TO BE A PILGRIM

Pilgrimage is a universal theme. Its roots are centuries old. Since the very first people

to hear the Gospel story journeyed to Jerusalem to walk in the steps of Jesus,

Christians have found spiritual insight, wisdom and healing in travelling to the places

that are special to our faith.

Pilgrimage is a spiritual journey to a sacred site. The travelling and the destination

are inseparable – the journey is as important as the end. It is a physical thing: it is

in the action of travelling, of encountering the new and the unfamiliar, of allowing

ourselves time and space away from the routine of everyday life that we receive

insights and spiritual growth.

But although the journey can take many days or weeks, shorter pilgrimages are

possible too. All you need is a pilgrim spirit, a recognition that life is a journey, coming

from God and returning to God. For this a visit to a local church, or a walk made with

a pilgrim’s heart is sufficient. You could do this alone or with others, mindful always

that we walk in the company of Christ and the whole Church.

As we walk together, pilgrims rather than strangers, our encounters, our

conversations, our experiences good or bad, can act as a stimulus towards further

spiritual reflection and dialogue – not stumbling blocks, but stepping-stones. And

always as we do this we remember the pilgrim who comes towards us from the

opposite direction. In Jesus Christ, God comes in search of us.

People have always gone on journeys to enrich their spiritual lives. The desire

seems deeply ingrained in human nature. Pilgrimages nurture and sustain our

inner life, our ‘sacred centre’, and such journeys can be much nearer to home

than we may think. This leaflet outlines a variety of ways of making that

journey and enhancing our ‘Living Faith’.

PILGRIMAGE A SIMPLE GUIDE

LABYRINTHS

A labyrinth is a single pathway, turning and twisting upon itself in a complex pattern

to a single central point. This pattern, at once both straightforward and complex,

can provide a starting point for exploring the nature of spirituality or act as an aid to

prayer and a means of meditation. The most famous Christian labyrinth is that built

into the floor of Chartres Cathedral in around 1194. Pilgrims were encouraged to walk

this either at the end of a pilgrimage or as a substitute for the journey itself.

Labyrinths can help us to pray; the distraction of walking allows us to concentrate on

listening to God. The twists and turns of the path can serve as a metaphor for our life’s

journey – although we may often be confused or appear lost, we will always arrive at

the centre.

RESOURCES

The Diocese has a foldable canvas Labyrinth (7.3 m diameter).

To borrow this ring Revd Sally Welch on 07974 439630.

Diocesan map (published summer 2011)

Pocket Prayers for Pilgrims edited by John Pritchard (CHP, 2011)

Making a Pilgrimage by Sally Welch (Lion, 2009)

Every Place is Holy Ground by Sally Welch (SCM, 2011)

An Altar in the World: Finding the Sacred Beneath Our Feet by Barbara Brown

Taylor (Canterbury Press, 2009)

Pilgrimage by Jonathan Sumption (Faber, 1975)

Pilgrimage: A Spiritual and Cultural Journey by Ian Bradley (Lion, 2009)

The Pilgrimage to Santiago by Edwin Mullins (Signal, 2001)

Walking the Labyrinth: A practical guide by Sally

Welch (SCM, 2010)

Walking a Sacred Path by Lauren Artress

(Riverhead, 1995)

The Confraternity of St James: www.csj.org.uk

– information on the route to Santiago de

Compostela and others.

www.veriditas.org

www.labyrinthsociety.org

Sustaining the sacred centre

Shaping

confident

collaborative

leadership

Making

disciples

Making a

difference

in the world

Creatin

g

vibrant

Christia

n

com

muniti

esCHR

ISTI

AN

MAT

UR

ITY

HOLISTIC MISSION

WID

ER C

OM

MU

NITY

MIN

ISTRY IN

THE

CHRISTIAN COMMUNITYMINISTRY IN THE

Pilgrim God,

You are our origin and our destination.

