THE P
RTAL
Walsingham , Oxford , and off to Liverpool
September 2018 Page 4
Auntie
Joanna
Joanna Bogle ’ s summer travels
have been fortunate to spend time at the two places most
I dear to members of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham : John Henry Newman ’ s beloved College at Littlemore , and the great National Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham . writes
The Walsingham adventure is an annual one : the splendid Dominican Sisters based in the New Forest in the diocese of Portsmouth organise an annual Walk to the shrine . It starts at Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk with a Mass in the ruins of the great Abbey where Magna Carta was drawn up .
We settle for the night , the men in the church hall at the welcoming Catholic church of St Edmund , and the ladies in the adjoining Catholic school . Morning Prayer the next day is followed by a departure in a fleet of cars and minibuses to the small town of Brandon , where our walk begins with Mass and a generous breakfast provided by the local Catholic Parish .
The Walk is dedicated to St John Paul and was initiated the year after his death , to invoke his intercession for the New Evangelisation that our poor country so badly needs .
This year ’ s tremendous heat made the 20-plus miles on each of the first two days particularly trying . And I developed a messy blister on one foot which meant I had to admit defeat and accept a ride in the minibus for part of the way .
We all arrived in Walsingham on the Sunday in triumph – hot , grubby , and carrying our banner . We are grateful for the kind hospitality of the Sacred Heart school at Swaffham , and the Anglican parish at West Raynham for our overnight stays .
There is much happening at Walsingham in 2018 : plans for a great new church , and growing numbers of pilgrims . Before the John Paul Walk , I had already spent a wonderful couple of days at the shrine , with the splendid New Dawn gathering which has been held annually for over thirty years and brings together young families from across Britain .
Among its highlights are a glorious Rosary walk down the Holy Mile , and a concelebrated Mass in the ruined Priory , hundreds of us gathered on the wide lawns .
Oxford ? I was there later in August to visit Littlemore , where Blessed John Henry Newman was received into full communion with the Catholic Church .
The Sisters of The Work welcomed us with the wide lawns . tea and cake – I had come with a colleague to do some research on a Newman project . More on the project later – it is my main work for this Autumn .
The Library at Littlemore is a feast of books and Newman memorabilia : I was glad to be able to peruse a number of useful works , and the Sisters were helpful and informative .
The conversation over tea at Ambrose Cottage where the sisters live was a delight , and they were also able to pinpoint specific places in the small collection of buildings that constitute the College including the room where Bl . Dominic Barberi slept . The whole place was for a while used as alms-houses ; and then at one stage the Library was a hall used by local scouts !
And now , as the summer ends , I am off on pilgrimage again . The great Eucharistic Congress in Liverpool starts on my Birthday , and I will be travelling there with a fellow pilgrim , sent on our way with a blessing from Father Christopher Pearson at the Church of the Most Precious Blood at London Bridge , and a Birthday Tea with prosecco .
I ’ ll be telling you about the Congress in a future issue of The Portal !