Santa Warner Pilgrimage
Santa Warna and the Holy Well
The well is just off the path OS grid reference SV880077, to the north of St Warna’s Cove, Porth Warna, north-east of Wingletang Down. Wingletang Down is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) on the southern side of the island of St Agnes and has 43 Bronze Age cairns recorded1. A cairn usually indicates a burial site. The granite well has a natural spring and might date back to when it is thought that St Warna could possibly have landed, as early as 2nd century but more likely 6th century.
Gibson writes; “This bay is steeped in legend. Tradition tells us that Santa Warna came from Ireland in a wicker boat covered with hides and landed in this bay. A holy well marks the spot2. St Warna is affectionally held by locals to be the patron of shipwrecks. Robert Heath (1750) wrote that ‘several of the inhabitants pay their annual devotions at this place on the day after Twelfth Day, cleaning it out, and using certain superstitious ceremonies in their thanksgiving, which being ended they make a general feasting and rejoicing throughout the island.’3
Pins are occasionally dropped into the well by those that live on St Agnes as an offering to encourage cargo lost at sea to come ashore on St Agnes. Wrecks were a vital resource for the coastal communities of St Agnes. There has been much salvage including ceramic beads, possibly 16th century from Bohemia or Vienna. These beads are still occasionally found at what became known as Beady Pool, on Wingletang Bay.
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Sources:
1 https://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=7620
2 Gibson, F. Visitors companion to the Isles Of Scilly, (no publisher and no date).
3 Heath, R. Natural and Historical Account of the Isles of Scilly. 1750​
Pilgrimage
The Church on earth is a pilgrim on a journey to the glory of heaven (Catechism of the Catholic Church 846). The very act of travelling from one place to another can express our spiritual journey to God. A pilgrim travels with eyes fixed on Jesus and an openness to the possibility of undergoing spiritual transformation in the Spirit.
Intention
To start, choose an intention for the pilgrimage. Your intention can be a form of petition requesting a special grace from God for yourself or on behalf of another. You can also offer a pilgrimage in thanksgiving for blessings already received. Moreover, you can offer a pilgrimage as a form of penance as you seek to renew your relationship with God and commit to beginning again.
What intention will you carry in your heart along the way?
Prayer of Intention
Lord Jesus Christ,
You call me to follow you, and I choose to walk with you.
Open the eyes of my heart to see my life in a new way.
With each step I take, help me to be open to change.
As I walk this pilgrimage, give me the grace to…
Here mention your intention in your own words
I ask this in your Most Holy Name. Amen.
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Blessing of Pilgrims
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
All-powerful God, you always show your mercy and you are never far away from those who seek you. You led your people safely through the desert and brought them to a land of plenty. Remain with your servants on this holy pilgrimage and guide their ways in accordance with your will. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
The God of heaven has made a home on earth
Christ dwells among us and is one with us.
May the Lord guide us and direct our journey in safety. Amen.
May the Lord be our companion along the way. Amen.
May the Lord grant that the journey we begin, relying on him,
will end happily through his protection. Amen.
And the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you always. Amen.
We go forth in peace;
Thanks to God.
Individual Prayer at the start of the Pilgrimage
Lord Jesus Christ, by your Passion and Resurrection you obtained for me
the power to strip away the old self and to step into new life.
As I start this pilgrimage, I leave behind… here mention in your own words
what you want to leave behind in order to follow Jesus more closely as his disciple.
Show me your mercy and come to my aid. I ask this in your Most Holy Name. Amen.
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Labyrinth
In the Christian tradition labyrinths are used as a symbol of our journey to God. Full of changes, reversals and confusion. Often the path seems to lead us away from the centre, not towards, or back to where you have just been. Its a path of trust as the path always leads the right way without any dead ends (unlike a maze). Sometimes it might look tempting to step over the ‘wall’ onto another path but that won’t work. A part will be missed or sections will be repeated or even miss the centre completely.
Walking a labyrinth is a way to explore and think through some of life’s Questions. Martin Luther King put it this way: ‘Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase’.
Like a pilgrimage, praying with a labyrinth evoke our earthly journey towards heaven while simultaneously giving us time and space to listen and respond to the Lord.
The origins of the prayer labyrinth
The earliest examples of labyrinths go back nearly 5,000 years, but the use of labyrinths in Christian prayer emerged during the Middle Ages. The most famous example of a Christian labyrinth intended for prayer is the stone labyrinth inlaid on the floor of the Chartres Cathedral in France.
