HEARTS IN SEARCH OF GOD

The Holystone Way is a Pilgrim Way for the Diocese of Hexham & Newcastle.

St Joseph's Way is a Pilgrim Way for the Diocese of Portsmouth and the Bishopric of the Armed Forces.

The St Cuthbert Mayne Way is a Pilgrim Way from the Cathedral of SS Mary & Boniface in Plymouth to the Shrine of St Cuthbert Mayne in Launceston. Cuthbert Mayne was an English Catholic priest executed in Launceston under the laws of Elizabeth I. Mayne was beatified in 1886 and canonised as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales in 1970. The Way leaves the Cathedral and crosses Victoria Park to reach the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer near Plymouth docks and then the Church of St Paul. The route leaves Plymouth and follows the Tamar Valley Discovery Trail. The River Tavy is crossed using a ford near Lopwell House to reach Bere Alston Station where a train must be taken to Calstock. The Way continues to follow the Tamar Valley Discovery Trail northwards over rolling hills and riverside meadows. After Horsebridge the route is mainly on quiet lanes to Milton Abbot. Finally the Way reaches Launceston and the Church and Shrine of St Cuthbert Mayne. NB the route involves two river crossings, one by a ford and one by short train ride.

A Pilgrim Way for the Diocese of Menevia from the Cathedral of St Joseph in Swansea to St Anthony’s Well in Llansteffan. NB the route involves a summer only ferry crossing. St Anthony of Egypt (c251 - 356), was a Christian hermit who a powerful influence on the Celtic Church. According to local tradition a Welsh hermit, Antwn (Anthony), who had taken the name of the Egyptian hermit, settled near Llansteffan in the C6. The Way leaves Swansea heading north along the New Cut to reach the Shrine of Divine Mercy at the Church of the Sacred Heart in Morriston. The Way heads west to join and follow a disused railway line to reach the Wales Coast Path. The path reaches the Church of Our Lady Queen of Peace at Llanelli and then the Church of Our Lady Star of the Sea at Burry Port. The route passes Pembry Forest to reach the Church of Our Lady & St Cadoc at Kidwelly, and then continues along the coast to reach Ferryside where the River Towey is crossed by ferry.  St Anthony's Well is a short walk south of the village of Llansteffan.

The Holywell Way is a Pilgrim Way for the Diocese of Wrexham from the Cathedral of Our Lady of Sorrows in Wrexham to the National Shrine of St Winefride at Holywell. St Winefride’s Well is believed to be the only British shrine that has a history of uninterrupted pilgrimage from the Middle Ages to the present day. The Way is north from the Cathedral to join the Wat's Dyke Way which then passes through a valley beside the River Alyn to the villages of Caergwrle and Hope. After 10 miles the Pilgrim Way diverges from the Wat's Dyke Way to visit the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary in Buckley, re-joining the Wat’s Dyke Way just over a mile after this. On leaving the village of Sychdyn the Wat's Dyke Way diverts from the line of the Dyke to take in a Celtic hill fort at Rhosesmor. The Pilgrim Way takes a more direct route, but the two paths coincide again shortly before crossing the A55 North Wales Expressway. After this the path follows an impressive section of the Dyke. The Way ends at the Shrine of St Winefride in Holywell, but pilgrims may wish to walk on to Basingwerk Abbey, the ruins of a C12 Cistercian monastery (1.0 miles). This is the start of the North Wales Pilgrim’s Way.

St Theodore's Way is a Pilgrim Way for the Diocese of Salford.

The Way of Blessed Cyprian Tansi is from the Cathedral of St Barnabas in Nottingham to Mount St Bernard Abbey near Coalville.

The Way of Our Lady of Fernyhalgh and St Alphonsa is a Pilgrim Way from the Cathedral of St Peter in Lancaster to the Shrine of Our Lady at Fernyhalgh and on to the Syro-Malabar Cathedral of St Alphonsa in Preston.

The Way of the Annunciation is a Pilgrim Way from the Cathedral of St John the Baptist in Norwich to the Catholic National Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham and the Church of the Annunciation in Little Walsingham.

In this post Alison Gelder shares her experience of group walking pilgrimage drawing on many years of taking part in Pilgrim Cross during Holy Week.

