Who: Hestia Jones & Charlie Weasley When: Tuesday, March 30th, Afternoon Where: St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland What: Prayer and Reflection
Hestia loved the silence of cathedrals. People entered with such a reverence for the church. Hestia imagined many of them were as lost as she was. St Patrick's had been her parish for as long as she could remember. Hestia worried that one day she would enter the church and not feel a connection with her faith or family. It wasn't something she could explain to people. The walls were just walls. She knew that. The pews were only wooden benches and the candles burning with just wax. And yet it was all more. It was something deeper and more powerful that a group of things placed inside a building.
She sat in the back as she often did. With all of her sins and transgressions, Hestia couldn't bring herself to walk further into the church. Entering in the first place felt like blasphemy. How could she keep calling herself a Catholic? She went against everything she was taught. She killed. She fornicated. She hated. Hestia sat in the pew with her hands folded and stared at the alter. Who was she to ask for forgiveness?
Bowing her head, Hestia spoke in a hushed whisper.
"Holy Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do you, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander through the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen."
Lifting her head after the prayer, Hestia sighed softly. "God forgive me," she whispered.