Walking from Canterbury to Rome - An ancient path to the future

Lya Vollering on a mountain trail

Having spent almost twenty years at Minsteracres Passionist Retreat Centre in the Northumbrian countryside, the last seven of these as coordinator of the eco-community in the walled garden in the grounds of the centre, Lya Vollering decided last December to move on to new pastures. Saying farewell to the walled garden with a celebratory gathering of family and friends did not lessen the sadness Lya felt at the prospect of leaving a project that she had invested so much time and energy into developing, in a space that she had grown to love dearly.

Nevertheless, on the morning of Tuesday 11th April 2023, Lya set off from Canterbury to begin walking the 1,800km pilgrimage trail known as the Via Francigena, which has Rome as its destination. The Via Francigena is one of Europe's medieval pilgrim routes. The first mention of this pilgrimage dates to a parchment that resides in the Abbey of San Salvatore al Monte Amiata in 876 CE. The trail winds through England, France, Switzerland, and Italy and takes approximately three months for most pilgrims to complete.

Lya calls her pilgrimage, 'Walking an ancient path to the future', and she undertakes it as an act of ecological witness in the midst of the climate crisis, to call attention to the urgent need to heal and care for the earth, our common home. Indeed, much of what she observes en route is viewed through an ecological lens with a contemplative insight that has been nurtured by her time spent in allowing the earth to speak with its own voice - a voice that seems to be increasingly a cry for help. Reading Lya's reflections from the road gives you a sense of the unity that exists between God, ourselves and creation and leads to asking the question, 'How do we live this tripartite relationship on a deeper level?' Lya views the climate crisis we're facing as an invitation to relate differently to the natural world and to see it as the locus of a web of interconnected subjects rather than a random collection of atomised objects. To objectify and see as separate what is intimately connected is to do yourself harm. Central to Lya's vision of things is Pope Francis' encyclical 'Laudato Si' which states that there is only one crisis because the environmental and social crises are inseparable - the cry of the earth is the cry of the poor.

Lya has a 'Passionist heart' - one that believes that restoring people to community and to right relationship is about reconnecting them with creation as well as with its creator, especially those sisters and brothers of ours who suffer at the margins of life. In essence, her Passionist ministry has not ended. Rather, this pilgrimage provides a liminal space for considering future pathways for such ministry. As always, it's more about the journey than its destination.

As I write, Lya is into her ninth week of walking and has already reached Northern Italy, having passed through France and Switzerland. Early challenges in the form of sore feet and cold, wet weather have subsided as she descended from the Alps and into the sunnier climes of Piemonte, the famous vine-growing region of Italy. Lya still has weeks of walking before she reaches Rome and you can keep up to date with regular news of her progress on the Passionists UK Facebook page or by following this link to the Passionists UK website: Walking an Ancient Path to the Future - Passionist Life

Prayer for Pilgrims:

May God the Father who created you, guide your footsteps.

May God the Son who redeemed you, share your journey.

May God the Holy Spirit who sanctifies you, lead you on life's pilgrimage.

And may the blessing of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you wherever you may go. Amen.