Experience a Pilgrim Trail at Nottingham Cathedral, this Jubilee Year.
It can be very easy to think about making a pilgrimage to Lourdes, or Walsingham or Rome, but how can you make a pilgrimage to the Cathedral? This simple pilgrim trail around the Cathedral has been put together to help you do just that. There are 15 different ‘pilgrim stations’ forming a trail around the Cathedral. Each one makes use of an aspect of the Cathedral’s beautiful heritage to inspire your journey, and a simple reflection and prayer is offered at each station. The trail can be shortened, lengthened or adapted to your time and needs. It is simply offered as a tool to help you enter more deeply into this Jubilee Year; so that we may ‘recognise Christ more and more as our steadfast hope and firm anchor in life’ and so that we may be sent ‘out into our wider communities to be the living signs of hope he desires us to be’.
A Plenary indulgence can be received when people visit the Cathedral on a Jubilee Pilgrimage and the usual conditions of sacramental confession, reciting the creed, receiving Holy Communion and praying for the intentions of the Holy Father apply.
Jubilee Pilgrim Trail: Prayers and Reflections
1. The Door to the Cathedral: Beginning Your Pilgrim Journey
As you arrive at the Cathedral door to begin your pilgrimage in this Jubilee Year 2025, you are following in the footsteps of millions of people throughout history who have also set out on a similar journey. A pilgrimage is an opportunity to reflect upon your relationship with God, with others, with yourself and with all of creation. As you step over the threshold of the Cathedral today, call to mind all that might be preoccupying you at this time. Are you anxious about something? Is someone on your heart or mind? Are you weary or tired? Are you grateful and want to give thanks for something? Are you praying for a certain situation? Whatever is on your heart as you enter the Cathedral offer it to Jesus. Open your heart and all that is in it, to the Lord Jesus Christ, and to the peace, love, hope and joy of God that you can experience in this place.
As you begin your Jubilee Pilgrimage, pray the Jubilee Prayer:
God our Father in heaven,
may the faith you have given us in your son, Jesus Christ, our Saviour,
and the flame of charity enkindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
awaken in us this Jubilee Year a missionary heart for the coming of your Kingdom.
May the gift of your grace, transform us, Pilgrims of Hope,
Into your missionary disciples, blessed with the gifts and talents you give us.
Strengthen us to share our Saviour’s message of love, joy and peace with all the people we meet this year, so that we may help build up your Kingdom on earth.
To you our God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
be glory and praise for ever and ever.
Amen.
2. The Baptismal Font: Renewing Your Profession of Faith
For many of us, we were baptised in infancy and our parents chose the Lord and our Catholic Faith for us. Now as adults, we are called to embrace this faith for ourselves; to choose daily to follow Christ in the heart of His Church. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that:
197. As on the day of our Baptism, when our whole life was entrusted to the ‘standard of teaching’, let us embrace the Creed of our life-giving faith. To say the Credo with faith is to enter into communion with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and also with the whole Church which transmits the faith to us and in whose midst, we believe:
This Creed is the spiritual seal, our heart’s meditation and an ever-present guardian; it is, unquestionably, the treasure of our soul (St Ambrose).
As you stand before the font at the outset of your Jubilee Pilgrimage, you are invited to renew your profession of faith by praying the Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried;
he descended into hell;
on the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.
Amen.
3. The Rosary Windows: To Jesus, Through Mary
Just on from the font, we approach the magnificent ‘rosary’ windows depicting 15 of the mysteries of the Rosary. From left to right: the joyful, the glorious and the sorrowful mysteries. St John Paul II called the rosary a ‘compendium of the gospel’ and said that ‘with the rosary, the Christian people sit at the school of Mary and is led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love’. At this moment in your pilgrimage around the Cathedral you are invited to pick an image that particularly speaks to you from these windows and pray that particular decade of the rosary asking Our Lady to help you know and love her Son more deeply. If your time is short, then just pray a Hail Mary, or if you have more time now or later, pray the rosary here:
Our Father, Hail Mary x 10, Glory Be.
You can find a simple guide to praying the Rosary, here.
