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Our annual
parish pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of
Walsingham took place this year from Monday 13 to Friday
17 May, with 17 pilgrims.
The timetable started off with a Blessing of Pilgrims in
St Matthew's Lady Chapel at 9.30am and we then set off
in private cars, with a lunch stop en route, arriving at
Walsingham in early afternoon. First stop, as always,
was the Slipper Chapel, the Roman Catholic Shrine, where
we said a short prayer and Fr Nicholas took the group
photo. At the Anglican Shrine we had our First Visit to
the Holy House at 3.30pm, assembling at the Shrine
Church after depositing cases in rooms, and all |
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went in
together. Shrine Mass, in the Nave, was at 5.00pm, after
which there was free time to unpack and look round the
Shrine and the village before we met up again for
Evening Prayer followed by Supper in the refectory at
6.30pm. At 8.00pm we had Discussion and free time, when
we decamped to The Bull in the village.
Each day had a structured programme of events, with
pilgrims free to join in as much or as little as they
liked - attendance at everything is not compulsory!
Every day had Buffet Breakfast from 8.00am, Morning
Prayer at 9.00am and a Mass. In the afternoons after
Lunch there was free time till Evening Prayer at 5.30pm
followed by Supper. Fr Nicholas gave a talk on Tuesday
and Thursday and certain days had certain Shrine events
- on Tuesday evening the Sprinkling at the Well followed
by Ministries of Healing, on Wednesday evening the
Candlelight Procession of Our Lady followed by
Benediction.
The Shrine was full with many other groups in residence
and pilgrims coming just for the day; in our own group
we celebrated Morning Prayer, Mass and on Wednesday
morning Stations of the Cross, and joined in as a whole
with other pilgrims to celebrate Evening Prayer, the
Sprinkling at the Well and the Pilgrimage Mass on
Wednesday and the Candlelit Procession. Even with so
many people about, the Shrine exudes a feeling of peace
and it's easy to sit in the lovely gardens and enjoy the
quietness and the birds singing and not be conscious of
other people. This year unfortunately the weather was
poor, with a cold wind and rain at times.
An important part of the Pilgrimage, going as a parish
group, is the social aspect and it gives us a chance to
get to know each other better and let our hair down.
With free time every day there's a chance to walk round
the village, visit the Slipper Chapel again, go outside
the village to the sea or other towns nearby, or just
have a rest. And of course, there's always the local
pub, where we all congregated for our last evening's
social gathering.
Friday arrived and our last morning before departure was
celebrated with the Last Visit to the Holy House, a
liturgy consisting of prayers and hymns. All liturgies
throughout the week are laid out in the Pilgrimage
Manual which we all individually have with us. A Parish
Pilgrimage is arranged every year from
St Matthew's, normally in May or June; last year we also
had a short two-day visit in October and also a day
Pilgrimage for those who had not visited the Shrine
before to have a taste of the joy it can offer. |
