This year saw the 150th anniversary of the birth of Gilbert Keith Chesterton in London’s Notting Hill on 29 May 1874.
It has been suggested that 150 years on from his birth, GK Chesterton has largely been forgotten. But so far this year we have seen Chesterton Conferences in the United States, Argentina, England, Croatia and Italy, with more to follow before the year ends, including at least one in Australia this November.
In 2014, Bishop Peter Doyle, the then Bishop of the Diocese of Northampton, asked Canon John Udris to make an investigation into whether the Cause for the Beatification of Gilbert Keith Chesterton should be opened or not.
Sadly, the bishop's subsequent decision in 2019 was not favourable. Bishop Doyle stated that he chose not to open the Cause for three reasons, while emphasising: "Firstly, and most importantly, there is no local cult."
On 27 July this year, the 14th annual GK Chesterton Walking Pilgrimage took place. A dozen or so pilgrims started outside Saint George's Anglican church, Notting Hill, where GK Chesterton was baptised as a child.
We said the GKC Prayer – <em><a href="http://www.gkc.org.uk/gkc/books/prayer.html"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">A Prayer in Darkness</mark></a></em> – and then read a quote from the start of his autobiography before setting off walking.
A couple of hours and many Rosaries later, more pilgrims joined the group in Ealing where the group headed on beside the canal for a nice stroll up to the Malt Shovel public house in Crowley.
Then we nipped across country to attend Mass at the Bridgettine Convent in Iver, having passed the famous Pinewood Studios and seen the posters for <em>Star Wars</em>, <em>James Bond</em> and the <em>Marvel </em>movies.
By now the joyful but weary pilgrims had walked 21 miles from Notting Hill. Father Neil Brett was the celebrant for a low Old Rite Mass outside the convent on their altar in the Lourdes Grotto.
In his excellent homily, Fr Neil treated us to a great rendition of Chesterton's poem <em><a href="https://allpoetry.com/By-the-Babe-Unborn"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">By the Babe Unborn</mark></a></em>. After Mass, the 80 or so attendees had a cup of coffee or tea, a biscuit or a sandwich before preparing to head off on the last six miles on this epic journey.
This part of the journey was particularly enjoyable, as it involved walking along country lanes, bridle paths and such like. This last stretch was at a slower pace than the morning’s march, as there isn’t a deadline for the time of arrival.
Quite a few extra pilgrims come and join for this part of the day, as they are not sure if they could walk the full 27 miles from start to finish.
This year, as always, we walked on into the small town of Beaconsfield, where in Shepherd's Lane we entered the cemetery to find Chesterton's grave and say the prayer for his Beatification.
Then this small but loyal local cult of GK Chesterton retired to a local pub to have a few drinks and to chat some more about our hero.
In fact, the pilgrimage we did adhered to Chesterton’s own explanation of what stirs pilgrims on a pilgrimage, and which he gave in <em>The Illustrated London News</em>, 28 February 1931:
“We might put the point this way; the two ways of visiting the statue or the shrine were the way of the Traveller and the way of the Pilgrim.
“But the way of the Pilgrim almost always involved the way of the Pilgrimage. It was a ritual or ceremonial way; the way of a procession which had indeed come to see that shrine; but not come to see anything else.
“The Pilgrim does not feel, as a tourist does often quite naturally feel, that he has had his tour interrupted by something that does not happen to interest him. The pilgrimage must interest him, or he would never have been a pilgrim.
“He knows exactly what he wanted to do; and, what is perhaps even more valuable, he knows for certain when he has done it. He cannot be dragged on from one thing to another; from one thing that interests him mildly to another thing that bores him stiff.
“He has undertaken a certain expedition with a certain logical end; an end both in the sense of purpose and in the sense of a termination.
“For a certain mystical reason of his own he wanted to visit a certain monument or shrine; and, now he has visited it, he is free to visit the nearest public-house or any other place he pleases.”
<strong><em>RELATED: <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/the-adventure-of-being-born-g-k-chestertons-150th-anniversary/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">‘The adventure of being born’: G.K. Chesterton’s 150th anniversary</mark></a></em></strong>
<em>Photo: GK Chesterton writing at his desk; he was said to be able to find his way to the 'submerged sunrise of wonder’. (Getty Images.)</em>
<em>Stuart McCullough is founder of the Catholic GK Chesterton Society.</em>
<strong>For details of next year's GK Chesterton Pilgrimage go to the Catholic GK Chesterton Society online <a href="http://www.catholicgkchestertonsociety.co.uk/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">here</mark></a>.</strong>
