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On the
last Monday morning of May six of us left for Walsingham.
We began our pilgrimage with a simple service of
blessing during which Fr Nicholas 'sprinkled' us with
holy water. I say sprinkled but really I should say
splashed, I think if he had his way he would be throwing
buckets of it at us.
We divided between two cars and set off with the aim of
meeting for lunch at Worzals Bar and Grill. This is a
really good reasonably priced restaurant the other side
of Wisbech so about three quarters of the way to
Walsingham. We have been going here for many years and
have seen it expand from a small Farm Shop and cafe to
the award-winning restaurant with open fire, patio area
and children's playground. There is still a farm shop
and a butchery.
Lunch for five of us was fish finger sandwiches and we
all agreed that if the size of the fingers was anything
to go by we are glad we didn't meet the whole fish. I
can't remember who the 'odd one out' was or what they
had. Feeling well sated we set off again on the thirty
minute journey to the Slipper Chapel.
Built in the mid-14th century, and dedicated to Saint
Catherine of Alexandria, this chapel served pilgrims on
their way to England's Nazareth. Saint Catherine was the
patron saint of pilgrims to the Holy Land and her
knights kept open the road to Nazareth during the
Crusades. Her tomb lies in the Monastery on Mount Sinai,
within the Basilica of the Annunciation. Just as on
Mount Sinai, Moses took off his shoes because he was on
holy ground, so the pilgrims to England's Holy Land used
to remove their shoes and walk the Holy Mile into
Walsingham.
At the Slipper Chapel six became seven as Peter who was
already in Norfolk visiting family joined us. Usually we
are here for a quick prayer lasting no more than five
minutes, however, I thought as we went in that there
were more people there than usual, the reason soon
became evident as a priest appeared and began praying.
As we didn't know exactly what this service was we
weren't sure how long it was going to last but felt we
couldn't leave. Fifty minutes later after joining in the
Rosary, devotions to Our Lady and Benediction we left,
and as we did we saw on the door a notice saying about
this service. If only we had looked on our way in. The
silver lining to the cloud was Fr Nicholas excused us
from Evening Prayer.
After unpacking and a hearty meal we played host to
Andrew and Caroline Ward. This was a renewal of
acquaintances as some of you may know they both played a
part in St Matthew's for some years. Caroline told us
how her job at the shrine had changed over the past two
years and Andrew spoke about his Lay Reader ministry at
Kings Lynn Minster. I can assure you Andrew's jokes have
got no better.
Talking about renewing acquaintances, at breakfast time
on Tuesday seven became eight. Seymour joined us, he was
only able to do two nights due to his commitments. After
Morning Prayer and Mass, Fr Ben Bradshaw the Shrine
Priest spoke to us about how the shrine had fared during
lockdown and the challenges facing them now. Due to
uncertainties they had to let some staff go whilst
others were put on the furlough scheme. The knock-on
effect of this is being felt now as like a lot of
hospitality services they are having difficulty filling
these posts. The Norton Bar closed at short notice or
was not open when it would usually be, as there just
weren't the people to staff it. However, I am happy to
report the meals in the refectory were as filling and
plentiful as ever.
Tuesday evening was the service of Sprinkling,
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and Healing
Ministries. As ever this was a moving time being
sprinkled with water from the well. In a change to
previous years, after Benediction we were invited to
leave at any time prior to or during the healing
ministries taking place. This was a welcome change as
there was no pressure to hurry through the ministries of
healing and reconciliation.
As usual Wednesday morning was the Pilgrim Mass in the
Shrine Church which all pilgrims present attend. Fr
Nicholas concelebrated along with some of the other
priests there.
After lunch four of us went to Sandringham whilst the
others stayed around the shrine and village. I have been
to the gardens before but not in the house, so I found
the guided tour very interesting. I was intrigued as to
how small each room was. We had headphones on which we
could control volume, skip forward or backward or pause
which was really good as it meant we could go at our own
pace. Each room was how it usually is when the Queen is
there, the only difference was the furniture was pushed
apart to enable a pathway through each room. As I leant
over the rope to look at the top of an occasional table
I heard a buzzer and a member of staff instantly telling
me to step back. I had inadvertently stepped too far and
set an alarm off. My 'misbehaviour' didn't stop there. I
was in the shop looking at chutneys and picked one up.
On seeing the price I decided I wasn't prepared to pay
way over the odds just because it had the Queen and
Sandringham House on the label. As I put it down I
caught another jar and sent several tumbling.
Wednesday evening brought with it the Procession of Our
Lady and Benediction at which Fr Nicholas had the
privilege of blessing us with the sacrament. We wound
our way through the garden singing the Walsingham Hymn.
I didn't need my running shoes on as with thirty-seven
verses and a refrain there is plenty of time to do this
at a dignified pace.
After breakfast on Thursday morning we went back down to
seven as Seymour departed for home and to serve at St
Matthew's in the evening.
As it was Ascension Day we went to the Parish Church for
Mass. The Shrine and local Church share principal feast
days between them rather than be in competition for
worshippers. As you would expect it was a concelebrated
sung service. At service end there was wine for all and
a shared lunch afterwards for locals. Fr Harri during
the notices asked them to hold off from lunch until he
had said grace. I believe that in the past they have
started before he had taken his robes off, let alone got
down to the back of church.
Later we visited The Society of St Margaret Convent in
the Shrine grounds which houses two nuns, Srs Angela and
Carol. We visit them every year and every time Sr Angela
makes us laugh with stories of her time in Aberdeen and
East London ministering to some of the roughest people.
Sr Carol tells us of her work in the local school and
brings us up to date with her family news. They also
spoke of the changes they have made within the house,
partly due to Sr Angela's age. They now have their main
meal of the day in the shrine and a cleaner.
Fr Nicholas then led us in Stations of the Cross, which
are situated in the garden. Although Father led us the
wrong way it was uneventful compared to the time a
pigeon left a deposit on Fr Nicholas' head. We managed
to avoid the promised rain.
After dinner we decided to go to the Black Lion. We
weren't so lucky with the rain. We waited for the
downpour to become a trickle then braved the five-minute
walk. On getting there we found it was shut, I was not
happy getting wet for nothing. We then walked back to
the pub opposite the shrine and went in there. This is
more of a 'locals' pub so fairly loud which doesn't suit
everyone. Here we presented Fr Nicholas and Jean with
gifts as a thank you for leading and organising the
pilgrimage.
Friday morning came all too soon and it was time to
depart. We divided into three cars and set off. As we
got close to Peterborough we had a discussion about
stopping off at the service station for refreshment.
However, as we weren't in a hurry decided instead to go
to a Mediterranean garden centre at Oundle. Once there
we discovered that whilst the centre was still open the
coffee shop had closed during the first lockdown and not
reopened. That put paid to that idea so we decided just
to come home. We were approaching Rushden and decided
that maybe our bladders wouldn't hold out, (none of us
were in the first flush of youth) so we stopped and made
use of Marks and Spencer's facilities. We also had a
leisurely late lunch of tea and sandwiches watching the
cars come and go in the car park and getting to know
each other more.
If this article has whetted your appetite to know more
about the Shrine and its work, please ask any of the
cell members. We have Mass of the Holy House on the
second Saturday of the month with refreshments and a
chat afterwards; do come to this, it is open to all not
just members.
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