St Cuthbert and walking in God’s garden in the cool of the day
St Cuthbert and walking in God’s garden in the cool of the day
Cuthbert spent his early years in Melrose and Jedburgh in Scotland but then lived on Lindisfarne or Holy Island. Our CPW walking group walked across the sands - at low tide, in beautiful sunshine - to find the priory where he was abbot. We had Mass on the grass outside the priory - sitting on a low wall or lolling on the grass, heedless of the warning in the first reading for the day - ‘woe to those … who stretch themselves out on their couches’ (Amos 6).
Later that day we had a private visit to Durham Cathedral where Cuthbert is buried after his coffin was carried around for several years following a Viking raid on the island. A delightful guide spoke of ‘our dear Cuthbert’ and ‘our dear Bede’ whose grave is also in the Cathedral. Cuthbert’s coffin also contains the head of St Oswald, killed in battle and dismembered but his head was rescued by his followers. Our evening finished with Compline in the chapel of the Holy Cross.
By then we were well versed in the stories of these wonderful saints after a talk the previous evening from Dr Greg Ryan who gave us an erudite exposition of the various stories and family trees of kings and saints (Hild, who figures in the CPW icon, was a princess as well as the abbess of a monastery of men and women). That day we had visited the site of the monastery of St Peter where Bede lived and wrote his History of the English Speaking People and much else. We continued walking along the coast finishing with Mass outside the sister monastery of St Paul’s.
Each evening we had compline in the beautiful chapel in Minsteracres, beginning by singing ‘Now is the Cool of the Day’ about God walking in his garden, reminding us to look after the environment. That was made easy in all our walks. The first day took us through a sunlit wood, a darker pine forest and then over moorland, coming down to delicious tea and cake in Blanchland. The food in Minsteracres was also delicious and plentiful and we were well looked after by the various volunteers.
Walking provides opportunities for gentle conversations as well as a time for contemplation - we began each walk with half an hour’s silence. Friends old and new as on all CPWs were welcomed and well looked after by Brid our chair/ organiser and Tim our chaplain. Tim, who has walked all over Europe and beyond, spoke to us about pilgrimage and I, for one, felt that even in three days of walking we experienced many of the benefits of coming closer to God and our understanding of our place in his beautiful creation.
In conclusion here’s a quote from a poem by John O’Donoghue which we read each morning as we began walking
May you travel safely, arrive refreshed,
And live your time away to its fullest;
Return home more enriched, and free
To balance the gift of days which call you.
Barbara Wilson
September 2025
