Our band of 12 hearty Ordinariate souls, half lay and half clerical, began our expedition in the medieval city of Sienna, to complete the Via Francigena to Rome. With a batch of blisters, backpacks and breviaries, we walked the 177 miles through luscious countryside and occasional bleak urban sprawl, in a bid for jubilee indulgences at St Peter’s tomb. Our pilgrims were made up of those from the Ordinariate parishes of Pembury, Manchester, Southend, Coventry, Torquay and London (Warwick Street, Soho). Father David Lashbrook valiantly drove from Torquay (Cornwall) to Siena, to be our provisions vehicle and knight in shining armour should anything result in the need for a pickup. Some of us used the vehicle for luggage, and some of us carried everything on the walk.

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The Via Francigena starts in Canterbury, England and ends in Rome. However, for our ten-day version, we commenced our pilgrimage 177 miles out of Rome, in Siena, Tuscany, Italy. Our days started at 6am with morning mass or prayer, followed by a breakfast of coffee and an Italian sweet or pastry. We would then start walking shortly after sunrise. Many of us stopped at the shrines along the paths to say a prayer and visit each church that we walked past, as well as praying The Angelus. After arriving at our accommodation, we would say evening mass or pray the office before dinner. 

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The first half of our walk was through the Tuscan countryside and vineyards. One of our group very accurately described the views as “like walking through a painting”… Entering Lazio brought changes in the scenery and the terrain, where villages became cities and there was distinct change from rural to sub-urban life. We were blessed with temperate weather throughout our walk, sunny and dry but mild through the day and cool evenings. The days brought pleasures and challenges, pleasures including vineyards (some with tasting rooms), volcanic lakes, natural hot baths and waterfalls to swim in. Challenges involving steep inclines and long distances peppered with road-side walking, all of which played havoc on all our feet. We stayed in pilgrim’s hostels and Convents/Monasteries, the former of which being varying degrees of penitential… We were very well looked after by the Passionists of Viterbo and we are very grateful for their warm welcome and hospitality as well as the opportunity to celebrate Mass in the former house of Dominic Barberi.

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As always with these walking pilgrimages, some of the most wonderful memories are the other pilgrims that you meet. On our second day, we met a young Brazilian couple, who were walking from Luca to Rome, for their wedding! Though we were all invited, three of our group were even able to make it to the wedding itself! On the hardest day of walking, we were accompanied by a dog for the last 10km of the walk, who escorted us from a rural farm along the road into the local town. This creature, who we named ‘Angelo’ for his long white fur and angelic nature, is known in the town for escorting weary pilgrims for the last section of the longest and steepest day of walking. We met an Australian couple, who were Baptists and attended our mass in Bolsena Basilica, which moved them to tears! We met an English couple, who were not practicing in their faith, but also attended our masses and were fascinated by the Ordinariate. So much so, they generously bought us all a round of drinks as a token of their admiration. Hetty and Matthew, we thank you for your generosity and if you ever see this, please get in touch!

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Arriving into Rome in 30-degree heat was the moment we all had been waiting for. The view of St Peter’s Basilica peaking at us from the horizon was thrilling, and as we drew closer, the mixed emotions of keenness to reach our destination versus the sadness of the end of a monumental pilgrimage, accompanied us through the last few miles. We arrived to St Peter’s and then made our way to The Venerable English College for Evensong (sung beautifully by Fr Lashbrook), with Bishop Waller and other Ordinariate Parishioners who had not been able to join us for the walking. Some superb memories that we will cherish forever. Thank you Fr Starkie, Fr Leviseur and Deacon Richard for organising and running the trip.