The Way of Two Cathedrals and Four Shrines

I thoroughly enjoyed this Pilgrim Way walk. The notes accompanying the Way are detailed and illuminative and thoroughly enhance the enjoyment of the pilgrimage. Rather than repeat the excellent information on the notes, I have chosen to reflect on some of the themes which came to my mind during the pilgrimage and since.

The journey

The Way is best done with others, but solo, as I did it, is good too. It can be done in a day but would be better over two days. Saturday and Sunday would give the best opportunity of having all churches open for visiting.

There is something visceral about a pilgrimage. You are fully in the present. All the senses are involved. You feel each step, more so at the end of the day. You are navigating a busy city and need all your streetwise skills. You also need physical sustenance to keep you going. And yet mind, body and spirit are as one. This feeling of wholeness is a perfect  antidote to other days of living a more fragmented existence.

One of the joys of having stages on the Way is that you have time to anticipate each stage and then to assimilate them. You may be seeing familiar places but seeing them in a new way. Time to think and reflect between the stages is part of the pleasure. It is not all pleasure though. Sometimes you can be brought up sharp: for example, with the realisation, as at St Giles and Tyburn, that you are at places where people were executed for their faith. You are walking in the footsteps of martyrs. How hard it would be to share their shoes. 

The universality of the Church

Westminster Cathedral was built in what was then the slums of Westminster, a symbolism not lost on Cardinal Manning who purchased the site and who also made a great contribution internationally to Catholic social teaching. 

This pilgrimage includes: the profound legacies of the Jesuit and Dominican communities in their churches at Farm Street and Haverstock Hill; the witness of the Benedictine sisters at Tyburn; the beacon for the Ukrainian Catholic community at the Ukrainian Cathedral; and the shrines at Corpus Christi, Tyburn, the Rosary shrine and the shrine of Our Lady of Willesden. Along with the diocesan churches, all of these locations bear witness to the universality of the Church’s mission.

Art in the service of worship, mission and faith.

Since the earliest years of the Church, the arts have been instruments serving the Church’s mission and nurturing faith. This is deeply evident in this pilgrimage, in each cathedral, church and shrine. One theme shared in all Catholic places of worship is the honour given to the Virgin Mary. In a tradition as old as the Church, there are many representations of Mary and this pilgrimage is rich indeed in images, sculptures and icons of the Virgin Mary. From the medieval statues to the breath-taking contemporary painting of Mother Mary at Farm Street, each age finds a way to retell the story of faith. Some of the highlights in this pilgrimage are shown below. Another highlight for me is the sculpture of Homeless Jesus, also at Farm Street (see image above). The juxtaposition of Homeless Jesus in this beautiful church and inclusive parish, at the heart of the wealthiest district of London, is a powerful witness to the gospel message.

I hope that you will enjoy this pilgrimage as much as I did.

Martin Rainsford