WEDNESDAY - A celebration of the faith of Young People on the Pilgrimage

Two of the experiences of Lourdes that we celebrate on Wednesday are the International Mass, in the morning. This is a wonderful gathering of thousands of people from different countries, languages and backgrounds. As Lourdes is a principal shrine of Europe, most of the pilgrims are from European countries but of course people can normally travel from anywhere in the world to this holy place.

 The International Mass is a Festival of Faith and of different cultures. There are readings and prayers in different languages; groups bring banners and flags which represent their schools and parishes, dioceses and countries. And faith unites us all. 

On the Wednesday evening, the clergy on the pilgrimage usually gather with Archbishop Bernard and Bishop David. They call it the Clergy Retreat, but we have come to know that it is important time for the clergy to spend together, socially!

For the rest of the pilgrims, for many years, there has been an enjoyable concert by the pilgrimage musicians. The combination especially of sick pilgrims and young helpers is a joyful sight. We will try to capture some of that.

Today, we celebrate the influence on the Birmingham Lourdes Pilgrimage of our Diocesan Youth Service, of school groups, many of whom find their greatest fulfilment on the pilgrimage by experiencing the joyful faith of our sick pilgrims whom they are called to serve.

We pray in a special way for the young people of our Archdiocese who would have been travelling to Lourdes for the first time; that they may have the opportunity either very soon or at some time in their life to discover the meaning of faith in places like Lourdes.