The Fursey Pilgrimage

An ultra-micro pilgrimage event happening near Great Yarmouth at the start of October. Don’t expect crowds or long distances, but do expect a gentle village stroll, with a BBQ and some happy people honouring a Saint called Fursey.

Fursey is a local Saint, an Irish missionary who met great success through (what Bede called) being “outstanding in virtue”. Burgh Castle is a Roman ruin which is traditionally held to be the site of Fursey’s East Anglian monastery, one of his many stops on his long wanderings across Europe.

Fursey’s famous Lorica – a protective prayer, a beautiful breastplate of words – is translated as follows:

The arms of God be around my shoulders

The touch of the Holy Spirit upon my head,

The sign of Christ’s cross upon my forehead,

The sound of the Holy Spirit in my ears,

The fragrance of the Holy Spirit in my nostrils,

The vision of heaven’s company in my eyes,

The conversation of heaven’s company on my lips,

The work of God’s church in my hands,

The service of God and the neighbour in my feet,

A home for God in my heart,

And to God, the Father of all, my entire being.