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After an interval of some five years, the Order’s annual Pilgrimage to the Shrine of Saint Winefride at Holywell, in North Wales, will take place from Friday 19th to Sunday 21st July. This Pilgrimage has been a part of the Order’s annual calendar for many decades.Saint Winefride’s Well is the only site of pilgrimage in Britain which has never suffered interruption of the devotion during the Protestant Reformation. It was visited by most of the Plantagenet and Tudor Kings, and even some of the Stuarts. Our own King Charles went there last year shortly after his accession.
St Winefride, daughter of a prince named Tyfid, and the niece of Saint Beuno, was beheaded around 630AD defending her virginity from a rapist chieftain named Caradoc. Where her head fell a well sprang up, which has been place of healing pilgrimage ever since. Her saintly uncle restored her head to her body, and she returned to life, to become a nun, later abbess, at Gwytherin, and to die a natural and holy death over 20 years later.
Programme:
An outline of the programme for the Pilgrimage follows, but full details will be circulated later. The Pilgrimage will begin on the Friday evening. We shall be staying at the Bridgettine Convent next to the Shrine. (Postcode CH8 7LS)
On Friday, we shall gather at 6pm to sing Vespers in the Catholic church of Saint Winefride in the town, and then have supper at the Convent. Pilgrims arriving early may make a private first visit to the Shrine, which closes at 5pm. The entry fee for individuals is £2.
On Saturday morning, we will visit Pantasaph, formerly the mother house of the Capuchin Friars Minor in Britain, now in the care of the Vincentians, and the National Shrine of Padre Pio. It is the burial place of our late confrère Fr Mark Turnham Elvins OFMCap, of many of the Mostyn family, and of the first bishop of the (then) Shrewsbury Diocese, Mgr James Brown. Mass will be celebrated in the beautiful Pugin church after which will wil process to the cemetery to pray for the dead.
Saturday lunch will take place at the Afonwen Craft & Antique Centre, which will allow a bit of shopping for those who wish. We will then visit the miraculous Saint Dyfnog's Well, allowing a walk in the woods for those who desire and visit to the glorious mediaeval parish church with its Jesse window.
Supper on Saturday will again be at the Convent, preceded, for those who wish, by evening visit to the romantic ruins of Baskingwerk Abbey.
On Sunday morning we shall have our pilgrimage Mass at the Shrine, followed by lunch at the Convent and the Well Service and sprinkling at the Shrine in the early afternoon.
Cost:
The cost of the Pilgrimage is £220 per Pilgrim, for accommodation and meals at the Convent, including entry fees, stipends and donations to the shrines. Lunch on the Saturday will be paid for individually.
To enquire about booking, please contact use via the Page or at [email protected]
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
St Winefride's Well, Holywell, Mold, United Kingdom
