'My strength tells me No, but the path demands Yes'

Frans A. Vossenberg • September 7, 2024

An American family of four sought pilgrimage in the Lake District during August 2024. They travelled 4745 miles by air, 492 miles by rail, 180 miles by foot and 2 miles by kayak in the footsteps of eight local saints while searching for Christ in Cumbria.

This was our third pilgrimage in the UK after walking from Winchester to Canterbury along the Pilgrims’ Way in 2022 and from St. Germans Cathedral to St. Michael’s Mount on the Cornish Celtic Way in 2023. We were attracted to Cumbria in 2024 after finding references to Martin Earle’s newly commissioned icon of the Cumbrian Saints which Fr. Philip Conner has planned for the Church of Our Lady Star of the Sea and St. Michael in Workington. The beauty of this altar icon and the truth of these saints’ lives inspired my daughter and me to spend nine months and many Zoom hours planning a Lakeland pilgrimage itinerary.

Arriving from several parts of the States, we gathered in late July at Paddington Station. Enroute to St. Bees, our family stopped at Workington in West Cumbria to meet Fr. Philip and Canon John Watson. After Saturday Vigil Mass, we dined with our welcoming priests and received a wonderful pilgrimage blessing beneath the statue celebrating St. Bega’s arrival on the coast of Cumbria in 650 AD.

Over the course of the next two weeks, the four of us backpacked along St. Bega’s Way, St. Bega’s Way Back, St. Mary’s Way and the Cumbrian Cistercian Way. Our family traversed numerous fells and ghylls, crossed many becks and dived into multiple tarns. We climbed a total of 21,000 feet while walking 180 miles. We even kayaked to pray at the ruins of St. Herbert’s hermitage on his island in Derwentwater. Our outdoor specialty was wild swimming which sometimes received applause as we pursued group immersions in Ennerdale, Crummock Water, Scale Force Waterfall, Ritson Force, Angle Tarn and Colwith Force. This craving for cold water was reminiscent of baptism while mountain summits promised the protection of St. Michael, and the ospreys overhead suggested the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We revelled in the glory of God’s creation.

Our most authentic pilgrim effort was a five-mile passage from Sandgate to Ulverston across Morecambe Bay. This low tide event at sunset was the first time in 150 years that a pilgrimage group was delivered from one King’s Guide to the Sands to another in the middle of the River Leven. Our walk across the wet sand reminded us of the Israelites’ exit from the hardship of Egypt and their entrance into the promise of the Holy Land. In a similar way, the route of a pilgrimage may be physically difficult, but it guides one to great mental refreshment and spiritual renewal. These benefits may be somewhat of a challenge to appreciate when you are walking seventeen miles daily over multiple peaks while carrying a twenty-five-pound pack. Nevertheless, despite its hardships, pilgrimage is, truthfully, a very beautiful and rewarding experience.

While the physical sites on the Way served as the body of our pilgrimage, they were not complete without the Catholic practices and celebrations which formed the heart of our journey. Our family had prepared for this endeavour by studying the lives and the prayers of the early medieval, English Reformation, and modern saints of Cumbria. We prayed the 13th century Hymn to St. Bega at St. Bees Priory and at her chapel on the shore of Bassenthwaite Lake. We learned St. Ninian’s Prayer of Encirclement ‘...Circle me Lord, Keep hope within, Keep doubt without…’ and asked for his guidance in professing the faith. We recited the bird/tree/bell/fish poem of St. Kentigern and reflected on its meaning. We asked St. Oswald the King for strength and sought the gift of fortitude from the martyr, Blessed Christopher Robinson. The friendship of St. Cuthbert and St. Herbert of Derwentwater encouraged our own love for one another, while Servant of God John Bradburne’s life inspired service to others. We often walked while deep in prayer following the advice of the Apostle Paul to ‘Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.’ At each church we knelt at the altar while praying together the Litany of Divine Mercy. At holy wells, we invoked St. Bridget’s Prayer of Protection, ‘…God, an isle art thou in the sea, A hill art thou on the land, And a well art thou in the wilderness…’ We prayed the 12th Station of the Cross at every Celtic, Saxon and Viking Cross that we encountered followed by a kiss upon the cold stone.

Each day, my daughter and I sang Who Would True Valour See from The Pilgrim’s Progress. She and her husband delivered a beautiful Latin rendition of the Anima Christi hymn in the warmth of the Workington Rectory and among the ruins of Furness Abbey.

These rituals and liturgies promoted the primacy of God in our lives. We had many occasions of living in that thin place between this world and the next. We came to see our intentional journey as an antidote to acedia, a challenge to our bones and a balm for our souls. Eventually, the physical stress of our itinerary drained our bodies just as heavenly grace was filling our souls. We then understood the Lord’s message to St. Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9-11. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Likewise, our physical exhaustion stimulated mental reflection; reflection encouraged meditation; meditation engendered contemplation; and contemplation altered our understanding of reality. Rather than meeting our Creator at Moriah, Bethel or Sinai, we reached for God in the chancel of ancient rural churches and found Him in the grandeur of Lakeland fells.

The Cumbrian Saints Pilgrimage promoted new spiritual insights. We came to understand Tolkien’s Riddle of Strider in a new way which emphasized the glory of God’s creation and communion with the Kingdom of God:

All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost;

It became clear to us that our ancient faith has been deeply lived by the Cumbrian Saints and their foundation can still be found:

The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

And, the Christian heart of Britain remains resilient and ready for restoration:

From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shall be king.

This sojourn in Northwest England was a powerful spiritual pinnacle for one American family. We hope that our story will be helpful to others who may consider a journey of the soul in the very saint-filled and Christ-oriented Cumbrian land of mountains and lakes.

