Spring into Spirituality on Pilgrimage

Bishop Karen has invited people to join her on a series of pilgrimages to be held in different parts of Dorset in May and early June.

She has organised the three pilgrimages to help people connect the much loved pastime of walking for leisure with the deeper callings of their spirituality.

Bishop Karen said, “For the last two years, I have led a pilgrimage to St Aldhelm’s Chapel on the coast near Worth Maltravers, Purbeck, as St Aldhelm is my direct predecessor as the first Bishop of Sherborne way back in the 7^th Century. I will lead this pilgrimage again on St Aldhelm’s Day, Friday 25 May.

“Alongside this, I will be leading another short pilgrimage from Morecombe Lake to Whitchurch Canonicorum, to revive the pilgrimage to the shrine of St Wite on her saints day, 1 June. St Wite was a Saxon woman said to have been killed during a Viking raid on Charmouth in the 9^th Century.

“These two shorter pilgrimages will follow on from a longer walk from Cerne Abbas to Milton Abbey on Saturday 5 May, connecting two of Dorset’s longest-established holy places, central to the Christian history of our county and places far beyond.

“For centuries people have walked the highways and byways of Dorset. In the past this was for work, for essential supplies and for pilgrimage. In fact the shrine at Whitchurch Canonicorum was, during the middle ages, second most popular to that of Thomas a Becket in Canterbury.

“Chaucer writes in his Canterbury Tales of pilgrimages as a cross-section of people, sharing stories on the way. The idea of these pilgrimages is to walk in the footsteps of those who have gone before, to celebrate their lives and to share our own faith journeys.

“Everyone is welcome to join in, regardless of their faith and regardless of whether or not they have a faith.”

Full information on how to join in is on the Diocese’s website here or via the shortlink www.bit.ly/dorsetpilgrimages.