When Pope Francis declared the year 2025 would be a Holy Year of Jubilee for the Church, it was hoped that the flame of our faith would be reignited in the hearts of Christians everywhere and that ‘Pilgrims of Hope’ would seize this opportunity to fan that flame.

The desire to celebrate the Jubilee in some special way grew among a few members of the parish and, with the feast of Saint Columba just over the horizon, this desire eventually became an item on the Parish Council Agenda. Discussion took place about Iona and Carfin but these were discarded in favour of organising a pilgrimage in honour of our patron and paving the way for a journey to Dunkeld. The pilgrimage was thrown open to our sister parish of St. Leonards and St. Fergus and in the end a total of nineteen names were put forward. Transport was ordered and the hotel booked for our lunch. The date was set for June the 7th, the Saturday nearest date to the feast of Saint Columba (the 9th June).
As a prelude to the pilgrimage, we had invited along a member of the Iona community, Andrew Symon, who gave us a presentation talk on his book ‘The Seven Sands of Iona’ about Saint Columba.
Saturday the 7th of June came and after 9:00 AM Mass we were soon on our way, the bus taking the scenic route allowing us to enjoy the view interspersed with a bit of hymn singing while a car journeyed to Perth to pick up two sisters from the Perth Immaculate Heart of Mary community.
The journey went smoothly and after our arrival in Dunkeld we enjoyed a short but pleasant stroll along to the cathedral, where a bit of time was spent viewing artifacts and reading up on the history in the museum room. This was all in the East wing, as the West wing was out of bounds, still bearing the scars of ruination. Unfortunately, our time at the cathedral coincided with an upcoming wedding, so this precluded us from having a little indoor service and so we gathered together outside for a bit of hymn singing. The weather by this time had begun to turn around, and amid the hymns the rain grew steadily heavier, forcing us to beat a hasty retreat to the hotel.
At the hotel we enjoyed a pleasant, amiable lunch. With the meal drawing to a close, there would be no great rush to leave the hotel. Chatting was the order of the day in a congenial atmosphere. Soon though, it was time to think about heading for our transport. We were able to fit in a little promenade through Dunkeld before making for the bus and car park.
As we headed out of Dunkeld, our visiting was not quite over as the final item on our agenda was a planned visit to Saint Columba’s Church in Birnam, where fortunately we were able to hold a short service of Thanksgiving indoors. Then it was time to say goodbye and take our leave of our hosts and head home to Dundee and Perth. It had been a long day, and tiring for some, but it had been a successful pilgrimage with each of us going home to contemplate our own memories about the day. The day of our Pilgrimage of Hope.