Customer Reviews

The Road to Canterbury: A Modern Pilgrimage

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Shirley Du Boulay's Winchester-to-Canterbury pilgrimage is the subject of her informative book, Road to Canterbury, which I found full of entertaining anecdotes and fascinating historical details, as well as being spiritually inspiring. Du Boulay's is a spiritual experience. During her 150 miles of travel (including getting lost), du Boulay considers whether it is the arrival or the journey that is most important. She relates the historical and cultural significance of landmarks and towns, churches and their namesakes across Hampshire, Surrey, and Kent as she follows the ancient Pilgrim's Way to St. Thomas a Becket's shrine in Canterbury Cathedral. And of course she tells the story of Becket's death at the hands of Henry II's knights. Time seems to take on a new dimension, becoming fluid as Du Boulay slips back and forth between descriptions and anecdotes of ancient Neolithic cultures, the Romans, mediaeval, and later peoples. Importantly, all somehow meld together and are united. At times frustrated, hungry, wet, or suffering back pain, du Boulay's almost two-week journey is a parallel of life, as she feels tempted to give up, or resists the urge to take a taxi or other short cut; she keeps walking. What does du Boulay learn? On reaching her goal, she finds "It did not matter that I had no great thoughts. For the moment gratitude was enough" (228). Even so, she wonders whether life will "ever be quite the same again?" (229). I, for one, suspect life will be different. An informative work that is both inspiring and entertaining

In our commercialized society, where obligatory pilgrimages are only made to Disney World or Graceland, the idea of making a trip--especially a slow, difficult one--to a religious site is truly counter-cultural. This journey, taken during a painful period of transition (widowhood) in the author's life, covers physical and spiritual ground one patient step at a time. The author at times seems a latter-day John Bunyan: we learn that there is as much signficiance to the pilgrimage walk as there is to the arrival. Cannot be recommended enough for sincere people of faith, especially those in the English traditions of Catholicism, Anglicanism/Episcopalianism, or Methodism.

Last week I was talking with a friend who had just returned from journeying Spain's pilgrimage route for St James. I asked her what was most memorable and she said, "El Camino, the way itself." Ah yes! Of course! Her remark reminded me of that exact feeling within myself when I did minor pilgrimaging in England and Bavaria. It isn't so much the end that mattered, but the walking and "doing of it" that mirrored an interior journey. After all, was I not with many people going in the same direction? But most were not thinking of the trip as a journey, much less an interior one. So all of this reminded me of this book, which I unfortunately did not read before my own journey to England, but had since read as a sort of pilgrimage chaser. And it sure brings back to me so many of my own memories that whenever someone talks about pilgrimage, this is one of the books that come to mind. (And as an aside, if you ever do pilgrimage, be sure to select some good books for the way. I am firm believer that all journeys should have some sort of reading.)


As to the contents of this particular book, it's a combination of things: insightful spiritual reflections, history of Christian pilgrimage, history of English pilgrimage, commentary and history of English architecture, history of Henry II and his friend St. Thomas Becket, the resulting murder of Thomas after the king mumbled something overheard by his knights, the resulting pilgrimage to honor St Thomas, how to stay strong and not give in to taxis, how to get lost and not get upset, how to find peace in a busy world and how to recognize the mileposts of your own inner journey; and all done with a very easygoing, humble spirit that we could all emulate.


Perhaps this review isn't too helpful, but maybe it will remind you to at least take some time every day to make a pilgrimage of the heart, to the virgin point that we all have, reminding us, as Thomas Merton says, that "the gate of heaven is everywhere."
Other books of interest may include: 38. Egeria: Diary of a Pilgrimage (Ancient Christian Writers), The Cathedrals of England (World of Art) and Sacred Travels: Recovering the Ancient Practice of Pilgrimage.