Patrick Jamieson, Victoria

When Marnie Butler went to Ireland in 1998, she was on a faith journey with a specific mission. This was the first of three Ireland visits between 1998 and 2004 we made together and when we came back we had souvenirs beyond the memories of enchanted visitations, including the odd bottle of holy water from Knock and other little St. Patrick and St. Brigid shrines across the emerald isle.

Marnie had been diagnosed with a rare condition known as Sweet syndrome, a blood disorder that usually or often resulted in an inevitable cancer diagnosis She was convinced that Ireland could cure her and went about intuitively seeking such a cure at out of the way shrines like St. Patrick’s Well that she discovered and marked in her Small Planet guide books.

It was at a St. Brigid Cave when I was at one end inspecting the sticks and canes left behind by people who had been cured, when she encountered a group of Gaelic speakers who insisted, upon hearing her tale, that she drink from what she later called brackish water and that was the moment of her cure she insisted.

We also visited other holy water scenes such as the more famous Knock village where in typical Irish fashion, she insisted 14 people saw the visitation of the Blessed Virgin and a few other archetype figures on the back outside wall of the village church. The parish priest had been too tired after returning from pastoral visits to join them to his eternal regret, it is reported.

To move ahead a decade, Marnie presented some of the Knock Water to her bosom prophetic pal Deirdre Kelly when she was embarking on a social justice healing journey of her own to Fort Benning Georgia, (see Feature article and photo “The Prophetic Friendship of Deirdre Kelly & Marnie Butler) the site of the notorious School of the Assassins where she sprinkled some of the water as part of the ritual she had worked out with her justice companions. All in the spirit of Dorothy Day of the Catholic Worker movement, the great heroic figure of both Marnie and Deirdre in their tandem work in Victoria diocese as members of the Diocesan social justice Commission and Board of Directors of Island Catholic News.

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All this is by way of an introduction to Marnie’s Memorial May 17 at UVic’s University Club, between 2 and 5 pm. While well attended by some 60 people, another 60 couldn’t make it. (Here is a link to a video of the memorial, 600MB)

The event in the bar area and patio of the posh club featured ultimately four speakers, plus food, drink and camaraderie among artists, writers, musicians, relations and close friends.

Her daughter Sarah Butler gave a charming speech listing an extensive description of all the streets in Victoria where she and her mother lived during 70 some years. I used the outline of the essay I wrote on Marnie in the December ICN for my little talk with a certain amount of adlibbing.

The most attention, it must be admitted was paid to Bill Krampe’s speech which focused on certain shadow sides of reality that Bill had analyzed. Bill, a close friend of Marnie whom she wanted to have time at her life celebration; I could see her both grimace and smile tolerantly at his verbal antics. In his own arcane fashion, Bill presented his individual analysis of Marnie’s life in terms of ups and downs and personal evaluation of her spirit.

John Hillian was scheduled to be the fourth speaker and his essay is presented on the Feature “The Prophetic Friendship of Deirdre Kelly & Marnie Butler of this edition. He spoke for his now deceased wife Deirdre Kelly, the artist and social activist and bosom pal and prophetic partner of the great Marnie Butler nee Maureen Rae Berger.