Frans A. Vossenberg

St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Parish

Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, USA

All photos copyright Frans A. Vossenberg and family

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The Pilgrimage of Hope is open for day pilgrims to register!

By Phil McCarthy • June 5, 2025

Registration for day pilgrims to join the 2025 National Walking Pilgrimage of Hope is now open! The Pilgrimage of Hope is a national walking pilgrimage with four main Ways converging at the Cathedral of St Barnabas, Nottingham, on Saturday 13th September 2025, for shared prayer and celebration. The four main Ways start at the Catholic cathedrals in Cardiff, Leeds, Norwich and Southwark, London, and will bless our nations with a Sign of the Cross and with the Gospels. The routes are named after the Evangelists and use established hiking routes and are off road as much as possible. A small group of 4-6 'perpetual pilgrims' will walk the full distance of each Way, and up to 20 day pilgrims will be able to join for day stages. Stretches which are suitable for wheelchairs and buggies have been be identified. There will be opportunities for non-walkers to provide enroute support, hospitality and prayer. There are possible feeder routes to the four main Ways from all the other Catholic cathedrals of England & Wales for keen long-distance walkers, so people from every diocese can organise their own pilgrimages. More information and registration Information about how to support the Pilgrimage with prayer and hospitality and how to register to walk stages as day pilgrims can be found here . Wishing you every blessing and joy during this Jubilee year, as we strive to become ‘pilgrims of hope’. I hope to meet many of you in Nottingham on 13th September. Buen camino! Phil McCarthy, Project Lead

Walking in the steps of London's saints

By Colette Joyce /ICN • June 4, 2025

A group of 25 pilgrims gathered at the English Martyrs Church by Tower Hill last Thursday morning, Feast of the Ascension, to take part in the Westminster Way Jubilee Year Pilgrimage, led by Westminster Diocese Justice and Peace Co-Ordinator Colette Joyce. At each station we prayed and reflected on saints connected to London and the inspiration they continue to be for us today: St John Houghton and the Carthusian Martyrs of the Reformation, the missionary St Augustine of Canterbury, St Anne Line who sheltered priests and held secret Masses in her home during the Elizabethan persecution, St Erconwald, St Ethelburga and St Etheldreda. We remembered the scholars of the 7th century who brought learning and education to both men and women, and St John Henry Newman whose own spiritual journey of conversion and prophetic sense of the nature of the Church had a profound influence on the 20th century leading up to the Second Vatican Council. From the church we walked past the Tower of London, where so many Catholic martyrs met their fate during the Reformation, stopping to pray at the site of the scaffold where St John Fisher and St Thomas More were executed. Our next stop was Mary Moorfields, the only Catholic Church in the City of London. From here we walked to the Charterhouse, once a Carthusian priory and home to the first martyrs of the Reformation. The Prior, St John Houghton and Companions were hung and quartered for refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy. Watching from his cell window, St Thomas More witnessed the monks being dragged on hurdles from the Tower of London on 4 May 1535. He is said to have admired their courage and faith as they went to their deaths, viewing them as "Cheerfully going to their deaths as bridegrooms going to their marriage." From here we walked to St Etheldreda's, Ely Place, one of the oldest Catholic churches in London. Built around 1250 as the town chapel for the bishops of Ely. After the Reformation It had several owners . For a a time it was used by the Spanish ambassador as a private chapel. During Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth, it was used as a prison and a hospital. The Rosminians bought St Etheldreda's in 1874 and have restored it beautifully. As we were walking during Laudato Si' Week, pilgrim leader Colette Joyce invited pilgrims to reflect on the flora and fauna of London on our way. London is a surprisingly green city, blessed with around twenty percent tree coverage - which makes it technically a forest! We are especially grateful to the Victorians who planted the ubiquitous London Plane trees which can be found in streets and parks all over the city, while there are more than 400 other species of tree to discover. "The entire material universe speaks of God's love, his boundless affection for us. Soil, water, mountains: everything is, as it were, a caress of God… contemplation of creation allows us to discover in each thing a teaching which God wishes to hand on to us." (Laudato Si', 84-85) After a stop at Corpus Christi Church in Covent Garden - where former parish priest Fr Francis Stanfield wrote Sweet Sacrament Divine and Mgr Ronald Knox preached his famous homilies on the Blessed Sacrament - we made our way down the Strand, past Traflagar Square, through Whitehall, down to Westminster Cathedral. On our arrival, we weary walkers were greeted by the Cathedral Dean, Fr Slawomir Witoń. We ended our pilgrimage with prayers in the Martyrs Chapel and a reflection from Fr Slawomir on the life and witness of St John Southworth, patron saint of clergy in the Diocese of Westminster. The pilgrims received the final stamp in their Pilgrim Passports and a blessing before returning home. Colette Joyce, Westminster Diocese Justice and Peace Co-Ordinator Read more about the Westminster Way: https://westminsterjusticeandpeace.org/2025/06/02/walking-the-westminster-way/ This article was first published on Independent Catholic News: Independent Catholic News Image: Pilgrims at Westminster Cathedral (Archdiocese of Westminster)

The Psychology of Pilgrimage

By Phil McCarthy • June 3, 2025

In this podcast I discuss the psychology of pilgrimage, especially as it relates to visiting First World War battlefields and cemeteries.

Walking the St Wulstan Way

By Peter Chisholm • May 31, 2025

Pilgrims joined Fr Gerry Walsh tracing St Wulstan’s life and legacy, from Worcester Cathedral to Clifton Cathedral as part of the Catholic Church’s Year of Jubilee, “Pilgrims of Hope” celebrations. Participants explored their faith while journeying through stunning landscapes and historic locations.