Dear Friend, Once again we set out on pilgrimage, this time to a land many of us will feel comfortable in: Merrie England. And there will be a certain “merriment” in this journey, for we will travel with joyful companions, our friends from England, Leonie and Tessa Caldecott (the widow and daughter of the late Stratford Caldecott, one of the great Catholic editors and writers of the past half century), in the footsteps of the great English saints: St. Thomas a Becket, St. Thomas More, St. John Fisher, St. Edmund Campion, Blessed John Henry Newman, and the writers known as the “Inklings,” J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S.Lewis and the incomparable G.K.Chesterton. With such companions, our days will be merry, and our mornings and evenings bathed in the gentle light of a British summertime. We will begin at Oxford, the ancient university which will be our home for several days. We will get to know the colleges of Oxford, its great library, its pathways and byways, its churches and, yes, its pubs, where Tolkien and C.S. Lewis sometimes dined together. The days will include a steady diet of reflection, in the presentations of some of England’s most thoughtful Catholics of our time, as they instruct us on the history of the Church in England, the life and times of Thomas More and John Fisher, of William Shakespeare, and on down to more recent times. Day by day we will study, and learn, and come to understand what the faith has meant to the British, how it shaped their hearts and minds, how it passed through persecution and apostasy, and how it is being lived today in the very places where it was lived by these great saints and writers. After we have passed three or four days preparing ourselves intellectually and spiritually, we will be ready to set forth on our pilgrimage, first up to the city of London, and then, to Canterbury, where St. Augustine landed, when he brought the faith to England at the time of Pope Gregory the Great. “The man who is tired of London is tired of life,” said the great writer Samuel Johnson in the late 1700s, at the time when the United States was being formed, breaking away from English rule. We will be staying in London, in comfortable lodgings, and from there we will visit the key sites we must visit, contemplate, and remember: the great cathedrals, Westminster and St. Paul’s, Parliament, the British Museum, the Tower of London, where St. Thomas More was imprisoned before he was beheaded, “The king’s good servant, but God’s first.” And we will have time, on our first evening, to visit the Globe Theater and attend a production of one of Shakespeare’s greatest and most troubling plays, Macbeth: the story of a king who was led into disaster by the counsels of his queen. A story full of resonance in a time when a great king had broken with Rome on account of a woman, and loyal Catholics had, a generation later, been tempted to commit regicide themselves in order to remedy that wrong. We will celebrate Holy Mass each day, and take some time for quiet and rest. We will not rush from place to place so that you become exhausted. It will be a pilgrimage, but a pilgrimage filled with time to reflect and more deeply understand our faith. We will have booklets with us containing all of the readings for the daily liturgies, as well as passages from some of the great British saints and theologians to read and meditate on. [email protected] ◆ US Office: 14 West Main Street Front Royal VA 22630 ◆ 202.536.4555 Finally, as our journey nears its end, we will take the famous road that Chaucer’s pilgrims took in his Canterbury Tales — down to the very end of England, where the faith was first brought to this island people, 15 centuries ago. This journey will bring our pilgrimage to its conclusion, as we look out over the waves of the English Channel which separate us from France. A journey in the footsteps of saints, a journey of study, meditation, reflection, but also a journey of immersion in British culture, the life of England in past centuries, and today. You will come to understand England, and the story of the faith in England, in a profound way that will never leave you. You will be imbued with the spiritual wisdom of Thomas More, John Fisher, Edmund Campion, and John Henry Newman, and you will bring home with you that peace which those souls brought into the world in their struggles, triumphs, and witness. The entire journey has been carefully structured so that each day builds on the day before. Step by step, your faith will be deepened. So please accept my heartfelt “Welcome” as you begin this journey with us, from Oxford to Canterbury and many places in between, in the footsteps of St. Thomas More and of Blessed John Henry Newman. I hope to greet you soon in Merrie England, along the banks of the River Thames. – Robert Moynihan Founder and Editor of Inside the Vatican magazine [email protected] ◆ US Office: 14 West Main Street Front Royal VA 22630 ◆ 202.536.4555 "Dear Friends, I would like to extend a warm invitation to you, to join Dr. Robert Moynihan and Deborah Tomlinson and myself in my home country, Merrie England, for the first Inside the Vatican pilgrimage to these shores: "In the Footsteps of Saint Thomas More & Blessed John Henry Newman". These two great men, separated by three tumultuous centuries, are examples of the finest hearts, minds and souls that England has produced. We shall be hearing about many other fine Christians in the time you spend with us: Shakespeare, St Edmund Campion, the Inklings, and a whole host of English martyrs for the faith. A man who was in many ways their natural heir, the early 20th century apologist and Catholic convert, GK Chesterton, quipped that the English and the Americans share everything except a language! And yet on this pilgrimage we shall be sharing the most precious language of all: the language of faith. We have worked hard to create a unique and special 10 days. I hope you will enjoy every aspect of your time with us, from places of great spiritual and historical resonance, to the people we shall meet, all of whom are examples of how the Church is still thriving in my country, in spite of centuries of persecution and obscurity. But most of all I hope you will take away from your pilgrimage a sense of the culture of the mother country which played such an important role in making the United States of America what she is today. I look forward to meeting you!" -- Leonie Caldecott Inside the Vatican Pilgrimages is collaborating with our friends in England, Leonie and Teresa Caldecott on this pilgrimage. Leonie and Teresa are the wife and eldest daughter of the late Stratford Caldecott, with whom, in the 1990s, Leonie founded the Second Spring Centre for Faith and Culture and its journal. Leonie and Teresa now work together, editing the UK/Eire edition of Magnificat and running courses and events on Catholic culture in the UK. Leonie is also the UK editor of the online journal Humanum, published by the John Paul II Institute in Washington DC. Leonie will travel with us on the entire pilgrimage. [email protected] ◆ US Office: 14 West Main Street Front Royal VA 22630 ◆ 202.536.4555 Inside the Vatican Pilgrimage In the Footsteps of Saint Thomas More & Blessed John Henry Newman August 2 – 13, 2016 Oxford and London Tuesday, August 2 – Leave from the U.S. You will have packed lightly, but taken all you will need for this unique pilgrimage. Safe flight! Oxford, England Wednesday, August 3 – Arrive in Oxford. You will be greeted at Heathrow airport upon arrival once you have exited customs. Once all the pilgrims have gathered, the group will board the waiting luxury coach for a transfer to Oxford and the Randolph Hotel, a 5-star hotel (photo below), our home for the next four nights. The city of Oxford (photo above), known as the “City of Dreaming Spires”, which was settled over 1,000 years ago, grew around the university, which came into being as a collection of colleges from the 12th century onwards. Oriel College and Canterbury College, where St. Thomas More studied, are just two examples of colleges which operate under the umbrella of the larger university. Other Oxford attractions include Christ Church Meadow, a picturesque park located along the riverbanks, and the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin, which is a superb example of 13th century church architecture. After a welcome brunch and orientation, we will have time to rest before attending Mass in the evening. Our welcome dinner will be held at the Eagle & Child Pub, the well known meeting place of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and the other Inklings. Our day will end early so we can all have a good night’s rest. Overnight in Oxford. [email protected] ◆ US Office: 14 West Main Street, Front Royal VA 22630 ◆ 202.526.4555 Thursday, August 4 – Faith & Culture in England from Reformation to Revival. After breakfast, we will gather at the Dominican Hall of Studies in Blackfriars Hall for two morning lectures. Dr. Moynihan will first present on the crisis of English Catholicism with a focus on how the Reformation changed the face of Anglophone culture.