Today's the day! We began our journey with noontime mass at St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church in Fredericksburg, VA. After mass, we received a pilgrim's blessing, which asked for God to guide us along the path and to consecrate our equipment for the journey. The pilgrim's blessing that we received comes from the late 12th century Ely Cathedral pontifical book, and was especially fitting given its origin in the British Isles. You can read the text of the blessing here:
This liturgical rite allowed us to make our intentions known to, and receive the support of, our faith community. We are so grateful to everyone who made the blessing possible, who saw us off, and who promised to pray for us.
Afterwards, we were driven to Dulles airport (Harry gave his first 'gratitude chaplet' to our car driver), and we ate lunch and prayed the rosary en route. We arrived in plenty of time to catch our flight.
The pilgrimage blessing wasn't the only medieval thing about our departure today... Our modern plague of Covid-19 is still a pressing reality, especially in the airport. This sign from British Airways [left] lightened the mood, but whether the Black Plague or Covid-19, a memento mori like this seems a fitting way for us to reaffirm our total reliance on God at the start of our journey.
Our flight left on time and we expect to arrive in the UK early in the morning on the 2nd. Stay tuned for much more to come!
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