Orthodox Pilgrimage to St Ninian's Isle

‘Pilgrimage is a bridge that can take us from where we presently are to somewhere else with a higher meaning and content.’

Mount Athos-a journey of self-discovery. Luiz Rocha

Shetland has not had the summer heatwave of most of Europe and on June 19th the forecast was cold and wet for the Orthodox Community of Saint Ninian pilgrimage to Saint Ninian’s Isle, so most people cancelled. However three young, intrepid visitors, Ruby, Nema and Lucy joined Mother Mary just as the clouds parted allowing glimpses of the sun. After walking across the sandy tombolo, Mother Mary chanted a hymn to Saint Ninian in the 12th Century chapel on the Isle.

There is no record of Saint Ninian visiting Shetland, but the saint is venerated in this sacred place which was probably one of the first sites to witness Christian worship in Shetland. Saint Ninian is known as ‘The Apostle to the Picts’ and in 1958, a schoolboy discovered Pictish treasure dating from around 800 CE but the first signs of human occupation on the isle date back to the Iron Age around 800 BCE.

After spending time in silent prayer, soaking up the spiritual atmosphere of a ‘thin space’ between heaven and earth, the pilgrims made a brisk walk back to the car park to warm up with a very down to earth cup of tea and slice of cake.

An unexpected postscript is that a few weeks later when Bishop Raphael of Ilion, Father Antonios and two Greek nuns from Crete were visiting Shetland in order to celebrate Holy Baptism and the Divine Liturgy, there was a second, unplanned pilgrimage to Saint Ninian’s Isle which ended with the nuns singing the hymn to Saint Ninian in Greek.

Holy Father Ninian, please pray to God for us!

Link to the nuns singing Saint Ninian hymn in Greek (YouTube Video).

Link to an illustrated article about Bishop Raphael's visit (Webpage).

Mother Mary, St Sunniva Skete, 10th August 2026.

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