God rested on the seventh day, but for pilgrims on the final stage of St Mark’s Way on the National Jubilee Pilgrimage of Hope there was no rest to be had! Day 7 had long since ended when the nightclub opposite the pilgrims’ accommodation in Eastwood turned the volume down from ‘eleven’ and the drunken fighting and shrieking finally fell silent at half past three in the morning. Apparently, it’s ‘fun’ to stay at the YMCA; and after that night, how we wished we had booked there…!
The eighth and last day of walking was the final ten miles from Eastwood to St Barnabas’ Cathedral. After a Blessing from Fr Paul in the Martyrs’ Chapel, the pilgrims started for Nottingham…
Rain was forecast to fall in the afternoon, but the day began pleasantly sunny, although the way was somewhat muddy and slippery, with footpaths often overgrown and twisting and turning around field boundaries …
Reaching the outskirts of Nottingham, we paused for lunch in Aspley. Finding a Catholic Church nearby, we called at the presbytery. Fr Victor at St Therese of Lisieux was not expecting pilgrims to turn up on his doorstep, but was extremely hospitable, opening up the church and sacristy for the pilgrims to have their lunches, and also leading us in prayer.
Emerging from the church to find that rain had fallen and a storm was imminent, we pressed on through the suburbs of Nottingham, as the rain grew heavier and thunder rolled… 
Our first view of St Barnabas’ Cathedral was nothing like this …
… but although the sky only turned blue later, the glowing interior of this stunning AWN Pugin masterpiece was undimmed …
Pilgrims were then greeted by the Bishop (who had walked with the St John’s pilgrims from Keyworth) and first the St Matthew’s, then St Mark’s Way groups arrived in the pouring rain, followed by the St Luke’s contingent from East Anglia.
For the Service of Thanksgiving, each group of pilgrims had been asked to prepare and present a short reflection. Anna Larkin was the St Mark’s group member involved with our prayers and liturgies, and she composed a wonderful three-minute piece which we will be publishing together with other pilgrim prayers and resources from the Pilgrimage of Hope…
During the service, the Bishop of Nottingham read out an Apostolic Blessing bestowed on the Jubilee Pilgrimage of Hope by Pope Leo. This was presented to Hearts in Search of God project lead, Phil McCarthy, for having initiated and organised the pilgrimage.
After photographs, the pilgrims were fed ploughmans and pies and – for those who still had the full use of their feet – there was dancing to the excellent ceilidh band, ‘Ride On’.
The pilgrimage will officially end tomorrow, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, with Holy Mass at 11.15am. Both the Mass and today’s Service of Thanksgiving are available to watch via the Nottingham Cathedral livestreaming service.
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