Mycah joined our 9th annual May pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady at Ladyewell, near Preston. Here are her thoughts:
Recently, a group from St Chrysostom’s joined friends from St Peters Oughtington for our annual day long pilgrimage to Ladyewell Shrine near Preston. It being May, and remembering particularly Our Lady this month, Joy was the theme of our Ladyewell pilgrimage.
The day began as a rainy one, as most days seem to in Manchester since I moved here in September. Personally, as someone who grew up with rain nearly every day of the year, I did not mind the light showers we were getting throughout the drive up towards the Shrine. The rain had stopped by the time we arrived, and what I love about these little smatterings of rain is how revitalized the flowers and plants look when they’ve had a drink recently. The Shrine gardens were gorgeous, the rain then sunshine bringing out the brightness of spring as the day grew sunnier into the afternoon.
The vitality of the plants added an extra little uplifting bounce in my step as I walked around the gardens admiring God’s Creation in the pocket of holiness to where we had journeyed.
There was a jolly sense of fellowship with everyone who was there, chatting over cups of tea and joining together in the Rosary at noon.
It seemed to me, throughout the day the sun slowly started to creep out and shine, it brought a sense of Joy to the world around us as we celebrated our time at the Shrine with a Mass and a blessing at the end.
Despite the weather, or because of it, Joy had crept up on me and made a special day of peaceful prayer, fellowship, and enjoying God’s creation.
For a report on our 2014 pilgrimage to Ladyewell click here.
St Chrysostom's Church News and Views 
Some lovely shots there!