Pilgrimage Postings
An Occasional Newsletter for Pilgrims ~ Number 2. December 2003.
Edited by the Rev. Canon Stephen N. Brannon & James J. Rawls
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“Sacred travel is right for everyone at sometime…is this your time?”
Those of us who already have sent in our ACIS reg forms for “An English Pilgrimage” may answer this intriguing question with an unequivocal YES. Perhaps others who receive this newsletter may be scratching their heads, gazing wistfully at the itinerary, and wondering whether this also may be their time. Our prayer is that all of us, in the midst of our hurried lives, will find just the right time for pilgrimage.
Hidden Gems
You may be looking forward most especially to visiting such grand places on our itinerary as Westminster Abbey, Salisbury Cathedral, Stonehenge, and Glastonbury Abbey.
But it may be the “hidden gems” that prove to be the most memorable places we visit. One of the qualities that makes our itinerary unique is its inclusion of a series of out-of-the-way sacred sites not normally visited by tourists.
Outside of Oxford we’ll spend time in quiet meditation in the tiny stone church of St. Margaret’s, nestled in the charming village of Binsey. This picturesque church has remained unchanged over the centuries. We plan to be greeted there by Sister Benedicta Ward, a professor of Christian spirituality at the university. St. Margaret’s stands beside an ancient healing well, the inspiration for a charming scene in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.
In the village of Bemerton, on the Salisbury Plain, we’ll gather quietly in another small church that surely would not qualify as a “tourist attraction” in any standard guide to the United Kingdom. Yet humble St. Andrew’s Church is where one of the world’s most insightful and talented Christian poets once served as rector. George Herbert, the “dandy” who rose to prominence as Public Orator at Cambridge University, spent his final years as a country parson at St. Andrew’s. His most beloved poem, “Love Took My Hand,” tells of the grace-filled moment when his heart was transformed.
These are but two of the hidden gems that may surprise you by their power and presence.
Defining Terms
A good definition of pilgrimage is a transformative journey to a sacred center. Several key words there! Which ones seem most important to you?
The word “transformative” may remind us that we’re going on our journey not just as tourists but as pilgrims. We don’t expect to return from our travels the same as when we began. This is a very personal and subjective matter. We might each ask ourselves, in the solitude and privacy of our devotional times: What areas of our lives do we want to see transformed? We pilgrims expect to return from our journey with a “boon,” something wonderfully good that will enrich our lives in the everyday world to which we return.
The words “sacred center” remind us that certain places long have been perceived as having special spiritual power. For Christians, the most compelling sacred center has been the Holy Land, and to that troubled land pilgrims have been wending their way for two millennia. Within medieval Europe, the two most favored pilgrimage goals were Rome and the northern Spanish town of Santiago de Compostela. Medieval pilgrims in England, immortalized by Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, made their way to the shrine of St. Thomas á Becket at Canterbury Cathedral.
Our journey will take us to Canterbury, near the top of the list of traditional pilgrimage sites, but anyplace along the way may prove to be the sacred site most meaningful to you. Through prayer and contemplation, we’ll do all we can to heighten our intention and our attention to what wonders God has in store for us.
At the Movies
As you prepare for our pilgrimage, you might enjoy checking out a few flicks that illustrate some of the places we’ll be visiting.
Becket (1964) tells the story of the martyrdom of St. Thomas á Becket, with Richard Burton in the title role and Peter O’Toole as his erstwhile friend and rival, Henry II. We’ll be standing on the exact spot in Canterbury where the climactic assassination took place.
Lion in Winter (1968) also provides a cinematic account of the man who wished to be rid of that “meddlesome cleric” Becket. Peter O’Toole again takes the role of Henry II, while Katharine Hepburn plays Eleanor of Aquitaine. A new TV version, based on the original screenplay, is due out on Showtime later in 2003, starring Sir Anthony Hopkins.
There’s a film version of T. S. Eliot’s play Murder in the Cathedral, but it’s hard to find. You might be better off just reading the play, relatively short and filled with thought-provoking questions about what happened in Canterbury on that fateful December day in the year 1170.
Shadowlands (1993) is a film loosely based on the life of C. S. Lewis and his late-in-life encounter with Joy Davidman Gresham. The performances by Sir Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger are memorable, but critics have rightly pointed out that considerable poetic license was taken by the screenwriter. We’ll be visiting The Kilns, the private home where Lewis lived during the time portrayed in the film.
Whetting Our Appetite for the Journey
Three PBS series that Stephen particularly likes and which give a flavor of some places we pilgrims will be next May are: Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh’s chronicle of Oxford life “between the wars” and of the journey toward faith; the Inspector Morse series also set in Oxford at many of the sites we shall view including the Trout Inn, the White Horse pub, and the Randolph Hotel; and the P. D. James mysteries starring Roy Marsden as Detective Inspector Adam Dalgliesh, especially Devices and Desires and A Death in Holy Orders, both taking their cue from the Church of England; the former from a phrase in one of the confessions in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, “we have followed too much the devises and desires of our own hearts,” and the latter taking place in an Anglican theological seminary.
All of these are also available in book form for your more leisured perusal.
Speaking of Reading
A few other reading suggestions: Any of C. S. Lewis’s books, which are widely available in paperback,
especially Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, and any of The Chronicles of Narnia series.
Also The Inklings, by Humphrey Carpenter, is an award-winning biographical sketch of C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien and others in their Oxford group who met weekly to discuss their works at the Eagle and Child pub (known locally as the Bird and the Baby), a venue we shall visit for some convivial R&R on our first evening in Oxford.
G. K. Chesterton’s Father Brown mysteries, following the adventures of the intrepid priest-detective, are set mostly in London and give a vivid sense of districts, neighborhoods, and the byways of that fascinating city which will be our pilgrims’ home for several full days and five nights.
For a pilgrimage-oriented guide you might take a look at On Pilgrimage, by Episcopal priest and noted retreat leader Douglas C. Vest, available in paperback from Cowley Publications.
Jim found especially helpful the Irish perspective in A Pilgrim’s Handbook, published by The Columba Press in 1999.
Important Reminders
Remember that you’ll need to make your own arrangements to and from San Francisco International Airport, if you’re taking the group flight. Please feel free to contact us if you need help making these arrangements.
Also keep in mind that you’ll be on your own for most lunches and dinners during the pilgrimage. We’ve set things up this way to allow you the greatest flexibility. Your program fee includes breakfasts each day at our hotels, and also the welcoming dinner on Friday May 21 and our gala farewell dinner on Saturday May 29. If you have any questions, please contact us at anytime.
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