THE P RTAL
November 2014
Page 23
Walsingham and London
A pilgrimage to Walsingham in the summer in pouring rain…
and a reunion walk in London in golden autumn sunshine
... these two are united, and Joanna Bogle tells us how
The John
Paul II Pilgrimage to Walsingham has a special bond with the Ordinariate – for the past
few summers Ordinariate priests have been its chaplains. This year Fr Simon Heans did a splendid job,
getting soaked and scratched by brambles and struggling through mud with the rest of the pilgrims before
returning to London to his routine job as a prison chaplain.
The Pilgrimage also had a new name this year, with
“Saint” being added with great joy, following the
canonisation of the great Pope in April.
pilgrims reunite in the Autumn
Part of the tradition is that the pilgrims reunite in
the autumn, and again the Ordinariate plays a central
role: for the past two years, the Reunion Walk has been
based at the Church of the Most Precious Blood, by
London Bridge.
Things start with the pilgrims being welcomed at
the parish Mass at 11 am and then, after coffee and
sandwiches and much catching up on news, we set
out on a London Walk along the Thames. This year, a
special extra: while in Poland making a documentary
about St John Paul, I visited the shrine of Ludmiercz,
and was given a replica of the statue of Our Lady there.
The story is an intriguing one: back in the 1960s,
when Cardinal Wyszyński crowned the statue in a
Sanctuary of Our Lady of Ludźmierz
great ceremony attended by thousands, the sceptre
suddenly fell from Mary’s hand and swooped through by so much that speaks of our country’s history.
the air – and was caught by Archbishop Karol Wojtyła,
At the Tower of London we joined, the vast crowds
who was standing nearby. It was extraordinary.
who had come to see the great blood-red sea of
Ten years later, when he was elected Pope, everyone poppies commemorating the fallen of the Great War…
remembered about the sceptre – and agreed that it had an unforgettable and powerfully moving sight which
been prophetic. Our little statue was blessed by Father none of us will forget.
Christopher Pearson at Mass and then carried by each
Back at Precious Blood: Benediction with the candles
of us in turn during this year’s London Walk. It will
stay at Precious Blood Church and come on pilgrimage glowing as dusk fell outside, and then Tea with plenty
of cake and good appetites.
with us each year. See www.rabavalley.co.uk/Xa.htm
Dominican Sisters of St Joseph
The pilgrims are led by the excellent Dominican
Sisters of St Joseph, from Hampshire, and the sight
of three nuns in full habit striding along the riverside
is itself a form of witness. Shakespeare’s Globe,
the Millennium Bridge, Blackfriars… at St Paul’s
Cathedral, we went into the chapel set aside for prayer,
and it was beautiful to pray together there, surrounded
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And we’ll be off to Walsingham again next year. The
dates are August 6th to 9th 2015. We walk 20 miles a
day, sleeping overnight in school halls and church halls.
We pray and sing along the lanes and meadows, we
have daily Mass – notably in the ruined Abbey at Castle
Acre - and we finish at Walsingham on the Sunday in
triumph at the 12 noon Pilgrim Mass where we are
given a wonderful welcome. Come and join us!