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Today hundreds, possibly thousands, of people will descend on the small Norfolk village of Walsingham.ÌýÌýThey are following in a tradition that goes back to the early days of the Christian faith – going on pilgrimage.Ìý Christian pilgrimage had its heyday in the Middle Ages, with people travelling from all over Europe to places such as Jerusalem, Rome and my all-time favourite, Santiago de Compostela.Ìý In recent years pilgrimages have made rather a comeback.Ìý It is as though, with the loss of so many of the certainties of earlier times, people have a yearning to go to places that have stood the test of time and which they know have nourished the faith and the lives of so many of our forebears – and if theirs why not mine, seems to be part of the reasoning.Ìý The shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, which dates from the twelfth century, is the national shrine of Mary, Mother of God, in this country.ÌýÌý The Anglican shrine is in the centre of the village and the Catholic shrine is based at the so-called Slipper Chapel just a mile outside.Ìý This was the place where in earlier day devout pilgrims took off their shoes to walk the last mile of the pilgrimage barefoot as a token of their devotion and their faith.Ìý Very often people made – and make – pilgrimages to ask for something.Ìý But just as often they are made to say thank you or simply to avail of the time and space that a pilgrimage brings to remind ourselves that there is more to life than incessant hustle and bustle and getting and spending.

Lord, make us mindful today of the fact that our entire lives are a pilgrimage in search of meaning and of You.

Amen

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