Uncategorized

These days will pass and we shall more easily be able to go on pilgrimage. But we don’t know what it will be like. ‘Please believe these days will pass’ is the message seen by visitors to Southwark Cathedral and most certainly by those present at the midday Eucharist at 12.45pm which is usually at […]

Canterbury’s own Thomas Becket anniversary exhibition has opened after the long delay caused by the virus. Has the wait been worth it? Certainly Thomas Becket: World Celebrity Healer at The Beaney is very well researched with the organisers having the advantage of access to local material. Even the chronology at the entrance is extremely thorough […]

Paulo Seth’s introductory film about cycling from Winchester to Canterbury is now online. Fifteen further films for each stage follow weekly. The route is not exactly the same as the footpath since cyclists have to avoid kissing gates as well as other problems. But the Pilgrims’ Way often has parallel paths even for walkers and […]

The long-awaited Thomas Becket: Murder and the making of a saint exhibition has opened at the British Museum. This was to have been part of the 2020 Becket anniversary programme of events until we were hit by the pandemic. The show will now run until Sunday 22 August but tickets should be booked in advance. […]

Pilgrimage is again possible. Winchester, Southwark, Rochester and Canterbury Cathedrals are all open from today. We can now attempt walking to Canterbury from Southwark in London or Winchester in Hampshire. Pilgrim passports can be obtained at Winchester or Southwark on the day you set out. Pubs and bed & breakfasts are allowed to reopen but […]

St Oscar Romero Day is Wednesday 24 March. This year is the 41st anniversary of St Oscar Romero’s martyrdom. He died in church at the hands of the state like another archbishop, Thomas Becket. ‘The name Romero means pilgrim,’ said Dr Gemma Simmonds CJ earlier this month. ‘If we need a companion to help us […]

This Sunday comes at the end of the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity when the online Eucharist from Southwark Cathedral will include Lutheran and Roman Catholic participation from Bergen and Rouen cathedrals. Southwark’s link with Rouen has several resonances. Rouen Cathedral is where in 1014 St Olaf was baptised after pulling down London […]

Canterbury is both a destination for those who have travelled the Pilgrim’s Way from Winchester, Rochester or Southwark and the starting point for those en route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Today, after several years of restoration, Santiago Cathedral reopens for the feast of the Translation of St James. Tomorrow during Vespers, the Holy […]

Today Tuesday 29 December is the 850th anniversary of St Thomas Becket being murdered in Canterbury Cathedral. This December was to have been the culmination of the Becket 2020 year in which the 800th anniversary of his Translation would have been marked as well as the 850th of his death. This afternoon all who had […]

Today Monday 21 December is the birthday of St Thomas of Canterbury: Thomas Becket. His parents were Matilda and Gilbert Becket from Rouen where their son as archbishop was to visit sixty years later as his exile ended. The baby was baptised Thomas having been born on St Thomas the Apostle Day -now observed in […]