After having posted all Alf's messages during the last month, it was a pleasure to be at Maenan Abbey to welcome him back at journey's end. A few minutes after he arrived we gathered for a short service to recognise the pilgrimage. Below is the service in which we took part:
Order for the Blessing of a Pilgrim after their Return
May God, our hope and our strength, fill you with peace and with joy in the Holy Spirit. Glory to God, now and for ever. Amen
Your pilgrimage has been a privileged period of grace given by God. May you be moved with a new resolve to be renewed in heart and mind.
The sanctuaries that you have visited are a sign of that house not built with hands, namely, the Body of Christ, in which we are the living stones built upon Christ, the cornerstone. As you return home, may you live as a member of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people God claims for his own, so that you may everywhere proclaim the goodness of him who called us from darkness into his marvellous light. Amen
Intercessions
Heavenly Father, you set your church in this world as a sanctuary from which the true light would shine for all to see; grant that we may all walk in your ways.
You have told us that here we have no lasting city; grant that we may always seek the city that is to come.
You teach all the faithful to perceive the signs of your presence along all the pathways of life; grant that like the disciples of Emmaus we may come to recognise Christ as the companion of our journey and know him in the breaking of the bread.
Prayer of blessing
Blessed are you, O God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. From all races of the earth you have chosen a people dedicated to you, eager to do what is right. Your grace has moved our hearts, to love you more deeply and to serve you more generously. We ask you to bless us, so that they may tell of your wonderful deeds and give proof of them in their lives. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen
Concluding Rite
May God, the Lord of heaven and earth, who so graciously has accompanied you on this pilgrimage, continue to keep you under his protection. Amen
May God, who gathered all his scattered children in Christ Jesus, grant that we will be of one heart and one mind in Christ. Amen
May God, whose goodness inspires in us all that we desire and achieve, strengthen our devotion by his blessing. Amen
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