Jayne Whyte's Portfolio

Sometime in June, I did one of the toughest things I had ever done. My local church held a pilgrimage to the monastery as part of events to celebrate the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The pilgrimage included a walk, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and Holy Mass.

I am not one to go on long walks and the thought of walking on the hilly terrain in Sheffield was not something I wanted to do. Five minutes into the walk, I was breathless and asked myself why I allowed someone to talk me into the idea of walking. I could have just laid in bed and slept through the weekend.

The walk started at 9 am. I was quite anxious, so I did not have a full breakfast. I was able to have a cup of herbal tea and a croissant only. I struggled with climbing the rocky hills and boy, I was glad I was not carrying a backpack or wearing a heavy jacket. Carrying myself was a handful. I almost lost balance while climbing some dwarf fences with small-sized stones as steps. The sun was out, and I was sweating. It wasn’t funny because I was trying to engage in small conversations with other people, but I was breathless most of the time.

Several times, I contemplated calling a cab but who calls an Uber in the middle of a forest? It is funny just thinking about it, but the walk was hard. So many times, I found myself laugh-crying not sure why that was happening.

We arrived at the Monastery a little after 90 minutes into the walk. It was a huge relief when I heard the bell at the Monastery ring and I said, “It must be the bell for breakfast”. I am not sure what the bell was for but there were some bottles of water, tea, coffee and biscuits for everyone. It was just what I needed to calm my nerves.

Overall, it was a beautiful experience, and I am so proud of myself for completing the Pilgrimage. It tested my endurance, made me strong and I felt I lost some weight as well. It was an awesome experience, and I am looking forward to the next. Big thanks to the Parish Priest and the planning committee for putting together an amazing event. Thanks to Benedicta for the company.