A Pilgrimage to Duns

When I arrived at Grey College, Durham, yesterday evening in time for supper, the participants in the Conference were returning from an afternoon trip to Duns in the Borders of Scotland, the birthplace of the Blessed John Duns Scotus whose Mariology was the subject of the Conference.

Cardinal O'Brien, Archbishop of Edinburgh graciously gave an afternoon to celebrate Mass in the parish Church of Duns, and to meet the Friars, the Sisters and all those taking part in the pilgrimage. The next picture shows him with Fr Stefano Manelli FI, the founder and Minister General of the Franciscans of the Immaculate.

And here is a photo of His Eminence with the whole group:

One or two of the Friars said to me that the Cardinal seemed quite moved by the gathering. A gathering of this number of Friars and Sisters is relatively rare in Britain nowadays. To have a choir of sisters singing the chants for the Mass and a genuine pilgrimage of devotion in honour of one of Scotland's most influential and widely neglected sons must indeed have been a heartwarming occasion.

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