“Meditation is above all a quest. The mind seeks to understand the why and how of the Christian life, in order to hear and respond to what the Lord is asking.” - Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2705
Why you might pray with a labyrinth
Where we pray affects how we pray.
Most of the time, we seek to pray in places of quiet and stillness.
At other times, taking a walk or simply being outside helps us pray.
Although we can embark on a walking meditation nearly anywhere,
the predictable and concentrated route of a labyrinth
frees us from the inevitable distractions that come with being out on a walk.
How to pray with a labyrinth
Since a prayer labyrinth is an external aid to prayer, we can use it to help with forms of prayer that are already familiar to us like the Rosary or the Examen or the suggested way below;
Steps of praying with a Labyrinth
Name your intention
Invite God to walk with you during this prayer period. Ask for the grace to hear and respond to him. If you have any particular intentions on your heart, name them to God and tell him that you will carry these intentions with you during the walk.
Walk the path
Enter and follow the path of the labyrinth, knowing that God is with you. Go at a pace that feels natural and let go of worldly attachments. As you move along the path, notice what is happening in your mind and heart. There is no agenda to this prayer. Rather, let your prayer unfold as you go and trust in God’s guidance. If your mind wanders to thoughts that seem like distractions, name the distraction, lift it up to God and ask God to guide your mind and heart back to him. If the distraction returns, explore it with God.
Give thanks
When you reach the centre of the labyrinth, thank God for having walked with you along the way. Linger in the centre of the labyrinth, spending time with God and praying.
Returning
When ready start the journey out into the world again. Strengthened as you walk with Jesus back into places of ministry as a renewed person.
Reflect
Afterwards, take time to reflect on your walking meditation. Write down your thoughts, feelings or anything else that you experienced. If something from these recollections stands out to you, consider exploring it at another time in prayer or in spiritual direction.​​​
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Service by the Holy Well
In the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Almighty God,
as we come together to celebrate the life and witness of Santa Warna,
in this place of ancient prayer, may we, inspired by her example of faith,
give ourselves fully to your service,
both now in our pilgrimage and worship,
and for always, bounded in your love.
We pray this through your son Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Hymn
Tune: O Waly waly When I survey the wondrous cross
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In steps of saints from long ago
who came to serve on this small isle,
we tread the pilgrim path and draw
apart from daily work awhile.
We share our journey on the way
with others searching too for peace,
and find God present in each one
who honestly and humbly seeks.
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We long for space to hear God’s voice,
and find it in the milling crowd
as well as hushed in holy church
at prayer, in silence and aloud.
We gaze upon the sunlit sea,
or stroll along in mist and rain,
rejoicing that our God is seen
and understood in joy and pain.
In steps of saints we travel on,
forever changed, yet still the same;
we serve and follow in Christ’s way
in daily life, to praise his name.
Psalm 63.1-5
My soul is athirst for God
R: My soul is athirst for God
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O God, you are my God; eagerly I seek you; my soul is athirst for you.
My flesh also faints for you, as in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. R​​
So would I gaze upon you in your holy place,
that I might behold your power and your glory. R
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Your loving-kindness is better than life itself and so my lips shall praise you.
I will bless you as long as I live and lift up my hands in your name. R
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Old Testament Reading
A reading from the book of Ecclesiasticus
By his plan he stilled the deep and planted islands in it. Those who sail the sea tell of its dangers, and we marvel at what we hear. In it are strange and marvellous creatures, all kinds of living things, and huge sea-monsters. Because of him each of his messengers succeeds, and by his word all things hold together. We could say more but could never say enough; let the final word be: ‘He is the all.’
Ecclesiasticus 43. 23-27
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Hymn
Tune: Monks Gate, He who would valiant be
Come, faithful pilgrims all, give God the glory.
Let all who here has called tell out his story:
How he sent Israel free from Egypt’s slavery,
and called them out to be a pilgrim people.
Out on the desert way, in all its starkness,
faith led them through the day, and lit their darkness.
No written guarantee, no easy certainty,
just God’s great call to be a pilgrim people.
Let all the world rejoice in exaltation;
let ev’ry silent voice sing of salvation.
Loose all the chains that bind, set free both heart and mind,
and make all humankind a pilgrim people.
