Rita Oates Burnt Cross, Kylemore Abbey Sq. Card

A symbol of the strength and energy, hope can give us. 

The Burnt Cross at Kylemore Abbey was one of many treasured items hidden by the Benedictine nuns in the cellars of their monastery in Ypres in Belgium before the building was destroyed during World War I.

The nuns subsequently found refuge in Kylemore Abbey, a place of beauty and tranquility. After the war, some of the nuns returned to the remains of their monastery at Ypres to retrieve what items had survived. Among their carefully hidden treasures they found this Cross.

Burnt and blackened from the war, I believe it derives its unique significance from the strength it gave to those escaping believing they would return. When I saw it, I considered it a symbol of faith, hope and resilience to survive the darkest of times.