Further reading: The Apostolic Letter of Pope St. John Paul II, ROSARIUM VIRGINIS MARIAE, on the Most Holy Rosary.
4. Statue of the Sacred heart: Accepting the Love of Jesus
Just before entering the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, you will see a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Take a moment to pause and reflect on ‘the heart that has loved so greatly’. As St Margaret Mary Alacoque, who received visions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, writes ‘This is the heart that so loved human beings that it has spared nothing, even to emptying and consuming itself in order to show them its love’.
As you contemplate the overwhelming love in the heart of Jesus, take a moment to reflect: are you willing to accept the immense love that God has for you? Do you believe that Jesus loves you with all his heart? Do you allow your own heart and your life to be shaped by His divine love?
Pray this simple prayer from St Gertrude the Great to the Sacred Heart:
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, fountain of eternal life,
Your Heart is a glowing furnace of love.
You are my refuge and my sanctuary,
O my adorable and loving saviour, consume my heart with the burning fire with which Yours is inflamed.
Pour down on my soul those graces which flow from Your Love.
Let my heart be united with Yours in all things.
May Your Will be the rule of all my desires and actions.
Amen.
Further Reading: Encyclical Letter, DILEXT NOS, of Pope Francis on the human and divine love of the heart of Jesus Christ.
5. The Blessed Sacrament Chapel: Experience God’s Love for You.
As you now move into the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, you move into the place where ‘heart speaks unto heart’. You are invited to move from an acceptance of God’s love to a profound experience of it in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. Here the Eucharistic presence of Jesus resides in the tabernacle- truly present body, blood, soul and divinity- and his desire is for communion with you. St Josemaria Escriva said that ‘when you approach the tabernacle remember that He has been waiting for you for twenty centuries’. Sometimes we might doubt the presence of God in our life but in times of adoration we come into the very presence of Jesus the Son of God. Having just reflected on the immense love of the heart of Jesus at the previous pilgrim station, you now have the opportunity to open your heart to the heart of Jesus truly present in the Eucharist. When St John Vianney asked an elderly man what he did when he spent time sitting in front of the tabernacle, he replied ‘Nothing, I look at Him and He looks at me’. Sit for a few moments now in your pilgrimage and allow the Lord to look at you and allow yourself to be held in his love. Words aren’t always necessary, just come with an open heart into the presence of the one who loves us all beyond measure.
As you finish your time of prayer in this Chapel, say or sing these simple words:
‘O Sacrament most holy,
O Sacrament Divine,
All praise and all thanksgiving,
Be every moment thine’ (x3)
Read more about to make a Holy Hour, here.
6. Statue of St Barnabas: The Gift of Encouragement
St Barnabas is the patron saint of our Cathedral. His name means ‘son of encouragement’ and in the Acts of the Apostles, we find him described as ‘a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith’.
Please take a moment to ask his prayerful intercession that you may be encouraged in the way you live out your faith and that, in turn, you may be a source of encouragement to others.
St Barnabas, pray for us!
7. St Hugh of Lincoln and Martyrs’ Chapel: An Act of Faith
On our pilgrim journey through life, we recognise that very many people have gone before us ‘marked with the sign of faith’. In this chapel, we especially remember St Hugh of Lincoln, patron saint of our diocese, and also the many martyrs associated with the diocese of Nottingham. These men and women have lived their lives generously in bearing witness to the faith: St Hugh, through a life of generous service to the Lord as Bishop of the Diocese of Lincoln which included this area of the East Midlands, and the Martyrs through their refusal to give up their Catholic faith, preferring to die for the Lord and receive the crown of martyrdom.
Take a moment to reflect upon the ways in which you bear witness to your faith.
As you conclude your time in this chapel, pray this simple Act of Faith:
O my God, I firmly believe
that you are one God in three divine Persons,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
I believe that your divine Son became man
and died for our sins and that he will come
to judge the living and the dead.
I believe these and all the truths which the Holy Catholic Church teaches
because you have revealed them
who are eternal truth and wisdom,
who can neither deceive nor be deceived.
In this faith I intend to live and die.
Amen.
