Rose hips at Walsingham...

...and plenty of serious things in our hearts as we gathered to pray.

I gathered the rose hips along the Holy Mile, and am taking them home to turn into rose hip syrop for the winter. We of the LOGS group  had gathered at Precious Blood church at London Bridge and  were sent off for Walsingham with a pilgrim blessing after Mass. As we approached Walsingham we  stopped for tea with an Ordinariate family who have recently settled there and our pilgrimage began with a cheery catching-up of news and a real sense of welcome...and of course we met them again the next morning for Mass at the Church of the Annunciation where there is a good-sized congregation for week day Mass...

Our days of pilgrimage included a Rosary Walk along the Mile, a priviledged visit to the ruined Francican friary - the Franciscans are now back in Walsingham and much in evidence at the Shrine - and a most useful afternoon meeting for planning our future activities for 2019 and beyond...

There was also the unexpected pleasure of a splendid Pilgrimage Mass celebrated with pilgrims - and their Bishop - from the diocese of Lancaster, plus pleasant evenings one of which included a glorious long walk along by the coast at Wells.  The sun was setting in rose-ink glory beyond the sands, and the halyards  of the dozens of little  boats in the harbour were making that faint bell-like sound against the masts in the evening breeze. Kathie said "I'd like to sing 'The day thou gavest Lord...'"  and so we did, turning for home with the cheery lights of the town promising a welcome and a good meal.

A happy time, and a good pilgrimage. We had carried ourpetitions in prayer to the shrine of Our Lady and left them there. Plenty of concerns, and mostly not trivial ones: these are not easy times for the Church and the world.and a pilgrimage isn't an escape from reality but a way of connecting our own duties and responsibilities with reminders of God's providence...