STORIES FROM MCCABE - ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME!
Written by Revd Penelope Swithinbank
The Via Francigena is an ancient pilgrim route from Canterbury to Rome, first recorded by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, leading across France, over the Alp and down through northern Italy and Tuscany, and finally to Rome itself.  Until fairly recently, it was almost unknown except by a very few stalwarts and even now, it is far less busy and ‘touristy’ than the more famous Camino de Compostela.
We’ve led many pilgrimages on the Via Francigena down through Tuscany and into Lazio, and have reached Viterbo. Now it’s time for the final week’s walk into Rome itself. Whether you’ve walked any or none of the route, this promises to be another glorious week, with its departure from everyday life, on a journey, in search of spiritual well-being, and to spend time walking with God. It’s walking at the 3 mph speed of your soul, as someone once said, which is our natural walking pace.  It’s a slowing down - slowing down in order to catch up. To pay attention to God, to one’s soul, to the world around us.
What’s involved? Well, walking mostly!
But also, enjoying moments of sheer bliss – and sheer hell if you have blisters or can’t get to the top without vast effort. Rest each night at interesting and well-chosen hotels; appreciate time with the Lord as you are led through different Spiritual experiences either while walking or later in the evening devotional slot.
Just 7 days to recalibrate – to think, to breathe, maybe to pray. To connect with your steps as perhaps you’ve never done before. To make those steps count. It could well be life changing.
And then there’s helping one another and encouraging one another especially when it’s raining, or you’ve got blisters, or you feel you can’t walk another step! Sharing provisions and rain equipment and sunscreen - whatever you have that another needs. It’s unforgettable!  You’ll come back changed in one way or another. One of our pilgrims heard a calling to full time ministry; another began a writing career when he discovered the joy of a daily journal while on the pilgrimage.
For over 1,000 years pilgrims have walked this route, traced their steps along the ancient strade bianche (white stony tracks) over the hills and alongside verdant vineyards. Still, it is each and every step YOU’LL take that calls to you.
We’d love for you to join us on this Pilgrimage to Rome, next May - 2025 is a Year of Jubilee of HOPE and this will be our guiding theme for the Pilgrimage.
For full details click here
The Revds Kim & Penelope Swithinbank have led many Pilgrimages over the years, and enjoy tramping the hills and vales near their home in Bath. They have worked in churches in the UK and the USA. Find out more here www.penelopeswithinbank.com
BOOK ONLINE 24/7
Or contact McCabe here:
Phone: 01252 226133
Email: info@mccabe-travel.co.uk
Opening hours: Monday to Friday 10:00 - 16:00

a very special pilgrimage

Walk into Rome, on pilgrimage, in the Year of Jubilee 2025

Pope Francis has declared 2025 as a year of Jubilee * with the theme of Hope

Join us on pilgrimage, walking from Viterbo into Rome, some 60 miles, followed by time in Rome itself. It will be organized for us by McCabe Pilgrimages https://www.mccabe-travel.co.uk

and the Revds Kim and Penelope Swithinbank will be your pilgrimage leaders.

We will be walking the final 60 miles of the Via Francigena, the ancient pilgrimage route from Canterbury to Rome, on the Via Cassia through the Lazio area, in late spring. Etruscan roads and Roman roads, strade bianche (white farm tracks) and footpaths, followed by the unavoidable walk through the outskirts of Rome .... and then the amazing crossing of the Tiber and into St Peter’s Square.

This diagram is taken from ATG; our walk will be different but with the same route and (a few) ups and (some) downs and the flat stretch into Rome itself and then – the fabulous walk across the Tiber to St Peter’s Square.

Our theme will of course be HOPE. The jubilee year already has lots of preparations in place; there is a Jubilee hymn, prayer, and Pilgrimage Card. It’s all very exciting as we think about the HOPE we have in the Lord.

Places are limited to 25, and we don’t want you to miss out on this very special opportunity, so pop over to the McCabe website and book now! We’d love to have you join us.

Hope to see you in Viterbo and on to Rome!

there’s always time for a gelato for him…. but our favourite one is in the Trastavere in Rome!

*“Jubilee” is the name given to a particular year; the name comes from the instrument used to mark its launch. In this case, the instrument in question is the yobel, the ram's horn, used to proclaim the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). This (Jewish) holiday occurs every year, but it takes on special significance when it marks the beginning of a Jubilee year. We can find an early indication of it in the Bible: a Jubilee year was to be marked every 50 years, since this would be an “extra” year, one which would happen every seven weeks of seven years, i.e., every 49 years (cf. Leviticus 25:8-13). Even though it wasn’t easy to organise, it was intended to be marked as a time to re-establish a proper relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation, and involved the forgiveness of debts, the return of misappropriated land, and a fallow period for the fields.

Quoting the prophet Isaiah, the Gospel of Luke describes Jesus’ mission in this way: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord,” (Luke 4:18-19; cf. Isaiah 61:1-2). Jesus lives out these words in his daily life, in his encounters with others and in his relationships, all of which bring about liberation and conversion.

In 1300, Pope Boniface VIII called the first Jubilee, also known as a “Holy Year,” since it is a time in which God's holiness transforms us.