8. The Lady Chapel: An Act of Hope
In the Bull of Indiction for the Holy Year, Pope Francis tells us that ‘hope is born of love and based on the love springing from the pierced heart of Jesus upon the Cross’. He reminds us that this hope ‘…finds it supreme witness in the Mother of God. In the Blessed Virgin Mary, we see that hope is not naïve optimism but a gift of grace amid the realities of life.’
As you now spend time in the Lady Chapel you are invited to place into the hands of Our Lady, your sorrows, your hopes, your anxieties and your dreams. As you venerate her in this place, implore her protection. Take confidence that ‘never was it known that anyone who fled to her protection, implored her help or sought her intercession, was left unaided.’ In this place seek ‘to know the closeness of Mary, the most affectionate of mothers, who never abandons her children and who, for the holy people of God, is a ‘sign of certain hope and comfort’.’ (Spes Non Confundit n.24)
As you conclude your time in this chapel, pray this simple Act of Hope:
O Lord God,
I hope by your grace for the pardon
of all my sins
and after life here to gain eternal happiness
because you have promised it
who are infinitely powerful, faithful, kind, and merciful.
In this hope I intend to live and die.
Amen
9. The Unity Chapel: An Act of Love
On December 28th 2024, Pope Francis shared a ‘Thought for the Day’ on BBC Radio 4, reflecting on the themes of hope and kindness in light of the Jubilee Year. As you now enter the Unity Chapel, take a moment to reflect on Pope Francis words from this address:
‘Hope and kindness touch the very heart of the Gospel and show us the path to follow in our behaviour.’ The Pope reminds us that despite the many conflicts and much violence in the world, ‘we [can] choose love, and love makes our hearts fervent and hopeful. Those who love, even if they find themselves in uncertain situations, always view the world with the gentle gaze of hope’. He goes on to comment that ‘kindness is a form of love that opens hearts to acceptance and helps us all to become more humble. And how important humility is - humility lends itself to dialogue, helps to overcome misunderstandings and generates gratitude’. Pope Francis concluded by hoping that ‘during this Jubilee we can practise kindness as a form of love to connect with others’.
Ask the Lord to help you choose love this Jubilee year, to help you practise kindness and to open your heart to loving, ever more deeply, others on your pilgrim journey through life.
As you conclude your time in this chapel, pray this simple Act of Love:
O Lord God,
I love you above all things
and I love my neighbour for your sake
because you are the highest, infinite and perfect good,
worthy of all my love.
In this love, I intend to live and die.
Amen.
10. Statue of St Francis of Assisi : Restoring Relationships
Just outside the Unity Chapel, there is a statue of St Francis of Assisi, one of the most loved and well-known saints in the Church. This poor friar lived a life of humble simplicity and poverty. He was a beacon of renewal in his time, calling the Church to live more simply and closer to the poor. The Jubilee Year 2025 is a time for prayerful reflection on the ways in which we each need to renew our lives so as to live more simply. From biblical times a Jubilee has been a time to restore and renew our relationship with God, with each other and with the whole of creation. It has been a time to seek a more just and peaceful world. As you come before this statue of a man who embodied this renewal, take a moment to seek his prayerful intercession as you pray his famous prayer:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is discord, union;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
11. Mary Potter’s Tomb: Praying for the Dying and the Deceased
We now come to the tomb of Venerable Mary Potter, who founded the Little Company of Mary here in Nottingham in the 1800s. Mary Potter, and her religious order, had a particular devotion to caring for the dying and praying for the holy souls. You are now invited to pray for your own deceased loved ones as we pause at Mary’s tomb. You might also acknowledge and say a prayer for all who now care for the sick and the dying.
At this moment of your pilgrimage, pray this prayer of Venerable Mary Potter:
Eternal Father, by the death of Jesus, save the dying.
Jesus, by your infinite compassion show compassion to the dying.
Loving Spirit of God, have mercy on the dying.
Maternal Heart of Mary, more loving and suffering than the hearts of all mothers, implore God’s mercy for the dying.
Conclude your time here by calling to mind your own deceased ones and praying for them with these simple prayers:
Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon them; may they rest in peace. Amen.
May they, and the souls of all the faithful departed, rest in peace. Amen.
