Oblate Pilgrimage to Ripon Cathedral

On the eve of the Feast of St Benedict and at the height of the heatwave, a party of Stanbrook oblates set out for the cool interior of Ripon Cathedral. The main focus of our pilgrimage was to visit the crypt built by St Wilfrid (634-710) and dedicated in 672, less than 150 years after the Rule of St Benedict was written.

From Wilfrid’s biographer, Stephen of Ripon, writing shortly after the saint’s death in 710, we learn that it was there in Wilfrid’s Benedictine community at Ripon that the Rule was first used in England.

We were blessed to have the atmospheric crypt to ourselves, the silence broken only by our reading, in turn, extracts from the Rule of St Benedict.

As we made our way around the cathedral, stopping at various points to reflect on the three Benedictine vows of stability, obedience and conversatio morum, there was a strong sense of being part of a stream of prayer which has been offered in this holy place for almost 1,400 years, and at the same time we were struck by the continued relevance of the Rule of St Benedict with its threads of peace, balance and God-centredness, for our lives today.

Another high point of the pilgrimage was attending the Midday Eucharist in the intimate Resurrection Chapel – another cool location – and praying with our Anglican brothers and sisters for all in any affliction, both near and far.

On 11 July, the Feast of St Benedict, oblates met at Stanbrook to reflect in person on the Prologue of the Rule of St Benedict which has been the subject of our online webinars over the past seven months.

Both the pilgrimage and the meeting form part of our preparation for the global Benedictine Jubilee of the Rule to be celebrated in 2029.

We hope to share more in a future issue of Stanbrook Benedictines. Meanwhile, if you have chance to visit Ripon Cathedral, we can thoroughly recommend it as a holy site of special interest to all who follow the Rule of St Benedict.

Sr Laurentia
The photo with this post was taken by Josephine Stowe and shows the oblate pilgrims picnicking in the shade opposite Ripon Cathedral.