Cistercian College’s Transition Year class of 2020 with Yvonne O Rourke, Sinead
Egan, Bro. Lawrence, Fr Lawrence, Dom Malachy Thompson, Fr McDunphy,
Paddy Smyth, Catherine Smyth and Principal Gerry Grealish.
Photo: PJ Wright 
The Faithful gathered to mark the official opening and blessing of the new Prayer Path in Mount Saint Joseph Abbey created by the 2019-2020 Transition Year students from Cistercian College with singers, poetry readings and more.
Abbott Dom Malachy Thompson blessed the path and cut the ribbon. He congratulated the students, Fr AodhánMcDunphy and Paddy Smyth for their achievement in getting the project over the line despite the setback of Covid-19.
Fr McDunphy spoke of the many people who walk the path daily and commented on the amount of prayer requests left in the vault each week. He said that perhaps the path is a way of reaching out to people and their needs at this time. Fr McDunphy offers all their prayers and petitions during his Masses.
The project that the students undertook was to restore an overgrown path in the monk’s forest and this project would be the start of further forest trails on the monastic land – part of Green Campus Eco-Tourism. The work required carrying hard core stone up a steep slope in buckets and barrows the rest of the way and then the same process with a finishing grit, block laying, pipe bending, welding and horticulture.