New Testament Reading
A reading from the Gospel of Saint John
So Jesus came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.
A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink’. (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?’ (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give me a drink”, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?’ Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.’
John 4.5-15, 21-26
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
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Sprinkling with Holy Water
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Prayers
After each response silence is held
God is the beginning and end of life’s pilgrimage.
Let us call upon him in confidence, saying:
Lord, be the companion on our journey.
Father all-holy,
of old you made yourself the guide
and the way of your people as they wandered in the desert;
be our protection as we journey together.
Lord, be the companion on our journey.
You have given us your only Son to be our way to you;
make us follow him faithfully and unswervingly.
Lord, be the companion on our journey.
You gave us the Blessed Virgin Mary,
St Agnes, St Warna, St Martin, St Nicolas and all the Saints
as the image and model for following Christ;
grant that through their example we may live a new life.
Lord, be the companion on our journey.
You guide your pilgrim Church on earth
through the Holy Spirit;
may we seek you in all things
and walk always in the way of your commandments.
Amen.
Collect for St Warna
Almighty God,
who inspired St Warna to be a witness to the risen Lord,
endured perilous travel to islands far,
and led a faithful life of solitude and prayer:
give us courage to follow in her footsteps,
to go beyond our sphere of comfort,
to witness with boldness and joy;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God now and forever.
Amen.
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As our Saviour taught us we are bold to say​​
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
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Hymn
Tune: Blaenwern, Love divine, all loves excelling
Praise to God for saints and martyrs, inspiration to us all;
In the presence of our Saviour, their example we recall:
Lives of holy contemplation, sacrifice or simple love,
Witnesses to truth and justice, honoured here and crowned above.
How long to share the story, faithful in response to Grace,
Signs of God's eternal presence in the realm of time and space.
Now, the pilgrimage completed, cross of Christ their only boast,
they unite their own rejoicing with the great angelic host.
Saints and Martyrs, now in glory, robed before your saviour’s face,
Let us join your intercession for God's holy human race.
Let us join with you in singing Mary's liberation song,
Till a just and free creation sings, with the angelic throng:
Praise and honour to the father, adoration to the Son,
With the all-embracing Spirit, wholly Three, and holy One.
All the universe, united in complete diversity,
Sings as one your endless praises, ever blessèd Trinity!
The Blessing
All-powerful God,
you always show your mercy toward those who love you and you are never far away from those seek you.
Remain with your servants on this holy pilgrimage and guide their ways in accordance with your will.
As they journey throughout their lives shelter them with your protection by day,
give them the light of your grace at night,
and may they always remember that you are their companion throughout their journey.
And the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
be upon you and remain with you always.
Amen.
Go forth in peace to love and serve the Lord;
In the name of Christ. Amen.
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13th July - Local Commemoration
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The date of 13th has been chosen as history tells us that the islanders would visit the Holy Well the day after 12 night.
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July - six months after 13th January so that the Feast is in the summer months when pilgrims are able to travel to the island without fear of storms.
Individual Prayer whilst at the Holy Well​
Heavenly Father, I thank you for the gift of your servant, Santa Warna
and for her dedicated life bringing Christianity to the community on this island.
Help me to walk in her footsteps and grow as your disciple.
May I be always faithful and courageous
in living and proclaiming the Gospel of your Son, Jesus Christ.
May your Church always seek to do your will, and be the sign of your love for all peoples.
Cleanse me, renew me and strengthen me,
so by your grace and through the intercession of Santa Warna,
I may follow Jesus with joy and holiness of life.
I ask this, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Prayer upon leaving St Agnes
Lord Jesus Christ,
we give you thanks for calling us to be your disciples
and sending us out into the world.
As we step forth from this holy place,
give us the grace to be an authentic witness of your love by our lives,
and to proclaim you on our lips with joy.
We ask this in your Most Holy Name. Amen.
Prayer at the end of the pilgrimage
Lord Jesus Christ, as this pilgrimage comes to an end,
help us to walk in newness of life.
By your Spirit, transform us into your likeness
and fill us with your life and love.
We ask this in your Most Holy Name. Amen.
Copyright acknowledgement: Material included in this service from Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England is copyright: © The Archbishops’ Council 2000 and 2007. Hymns and music produced under the CCLI Licence number 1203908. Scripture quotations are from The New Revised Version of the Bible copyright: © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches in the USA. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.