Bardsey Island Pilgrimage
This page describes a WhatsApp virtual pilgrimage to Bardsey Island in North Wales. Known in legend as the “Island of 20,000 Saints”, Bardsey Island has been an important religious site since the fifth century when a monastery was built there. The pilgrimage was held on 18th and 19th May 2024, led by Dave Smith of The Pilgrimage of the Word website.
📱 The pilgrimage took place on the Pilgrimage of the Word WhatsApp group. 🏡 Other responsibilities and time zone differences meant that people needed to dip in and out 🧏🏻♀ with group cohesion coming from the knowledge that all were participating in a common journey, meditating on the same Scriptures.
For more information on virtual pilgrimage, have a look at this blog post; for more information about this pilgrimage please send a WhatsApp message to Dave Smith or an email to davidborrowdale54@hotmail.com
Starting point
Our virtual journey to Bardsey Island started from Basingwerk Abbey in North Wales. To find the start, first find Western Europe on the map.
Then more specifically, find Wales in the United Kingdom.
And then as you can see, Basingwerk Abbey is right at the top of Wales, in the North East, close to the English border.
This is Basingwerk Abbey, the starting point of our 135-mile journey to Bardsey Island to the west. The Abbey was built in the 12th century, belonging to the Order of Cistercians. However, in time it was eventually abandoned and the assets sold off by order of King Henry VIII, in the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century.
Can we learn something from starting from a ruined church building? Famously, Saint Francis of Assisi had a mystical vision of Jesus in a ruined country chapel, close to his home. He heard the words, "Francis, Francis, go and repair My church which, as you can see, is falling into ruins." The virtual pilgrimage aimed to give a chance to reflect on how, as disciples of Jesus, we can contribute to building God’s Kingdom for real.
Getting ready
To help with preparation, we reflected on the definition of pilgrimage as used on this website: A journey out of the heart of darkness, into the heart of God. It is this intentional seeking of God that has the potential to make the change from a holiday to something more transcendent, a yearning to use our journeying to seek a deeper spiritual understanding.
Step [1] - Holy Longing
This illustration gives a quick reminder of the 4 steps of pilgrimage that will hopefully lead to “transformational change”. You can find more about the four steps on this page.
Step [1] is the Holy Longing which begins where you have new thoughts or experiences that you find in some way challenging. Or perhaps there is a specific Scripture that has spoken to you, verses that you want to journey through, making it a true “pilgrimage of the word”. This becomes the longing, ache or yearning that prompts you to set out and explore.
Participants may have had a Scriptures to reflect on, but if not, the suggestion for this journey was to reflect more deeply on what Jesus was saying when He revealed himself as the Bread of Life in John 6.48. The whole of John chapter 6 provides context with a particular focus on John 6.44-52
Whichever passage was used, all were encouraged to read and re-read it several times prior to setting out 🔰 reading slowly, thoroughly and appreciatively 🔰
Doing so allowed the Holy Spirit to prompt participants with a particularly relevant word or phrase 🔰 For this Step, familiarity with the Scripture is the important part, not reflection or analysis.
Bread was used to symbolise our common identity as pilgrims, vitally linked as companions in Christ across nations and timezones. To embody this, participants were encouraged to meditatively eat some bread, remembering and praying for fellow pilgrims.
Step [2] - Pilgrim Journey
Step [2] - Pilgrim Journey is the step where, as you journey along, you meditate on the Bible verses you have been reading. The map shows the route taken together, heading (virtually) from east to west along the North Wales Pilgrim’s Way.
This is not a new idea! The picture shows St-Quentin Cathedral labyrinth In France. In mediaeval times these were established, along with similar concepts, to create virtual pilgrimages. This was to accommodate people who didn't have the time or resource to go further afield. In some instances, relics, icons and pictures were used to bring the journey to life.
This journey was “virtual", a simulated version of something that is “real”. To do this, use was made of the imagination, pictures, memory triggers and online resources. This created a journey that is potentially deeply transformative and enlightening for the soul.
🍞 At some point, or even points, eating bread helped participants prayerfully rememberfellow travellers. 📵 Those who didn’t get a chance to look at the group during the pilgrimage could make comments afterwards.
🏞 Pictures of scenery were posted on WhatsApp throughout the pilgrimage, with participants adding comments to give a 👩🦯 a sense of the journey westward as they kept meditating ♻ on the Scripture.
Here is a sample of pictures and commentary posted on the WhatsApp group during the virtual pilgrimage.
St Mary & St Beuno’s church at Whitford, currently a late medieval church, originally founded by St Beuno. He was an abbot and confessor who died in 640; he was born in Wales, of noble birth and was noted for being a very active missionary, helping bring the Gospel to places where it was unknown.
Maen Achwyfan Cross near Whitford, inscribed with a traditional Celtic network. Both the age and purpose of the cross is a matter of debate. However, the name “maen” may imply that it predates the Viking age, perhaps making it contemporary with St Beuno.
One understanding is that it would be a place the gospel was preached, possibly prior to the creation of a permanent place of worship. After the Romans withdrew from the south of England in the 5th Century, the pagan Anglo-Saxons invaded. Such churches that had existed among the Romans disappeared. However Wales, along with the rest of the Celtic world, became places where Christianity was preserved and continued to flourish.
St Martin’s church at Eglwysbach, set in the glorious Welsh countryside. But why St Martin’s church? After all, St Martin was a Roman soldier, not someone you would traditionally think of as a Celtic Saint! But there is a link. St Martin’s teaching influenced the fourth century monk John Cassian and his book “The Conferences” was very influential, particularly for St Benedict in the sixth century.
St Martin had established a monastery in Marmoûtiers near Tours in northern France which later became part of St Benedict’s monastic order. The Benedictine monastery was the place that many notable Celtic missionaries trained. They then took the teaching back to their own countries, including the knowledge of St Martin. I find it interesting to see how these practices, from these remote places, are still evident in the landscape we are passing through.
After two days of virtual travel, the virtual pilgrims arrived at Bardsee Island
Step [3] - Prayerful Arrival
Step [3] - Prayerful arrival is where your reflections on the journey become formulated into definite ideas. Where you draw conclusions from your experiences and reflections, forming new thoughts or modifying existing concepts. And you take this all to God in prayer.
There was so much in this Scripture! But this is what I have been hearing for myself. I was very struck in particular by John 6.45: "It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me."
A footnote led me to Isaiah 54.13 "All your children will be taught by the LORD, and great will be their peace." Exploring the wider context of the Isaiah passage lead me to Isaiah 55.2,3:
Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labour on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and you will delight in the richest of fare.
Give ear and come to me;
listen, that you may live.
I felt compelled to keep on digging, I came to Isaiah 58.6:
Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
For me, on this occasion, taking in the body of Christ in the form of bread may be a call to be aware of social justice issues.
Step [4] - Servant Response
Step [4] - Servant Response is where you make the practical application of what you have learnt from your pilgrimage through the Scriptures. Inspired by what you have been prompted about on your journey, you commit to appropriate areas of service in God’s Kingdom.
For myself, following on from my prayers noted above, my intention is to revisit my commitment to the following of the Six Spiritual Practices of 24-7 Prayer and the Order of the Mustard Seed:
Mercy & Justice: Honouring God’s presence in the poor and oppressed, through sacrificial compassion, reconciliation and advocacy.
I hope you enjoyed our virtual pilgrimage and that it gave you time to meditate, find a deeper spiritual understanding and experience God’s transformational change.