In August members of
Juventutem London (and the Guild of Blessed Titus Brandsma) assisted in the organisation of the Latin Mass Society's three day walking pilgrimage from Ely to Walsingham. Here is an inspiring report from a first time pilgrim.
We look forward to seeing you on the 2013 pilgrimage for the conversion of England!
~
By Rhoslyn Thomas
The pilgrimage to Walsingham was recommended to me by numerous
people, some of whom had only become interested in Latin Mass a couple
of years ago. I was somewhat sceptical as I had been taken to Latin Mass
as a teenager by my mother, and, being a rather rebellious 13 year old,
I was determined not to enjoy it. Though I do remember that I noted the
reverence shown not only by the priest, but also by the women and men
who were attending the Mass. I had never seen a mantilla before and I
had certainly never seen anyone kneel to receive communion!
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| Mass at Oxburgh Hall on Saturday morning. |
In the past year or so, I have left numerous parishes because I was
frustrated by the liberal approach adopted by the priests celebrating Mass and the way some people seemed to stuff the Eucharist in their
mouth. I am no saint, but if we, as Catholics, truly believe in
transubstantiation, this belief is not being reflected in the majority
of the ordinary Masses that I was attending. Nevertheless, switching
from ordinary to Latin Mass (though I will still attend ordinary Mass
for the most part) felt like a giant leap and I was embarrassed of my
ignorance, having only attended Latin Mass a few times in the past year.
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| The Holy Mile procession from The Slipper Chapel to the site of the original shrine in Walsingham. |
The pilgrimage, being my first, felt like a good opportunity to throw
myself in the deep end. I knew there would be daily Mass, singing of
the rosary and the opportunity to chat to priests who celebrate the old
rite. I was given a sizeable booklet with all the prayers I would need
to know, both in Latin and English, and lots of songs to sing whilst
walking. During Mass, we were also given a slim red book, again in Latin
and English, which outlines the order of the Mass, with explanations
and pointers which help you to work out where you are in the Mass, when
to kneel etc.
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| Pilgrims enjoying a well earned meal on Saturday evening! |
During the Mass, I felt it was far easier to concentrate and I felt
reassured by the reverence shown by others in the congregation. Nobody
was afraid to show respect and kneel or bow their heads, which is quite
different from what I was used to!
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| Canon Olivier Meney ICKSP joined the pilgrimage for the final day's walk. |
As for the walking, yes it is 55 miles over about two and a half
days, but it’s almost all flat and when you are singing the Rosary in Latin,
French and English (all in your booklet), it is much easier to keep
going. You also know that you are walking with a purpose, that is for
the conversion of England! This is not a Duke of Edinburgh expedition,
you are not walking to nowhere. You have the shrine of Our Lady of
Walsingham as your goal and the journey is vital to the experience. The
priests who were with us, Father Bede, Father Cahill and a seminarian,
James, were all fantastic, warm, approachable, humble and above all
reverent people. I felt at ease with them and everyone else on the trip.
I didn’t hide the fact that I knew very little about Latin Mass and
people helped me out, pointing to where we were on the page, explaining
certain aspects of the Mass and chatting away to me about their
conversion to Latin Mass. Very few people had been raised in the old
rite. There were quite a few very recent converts on the pilgrimage and
it was inspiring to see how open they were to something which was even
more foreign to them, than it was to me!
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| Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury blessed the pilgrims before they began the final Holy Mile. |
By the end, I knew most of the prayers that we had sung off by heart,
in Latin, French and English, I felt much more confident about
attending Latin Mass and I had visited some truly stunning churches and
tiny chapels along the route. I won’t lie - there were blisters and
aching muscles as well as some torrential rain, but this is a pilgrimage
after all! It’s challenging, but far from impossible. I encourage
anyone who thinks they might enjoy it to go for it. Prepare your feet
well and be open to a new experience of Mass!
The Latin Mass Society (on whose website this report was first published) are very grateful for all of the walkers, particularly
Rhoslyn for her above report, all the volunteers, particularly the
cooks, and all those that helped make the Walsingham Pilgrimage the
success that it was.
They are particularly pleased to report that we have been
informed by people that the submitted intentions which were carried by
the walkers to Walsingham have been answered. Some very directly,
including Mr M. H. who had his petition answered within days of the
completion of the Pilgrimage. The LMS welcome news of people who have had
their prayers answered after submitting a request to the Walsingham
pilgrimage, just email info@lms.org.uk.
