake Bonny. Once we arrived the lake side the Cross and Icon were set in place and the view was magnificent. The sun set as Mass was being celebrated and it was truly breathtaking. Once the darkness settled candles which had been placed at the foot of the Cross shined brightly and reflected off the base of the Cross. While veneration was taking place a liturgical dance was danced and a local Christian band played. It was a fantastic prayerful evening at beautiful Lake Bonny, Jess

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I also like the photo of the people walking on(in) the shadow of the cross. It seems quite a prayerful concept, and fairly amazing as the sun would only be in the right position for this during a tiny amount of the day.

 
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