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Travel and retreats: Pilgrimage squeezed into a busy schedule

by
24 January 2020

When a full-on pilgrimage is difficult, pilgrim spirituality is still possible, even for the time-pressed, says Sally Welch

istock

Pilgrims make their way across the causeway to St Michael’s Mount, Cornwall: the final destination of a new one-day pilgrimage route

Pilgrims make their way across the causeway to St Michael’s Mount, Cornwall: the final destination of a new one-day pilgrimage route

I AM a pilgrim. My best self rises just before the dawn, and, boots in hand, tiptoes down the stairs of the hostel. Closing the door carefully so as not to disturb the sleepers, I lace up my boots, shoulder my pack, and set off, looking to the path ahead as it gradually becomes clearer in the early morning light.

The road is my constant compan­ion. While other pilgrims, dog walk­ers, and after-lunch strollers come and go, I will sturdily place one foot in front of the other, pausing occa­sion­­­ally to rest and eat or explore the roadside churches but none the less progressing steadily until I reach the evening’s destination. There, I will eat again, talk to other pilgrims, and reflect on all that the day has brought me, until night falls and I sleep once more.

Reduced to its barest form, a pil­grim­­­age is a “spiritual journey to a sacred place”. In contrast with their medieval forebears, most people nowa­­­­­­­­­days find the value of pilgrim­age in the journey rather than the destination (the spiritual and emo­tion­­­al “work” of pilgrimage is usu­ally achieved long before the desti­­­­nation has been reached).

Long hours of physical exertion allow the mind to wander, heal, grow, and encounter our creator God in new and ever deepening ways. Time spent on the road, over­com­­­ing mental and physical chal­lenges, enables the pilgrim to grow strong and return refreshed. Strangers become friends, friends share confidences and experiences, com­munity develops.

Pilgrimage is the rock of my men­­tal stability: it is the way I pray, rest, and recover; and the means by which I find the space to imagine, dream, plan, and prepare.

But I am not just a pilgrim: I am a parish priest; an area Dean; a dioce­­san spirituality adviser; a wife; a moth­­­­­er; a grandmother; a daughter. I am surrounded by duties and oblig­­­a­­­tions — some joyful and ful­filling, others mind-numbing and heartbreaking. But what part can the road play in a life that is, like so many others, fixed so firmly to a specific place?

From the beginning of my pilgrim days, I engaged with this issue, ini­tially by taking our young family with us on most of our journeys. We invented games and stories to keep them amused on the road, and we squashed all six of us into a single room at night to save money.

Now, I research pilgrim routes that are accessible by car at points along the way (my mother is at her happiest when she is travelling: her restlessness is satisfied by the move­ment of the vehicle). Taking three or four days away from ministry, I can meet my parents, who have travelled more slowly. Once at my desti­­nation, I walk for three hours, ren­dezvous for lunch, and walk again for two (as parental boredom begins to set in), finally returning to a friendly hotel for the evening. “Pilgrimage-lite”, perhaps, but valid none the less.

When even these journeys are be­­­­yond achieving, I have discovered alternatives. Just as high-intensity in­­­­­­ter­­­val training can supplement a long run or cycle, so “high-intensity pilgrimage” can be engaged with during the in-between times of life.

Our deanery has developed Pil­grim Paths: day-long circular walks between churches; small pilgrim jour­­­­­­neys of beauty and holiness. And we are not the only ones. All over the country, Christian communities are using pilgrimage to engage both the faithful and those on the borders of faith, its liminal nature encour­aging exploration and the discovery of external and internal landscapes.
The newly formed Christian Pil­grim­­­­age Network seeks to provide a hub for routes and reflections, be­­­sides serving as a forum for ex­­­change of expertise and resources. And 2020 has been designated the Year of Cathedrals and Pilgrimage by the Association of English Cathe­drals (in collaboration with the British Pilgrimage Trust); new one-day pilgrim routes are being launched — perfect for those whose time is squeezed.

istockThe pilgrim journeying alone

There is a luxury to long hours of daydreaming on pilgrimage, allow­ing thoughts and prayers to drift across the horizon of the mind, per­haps to gather momentum and so­­­lid­­­­ify into resolution or transforma­tion, perhaps to dissolve and disap­pear if not required. This luxury is not available, however, to the “high-intensity pilgrim”, and greater ef­­­forts must be made to invest the journey with the necessary intention.

