THE P RTAL
August 2014
Joanna Bogle DSG invites us all to go on
Pilgrimage to a place not as well known
as it ought to be among Catholics
Walsingham…by a
strange and rather delightful
plan of Providence I have been at England’s Nazareth
several times this year, and by the time you read this will be there
again…
the leafy lanes
of Norfolk
Every August young
people
from
around
Britain join the Dominican
Sisters of St Joseph, from
Hampshire, in the John
Paul II Pilgrimage for the
New Evangelisation. The
pilgrims walk along the
leafy lanes of Norfolk and
on half-hidden ancient
paths by cornfields and beet-fields and rivers, covering
50 miles over a three-day journey, reaching the shrine
for the 12 noon Sunday Mass. It’s glorious, inspiring,
and wonderful – and it requires good humour, proper
care of the feet, and a willingness to put up with some
modest discomfort.
Auntie Jo a n
England’s Nazareth
Page 4
na
wri tes
next morning to Brandon for
start of the long walk. The
Catholic parish at Brandon
provides a splendid breakfast
after an early morning Mass.
Then we set off on foot, with
stops on the way for picnic
meals, and a hot supper and
accommodation waiting for
us at a school hall at the end of the day.
On the first weekend of July, a small team met
at Walsingham to check the route for this annual
pilgrimage: this involved walking long stretches of
the way, brushing through ferns and pulling back
brambles along overgrown paths, leaving a tiny medal
A couple of years ago the Ordinariate got involved, tucked into a post at one crossing-point as a small
and provides priests who accompany the pilgrims, marker, enjoying a well-deserved fish-and-chip supper
enduring sore feet along with them and also sharing at Fakenham, soaking our souls in the beauty of the
the joys, companionship and adventures of the journey, countryside and sometimes our feet in sudden splashy
and serving as chaplains for confession, counsel, Mass, puddles.
and morning and evening prayer.
the Abbey at Bury St Edmunds
This year’s Pilgrimage will start on Thursday August
7th at 4.30pm with a glorious Mass in the ruins of the
ancient abbey at Bury St Edmunds. Join us for this
Mass: anyone and everyone is welcome. This is the
place where the abbots of England drew up Magna
Carta. This is where they urged, as the first statement of
principles for our land, “That the Church in England be
free”. To be at Mass here is an unforgettable experience.
The abbey is an easy walk from the railway station.
Priests can concelebrate: talk to the Dominican sisters:
www.dominicansistersofstjoseph.org/apostolate/
saint-john-paul-ii-pilgrimage or telephone 01590 681
between 2.30 and 5pm.
The pilgrims then stay overnight at Bury St
Edmunds (in the church hall) and are ferried the
contents page
Norfolk in golden sunshine
It was a fabulous weekend: while we are fairly familiar
with much of the route after taking part in pilgrimages,
it was necessary check every detail with the maps, and
the work was both satisfying and hugely enjoyable.
Norfolk in golden sunshine, friendly farmers who were
happy to help (“We keep telling the Highways people
to clear that footpath. We’ll nag them again now we
know you’re coming…”). A couple of mild adventures
– a sore foot, a temporarily missed meeting-up, sorted
out by mobile-phone – some beautiful moments of
prayer along the way, a packed Sunday Mass at the
shrine. We stayed at Swallows in Walsingham High
Street: recommended (clean and comfortable, a good
breakfast - 01328 820 555). We prayed at the Anglican
shrine and at the Church of the Annunciation in the
village. We loved every moment of our stay, and we’ll
be back in August.