The Order of Jacob's Well

Bardsey Healing 2008

The Island of pilgrims used to be a place of healing – now it is again!

(Photo used by permission of Martin Paterson Photography)

Bardsey Island
Bardsey is a tiny island just off the coast of the Lleyn Peninsula, in NW Wales. Map

The Thought
The time seems now to have come for the Order of Jacob’s Well to weave a strand of our own colour into the spiritual atmosphere of Bardsey Island for the benefit of pilgrims in years to come.

The Order of Jacob’s Well
This is a modern, non-denominational Order of Christian Healing and Wholeness with members across the UK and roots in Christianity’s Celtic past.

The Strand
Early Christian monks and saints began to build a Christian community on the island around fifteen hundred years ago. Since then there has always been a Christian presence there, men and women prepared to live and pray there all their lives, or at least for a greater part or a faithful part of their lives.

Twenty thousand of these saints are said to be buried here, having made pilgrimage to their chosen land of resurrection.

Giraldus Cambrensis, writing about his journey through Wales in 1188, tells us that, "beyond Lleyn, there is a small island inhabited by very religious monks called Caelibes or Colidei. This island, either from the healthiness of its climate, or rather from some miracle and the merits of the Saints, has this wonderful peculiarity that the oldest people die first, because diseases are uncommon, and scarcely any die except from extreme old age. Its name is Enlli, in the Welsh, and Berdesey, in the Saxon language, and very many bodies of Saints are said to be buried there, amongst them that of Daniel, Bishop of Bangor."

This is high praise indeed for the health of the community! The suggestion is that Bardsey was always a healing and wholesome place.

The Weaving
A coloured thread of healing and wholeness is being woven back into the life-giving strands of these holy lives that have come down to us through the centuries.

We tried to get it right from the start yet also staying open to altering things as events unfold. Our aim was to approach this gentle, long-distance motorway, of island spirituality on an angled slip road and not come crashing straight into it at ninety degrees!

To this end, in the summer of 2006, the Order began to hold quiet and blessed Celtic Healing services, the inspiration and outline of which were given on the Island in 2004. These services are made up almost entirely from modern translations of ancient Welsh and Irish prayers.

2008 Dates
Together with Carreg Trust we have designated Sunday July 13 to Thursday July 24 as Bardsey Healing 2008. Celtic healing services will be held each day (with the exception of Friday 18) at 12 noon and will last approximately 35 minutes. These times of prayer for Christian healing will be held in the grounds of the Hermitage and Oratory. Everyone is welcome,whatever their spiritual background, and it is hoped that island residents and day visitors alike will come.

Celtic Healing Service in the grounds of the Oratory & Hermitage.

Our hope
Our hope is that we can bring back to Bardsey that practical sense of the Kingdom of God that brings resurrection and restoration to all those souls who seek it. Holding services of Christian Healing at the end of ancient pilgrim routes seems completely right and fitting to the spiritual history of those routes and the Island itself.

It is our hope, too, that churches and other groups may organise pilgrimages to join us during Bardsey Healing 2008. To find out more, discuss your plans and travel/accommodation arrangements please contact Revd. Nick Hawkins

Carreg Trust is hosting the event.