I’m inviting you to join me on a pilgrimage I’ll be making with a friend of mine! This pilgrimage will be of the imagination, of the heart. I suppose in truth, it’s a fictitious pilgrimage. My friend is none other than St Francis of Assisi. For me, the imagination’s a vital and an exciting tool for reliving something of a saint’s life. So I’ll be, as it were, ‘walking and talking’ with you, through these pages, about the story of the pilgrimage which’ll take who knows how long. At each stage, I’ll have my own personal reflections and I’ll be addressing you personally in the hope to make some connection with where you might be. The story of the pilgrimage, apart from walking, is mostly about ordinary experiences: eating, resting, talking, getting irritated, being bored, embarrassed, delighted: and any other mood you care to add. I’ll be picturing Francis, my friend and I hope yours also, carrying a copy of St Matthew’s Gospel in his pocket, as I will myself. Maybe you’ll do the same.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Martin Shaw, prior to being consecrated Bishop of Argyll and The Isles in June 2004 at St John’s Cathedral in Oban, was Chaplain and acting Dean of King’s College Cambridge, working as a priest in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dunoon and London. As Canon Precentor at St Edmundsbury Cathedral, he was responsible for Liturgy and Music. Since 1972 he has been a member of the Third Order of St Francis and has a particular interest in Franciscan spirituality and pilgrimage. Through his singing and writing poetry, Martin Shaw has a keen involvement in art as an important approach to Christian spirituality. Since 2010 he has been an honorary assistant bishop in the Diocese of Exeter.