Student Cross: bringing the Passion to life

This year I completed my twenty-third Student Cross, the Holy Week and Easter pilgrimage to Walsingham. I am 26. My parents took my sisters and me on various family-orientated “legs” of the walk from when we were small. Groups start from London, Ely, Nottingham and Leicester and converge on Good Friday at Walsingham’s Slipper Chapel. I began walking the 115-mile Midland Leg about 10 years ago – the stage that starts in Leicester. And although I work now, as an English teacher in London, for me Easter is Student Cross and I would recommend the experience to anyone.

The 20 or so pilgrims in Midland Leg this year – the group is named after the route they take – met on the Friday night before Holy Week, a mix of students, people in their twenties and a few older people. This first meeting is always new and exciting – there’s a sense of anticipation as you know how intense the week ahead will be.

Our journey involves daily walks, singing, chatting and praying the rosary. Averaging 18 miles day, we travel on small country roads – wearing high-vis jackets – and through muddy fields, three of us carrying a 7-ft wooden cross. We experienced comforting hospitality from parishioners in the towns of Oakham and Stamford, as we were whisked away in pairs to be fed and offered showers. Later on, in Crowland, Wisbech and Kings Lynn we were fed by parishioners who made sure that we replenished more calories than lost during the day’s trek. The kindness of these strangers, welcoming us into their homes and their lives, reminded me of the need for reaching out in my own community. We read from Pope Francis’ Evangelii Gaudium, which talks about “[taking] on the smell of the sheep” – another call to reach out to those around you.

We stayed on church hall floors, becoming experts in blowing up and arranging airbeds. There is nothing more humbling than receiving a cup of tea from a fellow pilgrim as you awake in a sleeping bag. Despite the synchronised snoring and late nights, I always testify to the peaceful sleep that can be had in these halls.

Most difficult for me was the physical exhaustion. Walking all day in the sunshine could sound like an easy holiday, but combined with late nights and early mornings it has its toll. Aside from the risk of sunburn, the flat fens are windy, and walking on Tarmac roads is hard on the feet. (At least it wasn’t snowing, like last year.)

Another challenge is the way that this pilgrimage helps me to reflect on the Passion. I have never felt the painful loss of Jesus more than during our hour of silence on Good Friday. We walked in silence outside Walsingham before meeting with the other groups and the move from singing and chatting to silence created a sense of isolation that forced me to consider the emotions of the disciples following the crucifixion. Although we held hands and shared smiles, the silence was a reminder of loss, and the love God showed us in the death of his Son.

We celebrated a candlelit procession and Catholic vigil Mass at around midnight on Saturday, which closed with such joy that most people stayed awake until dawn. There was an Anglican Eucharist on Easter Day – lots of Catholics went up for blessings. We acknowledge there’s still a division but we can still celebrate together.

Throughout the week, walking with others helps us to learn about what it means to be a community. Including everyone and sharing openly in such a diverse community, is something that a lot of churches struggle to achieve. The challenges of this pilgrimage and the intensity of the week mean that such openness and friendship is easy, and that is why I always return.

Finishing Holy Week with prayer and celebration in Walsingham among hundreds of other pilgrims makes it clear how God is present today. I always come away with blisters, new friends and songs to sing as I walk to work, and this year an sense of the need to “take on the smell of the sheep”.

Dominique Gelder Smith is an English teacher based in the diocese of Westminster