York

It is a very well known fact that it does not take very much to get me all giggly and excited (hence why it's so dangerous when I start on the coffee and sweets...) and with the trip to York I was even worse than normal and, obviously, had very high hopes for the pilgrimage. And I am very grateful to say that I was in no way disappointed!

Before Mass at the Zouche Chapel

For starters the Mass at York Minster was absolutely magnificent. Even though we were a bit late in arriving (yeah...I was a bit optimistic when I calculated the time it took to get up the M1...dippy moo that I am) the people at the Minster were extremely kind, patient and accommodating (nothing was too big a request) and let us go ahead anyway. We were in the Zouche Chapel (to the right of the main altar), part of the original cathedral building, which was so beautifully quiet and still, cut off from the hustle and bustle of the universe outside, you could've easily spent hours in there in the blink of an eye. Although in the midst of ordinary time Fr. Terry said Mass in commemoration of St. William of York (buried in the Minster) which was really cool and I tell you what the entire service was just so...powerful and moving and humbling all at once. Twas quite a lot to take in! At one point I caught myself thinking about St. Margaret Clitherow, and all the priests and lay people of her time who underwent such intense persecution, and simply feeling overwhelmingly grateful for everything she and her contemporaries did as without them we probably wouldn't have been there at all.


Fr. Terry during Mass



Communion


After being absolutely dazzled by all that we joined our Anglican counterparts for Evening Prayer which was lovely (I did, however, make a twit of myself as wherever the Book of Common prayer had the words Holy Ghost I still managed to come out with Holy Spirit...force of habit I guess...not that it matters greatly...just annoyed me a smidgen...) but at the same time a little sad. I mean it was at moments like when we were praying the Apostle's Creed, although we were all saying the same thing you (or at least I) got the sense that we didn't always entirely mean the same thing...that we were similar in so many ways but there was still a gaping chasm between us as well. In a way I suppose it was rather poignant, after celebrating and rejoicing in the Mass in such a wonderful and historic place, to remember that we still have a long way to go.

St. William of York's tomb in the crypts of the Minster

Something else that made the entire experience of the Minster so memorable was that, even though the crypts had long been shut for the night, two of the chaps that worked there were kind enough to let us go down and pray at the tomb of St. William! And they let us have a bit of an explore afterwards. They really were marvellous, made the day even more special because they went to all that trouble and quite literally asked for nothing in return.

We stayed at the Bar Convent (just outside Mickelgate Bar) which was not only convenient but also very comfortable (except for the taller members of our party...who had issues with low door frames and bumped heads...). Our main reason for choosing to stay there was not simply because it was a convent but, far more excitingly, the chapel is home to the (first class) relic of St. Margaret Clitherow. (:-D) And, bless them, they leave the chapel unlocked all night for anyone who wants to make use of it, which most of us did I think.



Bar Convent Chapel



The relic of St. Margaret Clitherow

 On the Wednesday morning the Sisters very kindly let us have free reign of the chapel and set everything up so that we could have a period of prayer and venerate the relic (;-D) which was (certainly in my case) just totally and utterly mind blowing. We prayed the Rosary (which I love) and the Litany of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales and then were able to go up and either touch or kiss the reliquary. And I can't even begin to describe to you how that (how any of it in fact) felt. While I was there I was so very acutely aware of God's presence and that of St. Margaret............put it this way; I did blub a bit like a big girl's blouse into my hands when I got back to my pew. Can't say more than that.

And, just when you thought it couldn't possibly get any better it went and did. At 11:30am in the Shrine of St. Margaret in the middle of the Shambles with the world hurtling away outside we were able to celebrate Mass again (and we were joined by a couple of members of the parish of St. Wilfrid's, York who maintain the Shrine). It was perfect. 100% perfect. Didn't matter that it was small or a bit cold or that there weren't enough kneelers for everyone, that all went by the by because there you were just able to focus every little bit of your attention on God and God alone. Can't ask for anything more brilliant, can you?

Outside the Shrine

On a completely random side note there is a reason why I never like to sit at the front in church. It's got nothing to do with being afraid of making eye contact with the priest, it has to do with the Eucharist. In the shrine I was at right at the front with Irene and only...a metre (maybe less) from the altar and...well...it just made what is always quite hard even worse. To be actually arm's reach away from the Body and Blood of Our Lord and not be able to receive Communion...I already get this burning desire for it deep inside of me but at that moment it burned even brighter and I was about half a second away from begging Fr. Terry to just let me received there and then. Yes...at St. John's I'm going to keep to sitting in the corner at the back...

The final thing to round off what was already an amazing trip was our tour of Fountain's Abbey. Despite raining all Tuesday we had gorgeous sunshine (freezing northern temperatures, but sunshine at least) the whole time we walked round. If you've never been to the Abbey you simply have to go. It's beautiful, haunting, moving all in one go. And you don't even need a guide to tell you all of that.

The Abbey as seen from the path down the hill

The magnificent bell tower

What must've been a spell binding stained glass window once

The tower through the ruins

So all in all it was...well for my first proper parish pilgrimage it has set the bar extremely high and I want to thank everyone who came because we had such a good time together. Thank you.