Fine weather and joyful singing on Easter Monday

Sunshine brought around 1300 pilgrims from all over Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire to St Albans Cathedral for this year’s Easter Monday Pilgrimage.

There was a great spread of ages and people had travelled from all over the diocese to attend.

Some were coming for the first time, some had attended for 40 or 50+ years of the Pilgrimage’s 75 year run.

Nigel Crook, adorned with badges, had attended 52 of the 75 pilgrimages, the most of anyone attending.

It seemed like there was a larger number of colourful banners present and there were definitely more dogs than last year.

A first was that it was possible for those who wished to make a gift to the collection that was taken to do so by means of a contactless card reader in a collection plate taken around the cathedral by one of the Wardens.

Rachel Wakefield, A Reader from Harpenden, preached this year about the ‘Unusual Suspects,’ taking as her theme that she might be seen as an unusual choice to preach, but that she represented the capacity of everyone to speak about their faith, remembering that it was two ordinary women who had taken the news of the resurrection to the disciples.

Read her sermon here

People were in great spirits and sung joyfully and tunefully on their way into the cathedral and during the service.

There was a signer for those with impaired hearing.

See photos here