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St Aidan prayed:
Lord, this bare island, make it a place of peace.
Here be the peace of those who do your will.
Here be the peace of brother serving man.
Here be the peace of holy monks obeying.
Here be the peace of praise by dark and day.
Be this your island, Your holy island.
I, Lord, Your servant, make this prayer.
Be it Your care.
Amen |
We set off early in the morning of Saturday 28 August by a coach from Woods of Bognor, expertly driven by a parishioner, Mike Beal, and stopped at York Minster.
It was interesting to see the stages in the building of this magnificent building which replaced the wooden Saxon church built for St Paulinus to baptise King Edwin in the year 625.
On schedule at 6 p.m. we arrived at Minsteracres This is a Passionist Retreat Centre near Hexham and was our base for four nights. We received a very warm welcome from the team there; Father Jeroen and other priests of the Passionist Order, Sister Therese of the Sisters of the Cross and Passion, lay volunteers and staff. There were over 50 of us altogether, 40 travelling by coach and 2 families coming by car, along with Father Vincent (a relative) and Father Kieron.
Our first morning was Sunday.
After morning prayer and a cooked breakfast, we celebrated Mass in the chapel at Minsteracres before setting off for Bede’s World where a modern museum leads to a demonstration farm where we could orientate ourselves into the world of Anglo-Saxon life with its wooden buildings, lack of mod-cons and great devotion to Christianity.
The museum had been recommended to us by a parishioner, John Frost. who had been instrumental in its development and it well repaid the visit.
We were fascinated by the wonderful displays, and the demonstration farm and re-construction buildings gave us an insight into the way of life of the times.
The remains of Jarrow Monastery, where St Bede spent almost the whole of his life, are next to Bede’s World.
The monastery was one of the first built of stone by Benedict Biscop in AD681, using continental materials and techniques. Its library, with books from all over Britain and Europe, provided the foundations for St Bede’s scholarship.
Then onto Durham Cathedral where we were privileged to experience a beautiful Choral Evensong with the Cathedral Chamber Choir, after a somewhat strenuous climb up winding streets. We found a bus to return us to the coach!
After a delicious supper, evening entertainment was provided by a quiz produced by Terry.
Bright sunshine greeted us on Monday morning for our day in Hexham and Hadrian’s Wall. We were keen to explore Hexham Abbey with its crypt dating from the time of St Wilfrid (AD674).
It was built using stone from Hadrian’s Wall and nearby Corbridge to display the relics St Wilfrid had brought back from his travels in Europe.
Then the keener walkers among us set off for a trek along Hadrian’s Wall while the others explored Corbridge, including St Andrew’s Parish Church which dates from St Wilfrid’s time and incorporates a Roman arch from the Roman town
Back at Minsteracres we were grateful for Sheila’s services at the bar for pre-dinner drinks before another well-cooked meal.
Evening Prayer was a service prepared by Susan based on St Patrick’s Creed:
“Our God, God of all men, God of heaven and earth, sea and rivers......
He inspires all things,
He quickens all things,
He is over all things,
He supports all things....
And the Holy Spirit breathes in them
Not separate are the Father and Son and Holy Spirit”
We said verses from Psalm 104 “Bless the Lord, my soul” and sang “Be still for the presence of the Lord, the Holy One, is here”, and the Salve Regina.
The sun shone again on Tuesday for our journey to Lindisfarne. Most people were dropped off to walk across the sands.
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Kate had journeyed so far partly to locate the tombstone of a Victorian relative.
We celebrated Mass in St Aidan’s Catholic Church on Lindisfarne.
Father Kieron’s homily was about the evangelisation of Northumberland and beyond in Anglo Saxon times by the saints of Holy Island, nine of whom are commemorated in the church, and our responsibility as inheritors of faith in Jesus Christ.
Back at Minsteracres our evening service was in the ballroom when we shared prayers and reflections from our pilgrimage, including prayers of St Aidan, St Paul of the Cross and the Passionists, singing seals on Lindisfarne, and the Our Father in mine, followed by joke-telling .
Before we set off for home, our final Mass was in the chapel at Minsteracres when we could give thanks for the many graces and blessings we had received through the pilgrimage.
The journey home involved a stop at Ripon, one of the places where St Wilfrid had been bishop and which also had a crypt built to display the relics he had collected.
There was just time for a group photo.
We are very grateful to the Minsteracres team, to Sister Tessa at St Aidan’s Church and to Father Vincent and Father Kieron for helping to make our pilgrimage such an enriching experience."
