Celtic Spirituality

Event location is the Carondelet Center, 1890 Randolph Ave, St. Paul, unless otherwise noted

Celtic Spirituality: Remembering John O'Donohue

Fall Soul Conference: The Voice of Earth with Nellie McLaughlin

Celtic and Nordic Worship Services

In Memoriam: John O'Donohue 1954-2008

John O'Donohue

The staff of Wisdom Ways was deeply saddened to hear of the unexpected January 3 death of Irish poet and philosopher John O’Donohue, while he was on holiday in France. He was 53 years old. We know that the many people who knew of John’s work or who experienced him at either our 1999 Celtic Voice, Celtic Vision conference or at Finding the Courage for New Horizons, the October, 2007, event that we co-sponsored with Being in Concert, grieve his passing. Let our gratitude for the ways in which he enriched our lives be a comfort as we grieve this loss and may John’s own words about death console us:

                                            A Blessing for Death

I pray that you will have the blessing of being consoled and sure about your own death.

May you know in your soul that there is no need to be afraid.

When your time comes, may you be given every blessing and shelter that you need.

May there be a beautiful welcome for you in the home that you are going to.

You are not going somewhere strange. You are going back to the home that you never left.

May you have a wonderful urgency to live your life to the full.

May you live compassionately and creatively and transfigure everything that is negative within you and about you.

When you come to die may it be after a long life.

May you be peaceful and happy and in the presence of those who really care for you.

May your going be sheltered and your welcome assured.

May your soul smile in the embrace of your anam cara. 
                                              ~ From Anam Cara – A Book of Celtic Wisdom by John O’Donohue

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