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St. Cuthbert, the family patron |
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In June of 2000, we made a pilgrimage through the Scots-English Borders country, along St. Cuthbert's Way.
The rainbow arches at the beginning (Melrose) and end (Lindisfarne) are not about pots of gold, but there is something more precious at their ends. |
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The Rainbow Arch at the ruins of Lindisfarne Priory.
Dr. Deborah Vess took this picture, and she built a wonderful virtual tour of Holy Island, where the pilgrimage ended. |
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We started at the ruins (oooh, that Henry VIII makes me mad!) of Melrose Abbey. Then we hiked for a week or so and roughly 70 miles, including detours, getting lost, and adventure sightseeing. After going up and down many hills, along the major Roman thoroughfare of the first century, and through too much weather and history to describe, we reached Lindisfarne, also called Holy Island, just a bit out into the North Sea. At least, it's in the ocean when the tide is in and the causeway is covered up. When the tide is out, there's a real road (with road kill fish!) that pops up and permits access to the island.
Walking through that history -- of strife and fleeting peace, wickedness and holiness, and, most of all, the ordinary and extraordinary faith of monastic communities and the people who lived around them for century after century after century -- was one of the most moving and significant experiences of our lives.
Ultimately, St. Cuthbert is sufficiently amazing to have been adopted as the family patron saint. And since he's the patron, Gabriel (the one we made from scratch and the last to arrive) got stuck with St. Cuddy's name in the middle. |
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The Rainbow Arch at the ruins of Melrose Abbey. |
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There's a lot more about St. Cuddy here at Hector's Home. Click here for more on the wonderful, waymarked route of St. Cuthbert's Way, the people who arrange the walk, some of the world's finest hosts, and on St. Cuddy himself. |
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