We had a fantastic pilgrimage to Walsingham this year – probably our largest numerically, very inclusive and very varied – and very joyful, spiritual and fun! It is always a delight to meet up with our friends from St Peter’s, Oughtrington and beyond. Here are some photos from pilgrims and some photos too. We’re already planning next years pilgrimage.
“What was especially good for me was the wonderful company of those gathered in Christ’s name. All were lovely and supportive and very welcoming of Albert (aged 3yrs) in the group. If anyone is welcome in the house of the Mother of mother’s, it’s a child, and Albert was treated with love, respect, patience and tolerance.”
“A special moment for me was Mass at South Creake. We were celebrating Mary’s Assumption and we did so as inclusive parishes with sister and brother priests of SCP. It was a splendid Mass, full of joy and prayer. Whilst the fireworks the night before displayed a triumphal theology of Mary, our simple and dignified worship spoke to me of the humility and maternity of Mary – obedient to God, desolate at the Cross, hopeful on Easter Morning and now assumed into heaven. A time of – joy, hope and prayer!”
“Our pilgrimage brought home to me the manifold joys of journeying:
celebrating our Lady’s journey to heaven in the Assumption;
the physical journeys to Walsingham, Binham, South Creake, and Mother Julian’s cell in Norwich;
the journey of prayer in the Rosary;
The journey by candlelight through the village;
the journey in the garden of our Lady;
the journey of friendships old and new;
and the journey of the heart to greet and welcome Mary and her Son into our lives.”
“My special memories of Walsingham this year are about people and inclusion. Our party was a very mixed group, from a number of parishes, of all ages and backgrounds, and yet we very quickly felt like family. When we visited South Creake, we received such a generous, warm welcome, that it felt like visiting family. I had a very strong sense of us being the body of Christ, not just words, but lived out and experienced. It left me with a profound sense of joy: this is how God intends us to ‘be’ with each other, as the body of Christ.”
St Chrysostom's Church News and Views 