Singing well-loved hymns out loud; chanting favourite Bible verses to the rhythm of footsteps; observing natural objects with a closeness that is ordinarily lacking; picturing a par­­tic­­u­­­lar problem or question as a scrunched-up ball of paper which the mind gradually smooths out, revealing the underlying issues — all these can help. But so, too, can simply enjoying the moment. Where am I? Here. When is it? Now. How do I feel? Present.

It is not always possible to be “our best self”. But it is possible to jour­ney towards the ideal — which is, after all, what pilgrimage is all about.

The Revd Dr Sally Welch is the au­­­thor of Journey to Contentment (to be published by BRF on 22 May). The Christian Pilgrimage Network web­site is currently under construction. To be kept up to date on its progress, please email sally.welch@christian
pilgrimagenetwork.org.uk.

 

The Revd Dr Sally Welch is the author of Journey to Contentment (to be published by BRF on 22 May). The Christian Pilgrimage Network website is currently under construction. To be kept up to date on its progress, email sally.welch@christianpilgrimagenetwork.org.uk.

One-day pilgrim routes

Canterbury Cathedral Pilgrimage (Seven- to 12-mile route options)

CANTERBURY has drawn pilgrims for more than 1000 years. It has the oldest church in the English-speaking world (St Martin’s), and its cathedral is known for the murder of the 12th-century St Thomas Becket. Four new one-day routes have been devised: the Old Way, from Patrixbourne (eight miles); the North Down Pilgrims Way, from Chilham (seven miles); August­ine Camino, from Faversham (12 miles); Via Francigena, from Shepherdswell (11 miles).

St Michael’s Way
Lelant to St Michael’s Mount: 11-13.5 miles

ST MICHAEL’S WAY is thought to date from 10,000 BC. It was used by travellers, mission­aries, and pilgrims, especially from Ireland and Wales, to avoid crossing the waters around Land’s End, and is believed to have aided Cornwall’s rapid conversion to Christianity. This one-day route goes from Lelant, on the north coast, to Marazion, on the south coast, opposite St Michael’s Mount. The route skirts Trencrom Hill. Venture up and you’ll be rewarded with one of the finest views in Cornwall.

Cuddy’s Corse
Chester-le-Street to Durham Cathedral: eight miles

THIS new riverside pilgrimage route runs from Chester-le-Street, past Finchale Priory (home of the 12th-century St Godric), to the riverside at Durham, with views of the castle and cathedral, finishing at the cathedral itself — where St Cuthbert, St Oswald, and the Venerable Bede are all buried.

Aquae Sulis Way
Bradford-on-Avon to Bath Abbey: 12 miles

LONG before the Romans arrived in Britain, Bath was considered a sacred site, owing to its healing waters. The pilgrim route starts in the Saxon town of Bradford-on-Avon, and runs along ancient riverside paths to Bath Abbey. After looking round the abbey, try the waters at the original Celtic holy site, the Cross Spring, now part of Thermae Bath Spa.

Wakefield Cathedral Pilgrimage
Dewsbury to Wakefield Cathedral: 7.5 miles

THIS new route starts at Dewsbury’s Minster Church of All Saints. Before you set off, visit its Paulinus Chapel to see the country’s earliest surviving carving of Christ in Majesty; dated about AD 850. The route takes in suburban streets before reaching countryside, then suburbs again, before the approach to Wakefield Cathedral.

 

For downloadable routes via a smartphone, and other one-day and longer pilgrim routes see britishpilgrimage.org.

Christine Miles

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