In this post Andrew Kelly, Co-Founder and Route Director of the Augustine Camino describes how to develop a good pilgrim route based on his experience of developing the Augustine Camino. The Augustine Camino , the popular pilgrimage route to the Shrine of St Augustine in Ramsgate has featured on Radio 4 and in the National and Specialist Press . It visits the two oldest cathedrals in England as well as shrines to five of England’s greatest saints plus two monasteries with accommodation right on the route. The art on display is stunning – sometimes being borrowed for exhibitions at the British Museum or the V&A in London. It is a candidate for Britain’s best developed pilgrimage route with waymarking, plenty of accommodation options and services including a website, helpdesk, guidebook, accommodation booking and baggage transfers. The 46 pilgrim stamps are recognised towards a Compostela in Santiago as well as one at the Shrine of St Augustine in Ramsgate. It is wholly within the Archdiocese of Southwark and includes shrines to all three diocesan patrons – Our Lady, St Thomas Becket and St Augustine of Canterbury. Developing a good pilgrimage route starts with a worthy objective; somewhere of significance, such as an important and beautiful shrine. There should be a compelling story relevant to the Diocese and hopefully a history of devotion. In our case we have the Diocesan Shrine to St Augustine of Canterbury. It is a beautiful Grade I listed building, designed and built by Augustus Welby Pugin, the designer of Big Ben. The Shrine is a focus of devotion to the Apostle to the English, the man sent by Gregory the Great to convert the English to Christianity in 597. It is important for the route to cover a realistic distance. The famous routes such as the Camino de Santiago or the Via Francigena have government support. If you don’t have that level of funding then choose something manageable within your resources. Many pilgrims don’t have the time or the inclination to walk for weeks on end, so pick a distance that can be accomplished on annual leave from work. Remember also that not everyone is fit. Although the fastest completion of the Augustine Camino was 22 hours , most take a week and many take a lot longer. We have many pilgrims in their eighties – think of their needs. The Augustine Camino is roughly 100kms long which allows us to have the same rules as Santiago – to walk at least 100kms and collect at least two pilgrim stamps per day. This also happens to be the approximate distance from Nazareth to Jerusalem on foot which is possibly where the rule came from. Pilgrimage is about the journey as much as the destination, so ensure there is plenty of interest along the way. We started with a list of all the most sacred and beautiful churches locally and then worked to see how many we could reasonably include. Don’t slavishly follow a medieval route – they miss many more recent places of interest. In our case this would have meant walking down the A2. As far as possible, we have avoided roads. Not only is this much more pleasant but it is also safer, particularly if you are walking in a group. People can be awfully careless if they think someone else is looking after health and safety! Pilgrim stamps can seem an unnecessary addition to your pilgrimage. However, they are extremely popular, both with pilgrims and with churches. The local pubs have become quite competitive with their stamp designs and they are a good way to engage local organisations such as community halls, cafes and campsites. We also distribute a window sticker welcoming pilgrims. It all helps to engender a feeling of ownership and pride in the route amongst the local community. A stamped pilgrim passport also gives access to special services such as free entry to Canterbury Cathedral, a pilgrim rate at Aylesford Priory and the new Sanctuary network of low-cost accommodation in churches and halls. Having walked many long-distance trails, there is nothing more annoying than finding yourself in a remote car park at the end of a tiring day. A pub/café for lunch and a choice of accommodation each evening is vital. Navigation should also be straightforward. We have waymarked the route with discrete stickers and provide a free GPX file for use with mobile navigation systems (they are cheap and can be downloaded to your phone). There are also maps and directions in the guidebook and on the website. We publish regular updates on the state of the path. Finally, some people like the reassurance of having someone book their accommodation , call ahead to open churches and move their bags. This is particularly true of pilgrims coming from abroad – a significant proportion of walkers are from the US, Canada, Australia and other parts of the English-speaking world. We also offer guided pilgrimages at least twice a year . Creating a pilgrimage route is much more involved than it seems. It is easy to draw a line on a map but to have a route that pilgrims walk regularly, that locals cherish and that works for walkers, churches and local businesses takes sustained effort over a number of years. You need someone to lead it who is obsessed with detail and willing to sacrifice their time and money to a project that may not bear fruit for some time. Effectively you need to find someone with a pilgrimage vocation !

Dominic DeBoo discusses the challenges of incorporating fundraising into a pilgrimage.

A pilgrimage for school students requires careful planning. Stuart Keene, Assistant Headteacher and Pilgrimage Leader at St. Edward's School, Poole, describes how his school prepared.

No activity is ever risk free but organisers should manage and reduce risks where possible. The model below is a proforma which can be adapted to reflect the risks identified by the organisers.

Once risks involved in a pilgrimage have been identified and where possible mitigated, participants should be briefed so that they can keep themselves safe.

This August, a group of pilgrims set out from Worcester on a two-week-long trek. This was the 2024 walk of the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton Ecumenical Walking Pilgrimage.

Andrew Sowerby describes a fruitful pilgrim walk along the St Cuthbert's Way to Lindisfarne.

Hearts in Search of God collaborator Eddie Gilmore describes a recent pilgrimage to Taizé in France with his wife Yim Soon.

John Elcock describes his parish's first Parish Pilgrimage to the Shrine to Our Lady of Perpetual Succour in Liverpool.

The CrossWalk initiative mission is to walk in faith together. Praying for peace and acting for peace. CrossWalk aims to unite people and promote peace by walking together. Walks take place throughout North Wales and everyone is invited to join at any point along the route, for any portion of the walk. Participants can also share intentions or prayers to be included in the CrossWalks. The CrossWalk Initiative has launched coordinated walks throughout North Wales during Lent 2024 in anticipation of the 2025 "Pilgrims of Hope" year designated by the Pope. This initiative, now in its 5th year, also aims to raise awareness and support for causes and charities in local communities through fundraising activities. They invite people to contact them directly if they need assistance with this, for consideration. Throughout 2024, the CrossWalk Initiative will continue conducting walks in different locations across North Wales, connecting with Pilgrim Ways and other points of interest in the region. The initiative invites individuals of all and any background to join the walks. Throughout the Lenten season, 2024, participants have shouldered a life-sized wooden cross weighing 60 kilograms, traversing nearly 300 kilometers, including ascents and descents of Wales' highest peak, Snowdon. During these walks, intentions and prayers were shared, along with efforts to raise awareness and funds for a local cause aiding vulnerable individuals and the homeless in the community of Colwyn Bay. Witnessing various reactions from individuals has been a moving experience, some are brought to tears at the sheer sight. People have expressed awe, curiosity, and a desire to understand the purpose behind our actions. Many have engaged in conversations, sharing their own faith journeys and beliefs during our participation in the impactful CrossWalk initiative.

Frans A Vossenberg shares his reflection on a transformational family pilgrimage in the Lake District.

The Summer Hearts in Search of God newsletter is ready to read!

Andrew Kieran, from the parish of Our Lady of Lourdes in Kingswood, Bristol, describes his walking pilgrimage to join the 2024 Diocesan Glastonbury pilgrimage.

In this article, first published in Bible Alive, Phil McCarthy shares some thoughts on becoming a pilgrim of prayer.