2020 Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes cancelled
It is with the deepest regret and sadness that the decision has been made to cancel the forthcoming Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes for 2020.
The decision was not taken lightly and has taken into account the recommendations made by health care professionals and current UK government and International guidance on COVID-19.
With regard to bookings made with Tangney Tours they will be in touch to offer various options. For more information, please visit: www.tangney-tours.com/covid-19 Tangney can be contacted by email, through Facebook or simply visit their website for up to date pilgrimage information www.tangney-tours.com
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.
Westminster Diocesan 'Lourdes At Home' 2020 Pilgrimage
The 'Lourdes at Home' online programme of events were shared and viewed online from Sunday 26th July to Saturday 1st August 2020 for the many groups of pilgrims which make up the Westminster Diocesan pilgrimage for whom it was not possible to travel to Lourdes in person this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
A heartfelt thanks to the organisers of the virtual Westminster Diocese 'Lourdes At Home' Pilgrimage 2020 from Lourdes Pilgrimage Director Father Dennis Touw can be viewed via this link.
The Westminster Diocese ‘virtual pilgrimage’ programme included:
- Sunday 26th July: Opening Mass celebrated by Bishop John Sherrington at SPEC in Pinner
- Daily evening prayer and reflection by WYM Team at SPEC in Pinner
- Monday 27th July: Meditation on the Lourdes Apparitions
- Tuesday 28th July: Rosary and Marian Torchlight procession. Liturgy led by Bishop Paul McAleenan from the Parish of Holy Apostles, Pimlico
- Wednesday 29th July: International Mass celebrated by HE Cardinal Vincent Nichols live-streamed from Westminster Cathedral
- Thursday 30th July: Blessed Sacrament Procession and Blessing of the Sick. Fr Stephen Willis Rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of Willesden led guided reflection and prayer before the Blessed Sacrament live-streamed from the Shrine. Exposition ended with Solemn Benediction.
- Friday 31st July: Stations of the Cross. Meditation on the Upper Stations of the Cross from Lourdes, led by Fr Philip Baptiste.
- Saturday 1st August: Bishop Nicholas Hudson preached the homily in a Mass celebrated by Msgr Xavier d’Arodes followed by the blessing and lighting of the 2020 Westminster Diocesan Candle at the Grotto in Lourdes
- Hymns, music and song by Westminster Diocese Lourdes Pilgrimage musicians
All of the Masses and liturgies can be viewed and played back on the Westminster RC Diocese Lourdes Pilgrimage 2020 YouTube page.
Please see the Virgin Money Giving web page if you are able to give a one-off or regular donation towards supporting assisted pilgrims on next year's Westminster Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes, for which medical and lay volunteers are welcome and very much needed.
Also, please remember the sick and elderly in your parishes and communities across the Diocese - and their families and carers - for whom a pilgrimage to the Shrine in Lourdes is often spiritually uplifting. We must now look, with vigour and hope, to a joyful Westminster Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes in 2021. If you have not been to Lourdes for some time, perhaps a visit next year can be a time of personal renewal and a welcome return for you to the Shrine.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us
St Bernadette, pray for us
Prayers:
Prayer of consecration to Mary
I Choose You Today, Mary, in the presence of the angels and saints of heaven, for my Mother and Queen.
I consecrate to you, in obedience and love, all that I am, all that I have, and all the good that I may do, putting myself and all that belongs to me entirely at your service, for the greater glory of God and the salvation of souls
Act of Trust in Mary (Family of Our Lady of Lourdes)
Blessed be God, our Father
for having created Mary so beautiful
and for having given her to us as Mother
at the foot of the Cross of Jesus.
Blessed are You for having called us,
like Bernadette,
to see Mary in Your light
and to drink from the wellspring of Your Heart.
Mary, you know the misery and the sin of our lives and the life of the world.
We want to trust ourselves to You today,
totally and without reserve.
From you we will be reborn each day
by the power of the Spirit.
We will live the life of Jesus as little servants of our brothers.
Teach us, Mary,
to bear the life of the Lord.
Teach us the “yes” of your heart.
Hail Mary (Ave Maria)
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,
now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Salve Regina
Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy, Hail, our life, our sweetness and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve: To thee do we send up our sighs, Mourning and weeping in this vale of tears. Turn then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus,
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary! Amen
