International Catholic charity HCPT – the Hosanna House and Children’s Pilgrimage Trust – has celebrated its biggest one-week Easter pilgrimage to Lourdes since the Covid-19 pandemic.
As well as pilgrims from England, Scotland and Wales, sister organisations were present from Belgium, Croatia, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, the West Indies and the USA. Croatia had three groups with 70 people, including 27 children and five priests. The US groups of 80 people included a youth contingent – all from New York and New Jersey. The West Indies group stood out in their green, black and yellow tops with “No Problem” written on the back.
Conditions experienced by the hundreds of children taking part included learning difficulties, behavioural problems and autism. Other common conditions included asthma, Down’s Syndrome and epilepsy. Nearly one in ten of the pilgrims were wheelchair users. Sporting celebrities from Merseyside, including former England footballer Wayne Rooney, gave online messages of support.
HCPT’s pilgrimage groups wore colours unique to their group and were prominent within the shrine area and at other sites around the town connected to St Bernadette of Lourdes. HCPT swelled the torchlight procession on the Tuesday evening, and the Blessed Sacrament procession on the Thursday, carrying colourful banners.
During the week, fliers were handed out to advertise a special Mass at Westminster Cathedral on Saturday 3 June to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Brother Michael Strode, who founded HCPT in 1956 and died in 2019. The mass will be celebrated by Archbishop Mark O’Toole of Cardiff. Testimonials are currently being collected towards the cause of Brother Michael’s canonisation.
HCPT’s pilgrimage season continues from May to October at its Hosanna House facility. The house, in the hills above Lourdes, will host more than 1,500 pilgrims of all ages, many of them with disabilities or life-limiting conditions.
“They say never share the stage with children and animals but I have today, and it worked; it was absolutely marvellous,” Archbishop of Liverpool Malcolm McMahon said at the Mass after children dressed as sheep acted out the Gospel story of the lost sheep on the vast altar of St Bernadette’s Eglise opposite the Lourdes Grotto. He prompted laughter around the vast auditorium as he addressed the first part of his homily to these “sheep”. “Baah baah, baah, baah,” he said to the bemused children wearing sheep ears. He then had a very simple message for the congregation of around 3,500, including nearly 1,000 disabled and vulnerable children, that Jesus knows the smell of the sheep and deeply loves all of them.
Archbishop McMahon said he was very proud of Merseyside HCPT for organising the liturgy with the theme “The Good Shepherd”. It was a child-centred and inclusive Mass with Clare O’Brien compering and explaining parts to the children. When a few young people ran towards the altar and danced to Mike Anderson’s “Clapping Gloria” they were cheered. The offertory gifts were brought up by four generations of Merseysiders and after Communion there was a visual reflection performed by children and adults. The musical director was Dr Marie Giles, with musicians and singers from Merseyside. Perhaps the most popular song heard everywhere during the week and it was the opening hymn at the trust Mass was “My Lighthouse” by Rend Collective.
“It’s really lovely being here,” said Archbishop McMahon, there alongside one other archbishop, eight Bishops and more than 40 priest chaplains. Thousands watched the event live on the internet and enjoyed the array of colourful banners as they processed out. These included a north-east banner with the Angel of the North and an array of rainbows, smiling children, and fluffy sheep from the Midlands to St George’s College in Merseyside.
Watch the HCPT Trust Mass 2023.
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