"Soaked in the prayers of the faithful and the scent of incense."- A Blog

Rev'd Zoe King, Barry Ministry Area Leader, reflects on her time on pilgrimage in Walsingham.

My friend Emma and I have just returned from the diocesan pilgrimage at Walsingham. We’ve just spent time together in prayer, fellowship, laughing, just being together in silence and worshipping at the shrine. So far, for many readers you’ll be thinking so what? Walsingham, though, for many who know it’s theological standpoint is a difficult one - Em and I are both priests and we will not be invited to stand behind the altar but the theological standpoint here is not just one of gender and so also in the congregation are male priests who would not be invited including my lovely training incumbent from 15-18 years ago who joyfully from the congregation will join in and an occasional ‘glory be’ will be heard over the top of the voices of pilgrims.

It is a particularly beautiful place, the deep borders of lavender offer a scent especially after rain, the lawns immaculate and the shrine deeply soaked in the prayers of the faithful and the scent of incense.

Pilgrimage is a life long thing for all of us. Setting aside time to purely walk alongside people, worship and most importantly spend time with God is necessary. The nature of the Walsingham pilgrimage is that you naturally find the day becomes focused on worship, food and a gentle slowing down. Amidst the seemingly very structured time, time actually appears to become elastic giving you time to talk both to God and friends and it’s not a constant rush to the next thing.

Here, the focus is the relationship between God and self not everyone attends everything and often the most profound moments will come unexpectedly. Or as Fr Dean preached we are given space to consider to consider ‘the litter scattered in our lives’ distracting us from God.

Em and I are not saints, please don’t think it is always easy to be here but we come knowing we enter a space of grace for those who can and those who can’t. We come to be refreshed, fed and challenged and sometimes those challenges don’t come from the preaching but we don’t feel ever we are not welcome or are somehow interlopers here.

Walsingham can be especially in social media at times a focal point for people to decry difference especially those who agree with the sacramental role of women and those who don’t. However, this pilgrim has never felt the need to stand my ground and campaign here but to accept that at times it may be difficult but the rewards generally are so much more. Under our previous Bishop we’d had a particularly difficult Ministry Area Leader meeting in which my frustration had boiled over into tears, my fellow MAL Fr Dean was one of the first to reach out and offer support and encouragement, not quite what some social media warriors might have assumed.

Walsingham this year as previous years has offered both challenge and refreshment from the preaching and worship. I have been very open that next week I will be having a splinter sized breast cancer removed. Spending time here has helped me prepare spiritually and there have been tears; to receive the laying on of hands and then being anointed in preparation was powerful, deeply moving but also let me be anxious and upset in a safe place.

Pilgrimage comes in all shapes and sizes but for me the diocesan one offers a space to be with God, laugh, cry and be silent.

Time spent with God and fellow pilgrims is never wasted.