« Pilgrimage to the holy places of Mercia and North Wales »

On February 21, 2022, a group of parishioners led by archpriest Stephen Platt, Dean of the Diocesan District of Central England, Rector of St.Nicholas the Wonderworker church in Oxford, began a pilgrimage to the holy places of the undivided Church in Mercia (Central England) and North Wales.

The first point of the pilgrimage was a visit to the Cathedral in Lichfield, where the pilgrims prayed at the tomb of St. Chad, Bishop of Lichfield (+672). Next, the pilgrims proceeded to the well of St. Chad, where the Saint prayed every night, standing in icy water.

The next stop was the Cathedral of Chester, where the group was met by archpriest Paul Elliot (ROCOR), Rector of the church of Great Martyr Elizabeth in Wallasey, Father Paul led a tour of the Cathedral and joined the general moleben, which was served at the tomb of St. Werburgh of Chester (+700).

In the evening of the same day, the pilgrims arrived in Holywell, where they settled in the guest house of the Catholic monastic community of the Bridgettine Sisters. After the accommodation, a meeting was held with Hegumen Daniel (Davis), Rector of the Church of All Welsh Saints in Blaenau Ffestiniog. Father Daniel spoke about the shrines of Wales, the ascetics of the Welsh land, showed slides and photographs of places that pilgrims will visit during their trip to Wales.

The next day, the pilgrims continued their tour of Northern Wales. In the morning, a visit was made to the most famous of the many holy springs in Wales - the spring of Holy Martyr Winefried of Wales (7th century), a place of pilgrimage for many generations of Christians since the 6th century.  The source of water gushed from the very place where the Holy Martyr was beheaded, and where her uncle, St. Beuno, returned St. Winefried to life.  After a moleben at the spring and sprinkling with the holy water, the pilgrims venerated a particle of the relics of St. Winefried, kept in a nearby Catholic church.

In the afternoon, the pilgrims continued their journey along the Llŷn Peninsula, where they visited some Christian churches and holy springs, which have survived in abundance to this day. During the stops, Father Daniel spoke in detail about each holy place. In the evening, the pilgrims reached the extreme point of the peninsula, where they could see the island of Bardsey located in the Irish Sea and known as the "island of 20 thousand Saints".

The last day of the pilgrimage began with the Divine Liturgy, which was celebrated at the Church of All Saints of Wales in Blaenau Ffestiniog. The liturgy was celebrated by the Rector of the church, Hegumen Daniel (Davis), assisted by Archpriest Stephen Platt, Dean of the Diocesan District of Central England, and Archpriest Joseph Skinner, Dean of the Diocesan District of South West England.  During the service, prayers were said and sung in seven languages: Welsh, Church Slavonic, English, Greek, Georgian, Romanian and Turkish.

After the meal, the pilgrims went to Pennant Melangell, on the way visiting the church of Venerable Derfell-Gadarn (+566–660), whose holy relics have been venerated for centuries by pilgrims in one of the churches in Wales. In the evening of the same day, after a long journey, the pilgrims arrived at the church of St. Melangella of Wales (+590), where a moleben was served in front of the relics of St. Melangella, one of the most revered Saints of the Welsh land.

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