Prayer stones returned to the sea at North Wales annual beach blessing

Hundreds of prayer stones have been returned to the sea in a moving ceremony at one of Wales's most historic pilgrimage sites. St Hywyn's Church in Aberdaron, Gwynedd, held the blessing service over the weekend, continuing the church's ministry on a route popular with North Wales pilgrims.

Throughout the year, pilgrims and visitors write prayers and messages on pebbles collected from the beach below. These stones are placed at the entrance to the church, gradually forming a prayer cairn that stands as a collective symbol of hope, remembrance and spiritual reflection.

During the service, the stones are gathered and carried back to the shore. There, on the sands of Aberdaron, they are arranged in the shape of a Celtic cross and a Christian labyrinth — ancient symbols of faith, journey, and spiritual reflection. As the tide returns, the sea gradually reclaims the stones, carrying the prayers outward once more.

The event forms part of the wider tradition of pilgrimage and prayer associated with St Hywyn’s and the Llŷn Peninsula. St Hywyn’s is the penultimate stop on the Llwybr Cadfan pilgrimage route before making the crossing to Ynys Enlli (Bardsey Island), a place long revered as the isle of 20,000 saints.

“Taking a pebble from the beach and returning it to the sea symbolises life's journey and our return to where we came from — to God," says Susan Fogarty, lay licensed leader in the Diocese of Bangor, who led the service.

She added, “Over the year, visitors to St Hywyn’s Church take a stone from the beach, and on the pebble they write a prayer or simply the name of someone who is ill or has died, as a mark of remembrance. They then lay the stone on the cairn.

“People from all over the country come and place their prayer stones on the cairn. At this service, we had people from Lincoln, the north of England, and South Wales. They had all visited Aberdaron before, left a prayer stone, and returned to take part in the service.”