Guidance--an old white horse

 
Inside Kilchiaran chapel ruin is found what is perhaps its most well known artifact--the Font Stone.  The Font Stone is thought to be of late medieval date (c. 1300 to 1500 A.D.)

Thus, the Font Stone was likely added to the chapel's "furnishings" a hundred years or so after Kilchiaran was constructed.

March 23, 2017  Kilchiaran's Font; surface panels separated by carved ribs (seen left on basin) 

Baptism is the sacramental rite that admits someone into the Christian Church.  Because the Font holds the Holy Water, it is therefore a central feature to the life of the Christian community whom the chapel serves.  Fonts generally are prominently placed in the western portion of a church or chapel where the parishioners entered and congregate.  The Font at Kilchiaran would have been considered a sacred vessel.

Less so today, unfortunately.

I had intended to refrain from commenting on this.  But it should be said, by way of complaint.  At the time of our visit, the interior of the Kilchiaran chapel ruin was somewhat a latrine, littered with non-buried toilet paper.  The chapel's partially reconstructed walls do provide sheltered privacy perhaps; and there is no other screened place.

Even so, a sense of sacrilege protests against such abuse.  Worse still is the matter of public health.  We urge our Illeach friends to consider installing a public facility at Kilchiaran Bay.  After all, Kilchiaran Bay is the only beach in the area.  Further, the bay is protected from the North Atlantic, which makes Kilchiaran just about the only beach on the west Rinns suitable for swimming given strong cold ocean rip currents elsewhere.  Kilchiaran is far too serene a place to permit continued defilement.

March 23, 2017  Kilchiaran chapel's Font, grave slabs, reconstructed walls and the Bay

The Font Stone itself is damaged, or rather, its rim has been chipped or broken off in places.  All in all, considering the antiquity of this carved stone basin, it is in a fairly good state of preservation.

According to Canmore, the pedestal upon which Kilkchiaran's Font Stone currently rests is of modern construction.  That probably implies that the Font Stone was raised and set upon its new base at the same time as the repairs and restorations to Kilchiaran chapel in 1972-1973.

This carved stone basin is of considerable size and weight.  In terms of its capacity, the inside diameter of the Font Stone measures about 1 1/2 feet.  Its approximate depth is 10 inches, though the rim has been reduced by damage.  The Font Stone is capable of holding a little over ten gallons.

As for the rim damage on the Font Stone, that appears to have occurred long ago.  It is not recent in any case.  A local story (assuming it is true) may account for that damage.

The Font Stone was apparently removed from Kilchiaran, and taken by a draft team to Nereabolls (Nerabus) "with great difficulty".  Evidently, Nereabolls chapel wanted the "second hand" Font Stone for its own use.  Nereabolls is a hamlet on A847 on the east shore of Loch Indaal, about half way between Port Charlotte and Portnahaven.

No date is given for the alleged removal of the Font Stone from Kilchiaran to Nereabolls; but logic would suggest that it would only have been moved after Kilchiaran chapel was already abandoned, sometime in the 1700s, about the time of the American Revolution.

The Nereabolls chapel was itself a late medieval building, c. 14th or 15th century, definitely well after Kilchiaran was built.  Little is known about its history beyond that is was considered part of the territory of the Derry, Ireland Benedictine monastery in the 15th century.

The local story claims that as long as the Font Stone remained at Nereabolls, its people had neither health or peace.  So to ensure it, they returned the Font Stone to Kichiaran, dragged back to its home by one old white horse.

March 23, 2017  Kilchiaran, north wall

The Font Stone probably was used in non-immersive Baptisms, such as those by aspersion (sprinkling) or infant Baptisms by affusion (pouring).

Aspersion is practiced in the Roman Catholic Church at Easter.  It is to remind congregants of their Baptisms and Christian vows.  [However, the Church only considers an aspersion Baptism to be valid if water flows from the skin.]

A word or two of "guidance" upon Baptism:

Denominational differences and doctrinal disputes exist that are too often unnecessarily divisive, and fought more over style than anything substantive.  I do not mention Baptism techniques to ignite internecine denominational disputes over what "the" legitimate form of the Christian rite of Baptism ought to be; but rather to describe the importance of the Font Stone to Kilchirarn's ancient Christian community.

Besides, all Baptisms are conveyed in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Unless that is true, there can be no Baptism...by whatever means.

March 23, 2017  Kilchiaran Font Stone

Builders can also unwisely reject a cornerstone.  For example, the Didache (written before 100 A.D.) was set aside by the later Roman Catholic Church as non-canonical, even though the Didache is possibly the earliest Christian doctrinal text known, and even though it was accepted by the Ethiopian Church (which itself was among the earliest of all churches).

The conversation between the Ethiopian eunuch and Philip on the road to Gaza (Acts, Chapter 8) remains appropriate when considering the conveyance of Baptism, which I personally hold to be common among all Christians, by whichever method.  Only the "why" is relevant.

When Philip came up to the Ethiopian's chariot, he heard the Ethiopian reading from Isaiah.  Philip asked if the Ethiopian understood what he was reading.  "How can I, unless someone guide me?" was the reply.

To meet necessary guidance, the Didache set forth a catechism (or summary) of the principles of Christian religious practices, to instruct early Gentile Christian converts.  It noted that the preferred procedure for Baptism is by immersion in "living waters"--which is to say a flowing stream.  But the Didache also recognized circumstances where that may not be possible.  It therefore set out procedures for Baptism in those circumstances.

The simple and guileless question by the Ethiopian eunuch to Philip is relevant:  "Look!  Here is water!  What is to prevent me from being baptized?" 

At Kilchiaran, the proper answer would be "Nothing."

Within the ruined east chancel, its piscina still holds water next to the altar.  Its Font Stone, to the west, has been returned.  Outside the chapel ruin is Abhainn na Braghad (Braid), the living waters of a bubbling brook that issues over the shingled beach into Kilchiaran Bay, the only beach in the area where swimming in the cold Atlantic is safely possible.

March 23, 2017  Gleann nan Cuilean waterfall, at Kilkchiaran chapel

And above Kilchiaran are the cascade falls of Gleann nan Cuilean (The Darling Glen).  There is  nothing to separate you at Kilchiaran.  It is whole.  Entire.  One.

March 23, 2017 A placid Kilchiaran Bay