On the last Saturday in September, and blessed with glorious sunny weather, some 300 people, both young and old, took part in the annual Diocesan Pilgrimage to the Shrine and Basilica of Our Lady of Walsingham. The journey from Yorkshire to North Norfolk requires an early start and most pilgrims would been on their way by 7.00am, ready to arrive in time for the mid-day Pilgrim Mass in the Chapel of Reconciliation, a short distance from the village of Walsingham.
On this occasion Bishop Marcus was unable to lead the Pilgrimage as a few days previously he had travelled to Rome for the start of the latest session of the Synod of Bishops. In his absence the Pilgrimage was led by the Dean of Leeds Cathedral, Canon Matthew Habron. He was the chief concelebrant at the Pilgrim Mass during which the homily was preached by Fr Marc Pitson from the Parish of Our Lady of Kirkstall, Leeds.
After lunch the pilgrims, including groups of students from several of the high schools in the Diocese and a contingent organised by the Youth Service, gathered outside the Chapel of Reconciliation to begin the Procession into Walsingham village via the Pilgrim Way. The walk into the village takes about an hour and on arrival the Procession makes its way to the grounds of Walsingham Priory and the site of the medieval shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, established in 1061 and for centuries one of the most important pilgrim destinations in Christendom.
Canon Habron led a service of Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, Vespers and Benediction, which concluded at about 4.30pm. At that point our pilgrims began their journeys back to the Diocese having been part of a memorable day.
All of us owe a debt of gratitude to Fr Ben Griffiths, the Pilgrimage Organiser, now in his twentieth year in the role. The planning that goes into the event each year ensures that Pilgrims return home from a spiritually rewarding experience, in a place that has been part of England’s Catholic history for nearly a thousand years.
A date for the diary: next year’s Walsingham Pilgrimage takes place on Saturday 27th September 2025
An album of photos from this year’s Pilgrimage can be viewed here: https://www.patricksicephotography.co.uk/blog/walsingham
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