One of the biggest annual children’s pilgrimages to Lourdes descended
on the French town in the foothills of the Pyrenees last week.
More than 1,600 disabled children, with their helpers, medical staff
and chaplains gathered for the 56th annual pilgrimage of HCPT – The
Pilgrimage Trust.
Most were from Britain and Ireland but groups joined
from as far afield as Croatia, the United States and the West Indies.
Their distinctive colourful outfits could be seen all around Lourdes –
at the Grotto, at the Cachot or prison where Bernadette lived at the
time of the apparitions in 1858, and in the City of the Poor above the
town that caters for pilgrims on low incomes and hosts a ‘green
cathedral’ for outdoor masses .
On the Tuesday and Thursday the HCPT led the Blessed Sacrament and Torchlight processions.
The annual Trust Mass in the cavernous underground basilica of St
Pius X on Thursday was celebrated by Cardinal Seán Brady, and other
bishops present included Bishop Kieran Conry of England’s Arundel and
Brighton Diocese and Bishop Tom Burns of Menevia Diocese in Wales.
The liturgy was organised by the Irish groups and there were cheers
as Irish dancers performed in front of the altar as part of the
Offertory and then unfolded a white cloth on it ready for the gifts.
The joyful Mass saw a procession of more than 200 priests and as many
colourful banners.
Thousands around the world watched the young people singing and
dancing live over the internet via the Lourdes and HCPT websites.
Cardinal Brady said he was “very excited to be coming once again on
this great pilgrimage.”
He reflected that he had given considerable
thought to discovering a common bond between the three big events of the
week that he would be attending: the HCPT Pilgrimage, the Royal wedding
and the Beatification of Pope John Paul II. All would be celebrations
in a religious place and bringing together big crowds, but the common
bond, he said, was the “bond of love.”
He hoped the experience of the HCPT pilgrimage would “send us home determined to show that love to others.”