Coming here on the feast of the Assumption, we are part of a very ancient tradition – well over a thousand years old; indeed it may well be much older. Holy wells have a special place in the traditional devotion of this country. The late Mainchín Seoighe said that there are ninety-three in the diocese of Limerick.  That’s just over one and a half per parish!  This well at Barrigone is one of the most important of them.
The religious tradition of many of these wells goes back long before the coming of Christianity. But it is no accident that they became places of Christian pilgrimage.

In his book on Jesus of Nazareth, Pope Benedict reflects on the theme of water which is frequently found in St John’s Gospel and in particular the Pope speaks about the significance of a well. In the first place it is the source of fresh, pure water. The water coming from the earth is a symbol of creativity and new life. Jesus tells Nicodemus that we must be born again of water and the Holy Spirit.  And so, this well, and all the holy wells of our diocese, are a sign of the life that Jesus promises us. He is the first fruits of a life that we will share with him and in him. And we begin to share in that life through being born again in baptism of water and the Holy Spirit.

We know all too well, however, that there are many occasions when our lives seem to be dominated by pain, fear, sadness, depression and anxiety.   There are times when it is hard to be hopeful.  That is why it is important to realise that the promise we celebrate here is not simply unrealistic optimism.  This is a promise that is stronger than death or suffering.

Therefore the Pope goes on to point out another time when St John speaks of water.  At the moment when Jesus led the way into new life on Calvary, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear “and at once there came out blood and water” (Jn 19:34). In his first epistle John, reflecting on that moment sees in it three elements, “the Spirit, the water and the blood” (I Jn 5:8).

The water of new life flows from the side of Jesus mixed with the blood of his death. That is how the Spirit is poured out on us, “not with the water only, but with the water and the blood” (I Jn 5:6). The new life that God promises is offered to us through the death of Jesus. We travel the road that he travelled. He has conquered suffering and evil; he is the first fruits of the new life because has overcome the last enemy, death, which awaits all of us at the end of our life on earth.  In his victory “all shall be brought to life”.  So coming to a holy well celebrates the promise of new life which comes through the death and resurrection of Christ.

Barrigone means the holy well of (St.) John.  It was perhaps called after St John the Evangelist who wrote about the water of life. In the Gospel Jesus invites those who thirst to come to him, and promises that out of their hearts “shall flow rivers of living water. If it was called after John the Baptist who baptised Jesus in the flowing waters of the Jordan, that too would be appropriate. It does seem clear that it was established by Saint Muirdeabhair, who was known for his wisdom.  The well has also been associated for many centuries with Our Lady, which is why the traditional pattern day is today, the feast of the Assumption.
And of course this feast of the Assumption is about God’s promise of life. In the Gospel, Mary is praised by Elizabeth: “Blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.”  And Mary herself praises God for coming to the help of his people “according to the promise he made to our ancestors.”

In the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin into heaven we see that promise already fulfilled in her.  She is as today’s Preface puts it, “a sign of hope and comfort for your people on their pilgrim way.”  But she reminds us too that the promise comes not only through water but through blood. Her life had its share of heavy suffering.  When he defined the doctrine of the Assumption, Pope Pius XII reminded us:
“Christ's faithful… have learned from the sacred books that the Virgin Mary, throughout the course of her earthly pilgrimage, led a life troubled by cares, hardships, and sorrows, and that, moreover, what the holy old man Simeon had foretold actually came to pass, that is, that a very sharp sword pierced her heart as she stood under the cross of her divine Son, our Redeemer”.

So as we come here in the traditional celebration of the promise of new life, we also realise that the road to that life passes through death and suffering. We travel that road with and in Jesus our Brother and our Companion who suffered and died for us.  The Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, comes to us through the water of new life and through the blood of the Cross.

That is what we celebrate in the Eucharist. We come to Christ who died and rose again so that we will be brought to life.

+Donal Murray