Travel with us, we pray, in every pilgrimage of faith,

and every journey of the heart.

Give us the courage to set off,

the nourishment we need to travel well,

and the welcome we long for at our journey’s end.

So may we grow in grace and love of you

and in the service of others.

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

Amen

John Pritchard

Bishop of Oxford

FURTHER AFIELD

If you do have a few days or weeks to spare,

you could join the hundreds of thousands

of people each year who journey to one of

the world’s pilgrim sites – places where, it is

believed, the gap between earth and heaven

is just that bit narrower, the veil that divides

this world and the next just that bit thinner.

Put aside the preoccupations of everyday

life and spend time walking, praying,

reflecting, on your own or with other

pilgrims. When you reach your destination,

a place made holy by the millions of prayers that have been

said within its walls throughout the centuries, pause before

you return home, taking the insights of the pilgrimage with

you.

• The three biggest Christian pilgrimage sites are Jerusalem,

Rome and Santiago de Compostela. Santiago de

Compostela has probably the most straightforward

walking routes, with clearly way-marked paths from Italy,

Germany, Portugal and France.

• Within the UK, the islands of Iona and Lindisfarne have

long played host to pilgrims. Pilgrim routes can be walked to Canterbury, where

Thomas à Becket was murdered, and Walsingham, the site of a vision of the Virgin

Mary, as well as other places such as Winchester, St David’s and Durham. How

about a parish pilgrimage?

• There are also many smaller pilgrimage places, some of which can be found

within this Diocese. A special map will be published in 2011. Go on your own, with

friends or as a parish group. Contact the local church to ensure a warm welcome.

PILGRIMAGE AT HOME

For many of us, it is not possible to make

long journeys. But even if we remain within

our local environment, it is possible to gain

the same insights and wisdom as those who

are free to journey great distances.

Our God is not only the God of wide open

spaces but of the domestic and local, who

can be found in the everyday as well as the

new and unfamiliar.

• You might begin at the front door, asking

God to bless you on your journey as you

listen to what he has to say to you. Travel

mindfully through your home.

• Pause to rest in your favourite chair: pray

for a proper balance of activity and leisure, or simply enjoy the sensation of sitting

quietly in the presence of God.

• Sit to pray for those who might share a meal with you at your table.

• Look carefully at the photographs and souvenirs you have in your home, asking God

to give those you love the things they need.

• Sit or lie on your bed and give thanks (or pray) for the gift of refreshment and sleep.

• Visit the bathroom and give thanks for water. Pray for those millions who lack clean

water.

• Return to the front door and pray for good encounters with other people whenever

you leave.

Walk slowly and prayerfully; physical movement makes the act of pilgrimage and the

prayer of pilgrimage more intentional, more deliberate. Offer to God your whole self,

heart, mind and body.

PILGRIMAGE IN THE COMMUNITY

Making a pilgrimage through our local neighbourhood gives us new opportunities for

personal spiritual growth and to pray for our community.

• Take time to walk mindfully, aware of being fully

alive in the present moment.

• Travel slowly through landscape that is familiar,

taking the opportunity to look through different

eyes – eyes made aware of God’s glory in creation

– to the extraordinary range of people and places

through which we pass, often blindly, each day

• As you go, pray for significant places and the people

who visit them: the school, the pub, the shops, the

post office.

• At the town/village hall, pray for those involved in

local government. At the car park, pray for drivers.

• Sit in the park, resting in God and thanking Him for

the gift of relaxation and leisure. Spend time simply

being in God’s presence.

• Think of the journeys that Jesus made in his lifetime,

from that first journey to the stable in Bethlehem, through the teaching and healing

in the villages around Jerusalem to that last bitter walk to the cross and afterwards

along the road to Emmaus.

These journeys will bring us back to where we started but we may no longer be the

same people. With open eyes and hearts we may have discovered God where he has

always been – right in the midst of the everyday.