12. Life of Jesus Windows: Sacramental Love
As we enter the North Transept, we are met with a vibrant set of windows depicting scenes from the life of Jesus. If you look more closely, you will see that the scenes depicted are a foreshadowing of the sacramental life of the Church, with the Eucharist, depicted in the central panels. In the Catechism we read that:
1115. ‘Jesus’ words and actions during his hidden life and public ministry were already salvific, for they anticipate the power of his Paschal mystery. They announced and prepared what he was going to give the Church when all was accomplished. The mysteries of Christ’s life are the foundations of what he would henceforth dispense in the sacraments, through the ministers of his Church, for ‘what was invisible in our Saviour has passed into his mysteries’.
These windows are a vivid illustration of these truths. They provide insights into the mysteries of the Sacraments and the ways in which Jesus Christ continues to be present through the Sacramental life of the Church today. Through receiving these Sacraments, we encounter God, and we receive His grace. The Sacraments both strengthen our faith and express it. The fruits of a sacramental life are both personal and ecclesial. At a personal level the fruit is life for God in Christ Jesus and at the ecclesial level, it is an increase in charity and in witness.
Perhaps during your pilgrimage today, or within the coming days, you can find some time to make a Sacramental Confession and receive Holy Communion. These are also necessary elements to receive the Plenary Indulgence for your Jubilee Pilgrimage.
13. Statue of St Therese: Praying for Vocations
As you enter the North Transept, there is a statue of St Therese of Lisieux, one of the Doctors of the Church. As a young enclosed Carmelite Nun, limited by illness, she prayed to discern what her calling within the Church might be and, upon discovering it, she wrote these famous words:
‘Then, overcome by joy, I cried, ‘Jesus, my love. At last I have found my vocation. My vocation is love. In the heart of the Church, my mother, I will be love, and then I will be all things.’
Pause for a moment and reflect on the call the Lord has placed on your life. What is your vocation? Whether you are single, married, a religious, deacon or priest, ask the Lord to strengthen your vocation. Perhaps within this call the Lord is asking something more of you or your call is taking a different shape as you grow older? Perhaps you are still trying to discern the call the Lord is asking of you? Ask the Lord for the grace to respond to all He might be asking of you.
Conclude your time of prayer at this spot with the Diocesan Prayer for Vocations:
God Our Father, we thank you for calling men and women to serve you in your Son’s Kingdom, as Priests, Deacons, and as Religious Men and Women.
Send your Holy Spirit to help others respond generously and courageously to your call. May we continue to support and encourage vocations in our families and in our parish community.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever.
Amen.
14. The Keys of St Peter: Praying for the Holy Father
As you enter the nave of the Church, look up before the Sanctuary and you will find a papal tiara and crossed keys. Placed here by Bishop Dunn in the 1920s, this insignia expresses our Cathedral’s unity and love with the See of Peter, with the Pope in Rome and the entire Catholic Church. As you reflect upon this, you are invited to pray for the Pope Francis’ intentions by simply reciting the following prayers:
Our Father…Hail Mary…Glory Be…
Further Reading: The Pope’s Prayer Intentions for 2025.
15. The West Doors: Allowing Jesus to reign in your life.
As you prepare to conclude your pilgrim journey through the Cathedral, look up at the images above the West Doors at the back of the Cathedral. Here, in the central panel, Christ the King is reigning as Lord of heaven and earth. To his left is King St. Edward the Confessor and to his right is St. Edmundus, the Martyr. Both figures are standing in the presence of Christ and, if you look closely around their feet, you will notice they have both put aside their crowns – Edward his Kingly Crown and Edmundus the Crown of Martyrdom- in the presence of Christ the King of heaven and earth.
As you prepare to leave the Cathedral take a moment to consider prayerfully the symbolism of this window. Jesus wishes to reign in your heart and to be your Lord and King. What better prayer to end your pilgrimage here than by praying the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples.
Our Father…
Conclusion
As you leave the Cathedral, feel free to take a Jubilee Prayer Card with you and continue to pray this prayer throughout the year.
‘Hope in the Lord! Hold firm, take heart and hope in the Lord.’ (Ps 27:4)
For more news on the Jubilee, including diocesan events happening at the Cathedral, please see here.
