This morning, a group from Eastbourne will be heading north, to Walsingham ready for the Ordinariate Pilgrimage on Saturday. A historic day, it is also a chance of us to gather and meet up with other Ordinariate members, not easy when our part of the Catholic Church is non-geographical.

Walsingham is a key part of our mission and for most groups this continues years of links to England’s Nazareth. For those of us who originated from Christ Church C of E parish, links with St Agnes, where we now meet were begun via the annual joint pilgrimage to Walsingham. This was started many years ago by the-then-vicar of Christ Church, Rev Phillip Fordham. Friendship with many of the St Agnes congregation began at the Christ Church Walsingham cell.

For us as a family, the annual trip to the Anglican Shrine for the Family Pilgrimage in November formed an important part of our children’s spiritual life. For me, coming from an Evangelical background, these visits helped me make sense of the transition to being Anglo-Catholic. Now travelling to Walsingham feels like coming home. It is so well-known and so loved. Over the last couple of years the Ordinariate pilgrimage in June continues that sense of home-coming, meeting familiar faces in a familiar place and sharing our Anglican Patrimony together. It is just a shame the fudge shop has closed!