For the “On Pilgrimage With” section of the September 2024 edition of the <em>Catholic Herald </em>magazine, we spoke to Joseph Shaw, chairman of the Latin Mass Society and president of Una Voce International, about his dream pilgrimage:
I’ve walked from Ely to Walsingham with the Latin Mass Society since 2009, and more recently extended the route back to Cambridge, with a smaller group of pilgrims. I’ve also done the traditional Paris to Chartres pilgrimage a few times. The ultimate walking pilgrimage, though, has to be from the Pyrenees on the French border to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
As many people as possible!
Preparing for the Walsingham pilgrimage in Oxfordshire, to avoid having to carry lots of water, I have developed a mental map of the pubs on my routes, where I can have a break and a drink – though I keep off the alcohol. (I supplement these hydration stops with graveyards furnished with taps!)
On the Walsingham pilgrimage, we stop near several pubs, some of them friendly and some less so. If I could temporarily transport the charming Sculthorpe Mill in Norfolk to the Pyrenees, that would be delightful. Not only do they let us use their facilities, but it’s the one place I’ve been back to after the pilgrimage for an excellent evening meal.
I find the ground is more comfortable than floorboards, and while the privacy afforded by a tiny tent is minimal, it is greater than zero.
I’m currently very interested in the apologists and spiritual writers of the early-to mid-20th century: Fr Martindale, Mgr Knox and their generation.
I’d also take some works of the Benedictine writer Hubert van Zeller and Blessed Columba Marmion, the Irish monk who became Abbot of Maredsous Abbey in Belgium.
My ideal spiritual texts for a walking pilgrimage are the Litanies and the Psalms, sung in Latin.
For a walking pilgrimage, the Rosary. On the Walsingham pilgrimage we sing the Hail Mary in English, Latin and, in a nod to the Chartres pilgrimage, in French.
Tried and tested – from the Walsingham pilgrimage – are the great patriotic songs of the UK: “Men of Harlech”, “The Skye Boat Song” and “Rule Britannia”.
Daily Mass. If it is to be a luxury, make it a Traditional High Mass, with deacon and subdeacon.
My bed.
<em>Dr Joseph Shaw is chairman of the Latin Mass Society and president of Una Voce International.</em>
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