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Come to Lourdes with Northampton Diocese

In the February edition of The Vine, Emma Pickford told of her first visit to Lourdes, along with her husband, as assisted pilgrims with our Diocesan Pilgrimage. Our Diocesan Pilgrimage travels with the Catholic Association Pilgrimage, which means that people can meet other Catholics from around the diocese and the UK.

In this article two helpers talk about why they return to Lourdes each year, why it’s wonderful for them to be able to bring their children, and why people should consider coming with our Diocesan Pilgrimage this year. This article was part printed in The Vine, and can be seen here.

Paul Deveraux:
One evening a few years ago, I was sitting in my girlfriend’s house, and commented that she had been to Disney Land. She asked me what had made me think that and I pointed to her picture, taken in front of the fairytale castle.

I still asked her to marry me even though she pointed out that the picture was actually of the Rosary Basilica in Lourdes! A year later and I had a similar picture of both of us with sixty or so members of the Glanfield Children’s Group (who travel to Lourdes with Northampton Diocese). The group was short on male helpers and I jokingly agreed to go if they could find me a child who could look after himself – they did and I went.

A year after that my wife and I spent our honeymoon in the Christ Roi in Lourdes (don’t ask). Fourteen years later and our picture includes our three boys aged 0, 2 and 4.

We have so many pictures and memories from our pilgrimages to Lourdes; we could write a book. Why do we keep going? Here are some personal reasons:

• Witnessing a 17 year old helper as they spend time with assisted pilgrims
• Our children making their First Holy Communion
• Parents brought into the church through the example of the helpers
• Theological discussions at 3am in one of the bars
• The stillness of the Grotto in the early hours of the morning
• A 40 year old man with Down’s Syndrome gently cupping our baby in his arms
• Bishop Peter entertaining our toddler with his crucifix
• Bishop Michael of East Anglia having to offer his skull cap having taken our 4 year old’s hat as a joke (not very funny to a 4 year old).

Tracey Hemelge:
This year my husband and I will travel to Lourdes, as we do every year, with our three children, who this August will be aged 6 months, two and half, and very nearly eight.

Our Lourdes adventure has always begun at a very early hour of the morning, and I expect this year will be no different, but as our family holiday begins the minute we leave the house – and I have no doubt that the long hours in the car will be happy ones –we will be on our way to yet another wonderful week. We will be reunited with many dear faces, and with their support and friendship to help us, will be open and willing for whatever challenges and blessings (there will be both!) this next pilgrimage will bring.

Once in Lourdes, we plan to participate fully in the pilgrimage programme; there is no reason why the children should (or have) ever prevented this, in fact, I would say that our children instead help to enhance and enrich the whole experience, not only for us as their parents, but for everyone they meet and share with throughout the week.

My husband and I will work on the ward at the Accueil with the assisted pilgrims, on a planned shift rota, whilst the children are cared for in the Helpers' Children's Programme (HCP), which offers a programme of activities for the children (0 - 16) of helpers working on the Pilgrimage. Outside hours of work, the rest of our time will be spent together as a family. (There will be a day off during the week, and I’m sure we will take full advantage of this and plan something special).

This year we will be very fortunate to have my mother with us, for the very first time, who will help with the children, whilst travelling as a pilgrim too. However, we have travelled many times on our own before and I would tell anyone considering travelling to Lourdes with their children that they should, as it is perfectly achievable to work, care for them, spend quality time together, and still get as much as you could hope for, from the pilgrimage itself.

There is no denying that Lourdes is hard work, - It’s a long and tiring week – but you get back a hundred times what you put in; through the gratitude of those whom you help, the chance to see the Gospel being truly lived as it should, and the true joy and peace on the faces that you see all around you.

Matt Betts:
As ever, we are looking for volunteer helpers and assisted pilgrims to join us on our Pilgrimage in 2011 (19 – 26 August). All are welcome.

Why should you come…………….?

Come and meet your family. You don’t just belong to a Parish but to a Diocese and to a worldwide Church. Come and get to know them.

Come and meet God. Perhaps you will meet on the plane, train or coach, perhaps in the Grotto, perhaps in the Accueil or in the Domain, orin a bar or a gift shop. Come to enrich your faith or come and enrich the faith of a fellow pilgrim.

Come and do God’s work.

At the heart of our Pilgrimage are the assisted pilgrims (APs) who need care or assistance.
Men and women of all ages and backgrounds come to Lourdes as volunteer helpers to answer Mary’s request for people to ‘come in procession’, but more importantly they come in response to the command of her son Jesus, to love God and to love our neighbours as ourselves (Gospel of Mark 12:29-31). These volunteer helpers, who are pilgrims themselves, strive to encounter Jesus in each pilgrim, caring for their physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. Northampton Diocese are looking for volunteer helpers, including doctors, nurses, and non-medical helpers: brancardiers (male) and handmaids (female).
In addition, if you are aged 17-25, you can be a part of the Young Helpers’ Group, (a supervised group staying in a separate hotel).

If you are interested in volunteering for the Diocesan Pilgrimage, please email our Pilgrimage Director, Fr Damien Walne on Northampton@catholicassociation.co.uk or 01604 406410, or download a form on this website to volunteer and to find out more about being a volunteer helper.

We also welcome assisted pilgrims from our diocese. If you are accompanied by a relative, spouse, friend or carer, you may choose to stay in a hotel in Lourdes and receive basic support from volunteer helpers. This usually takes the form of wheelchair assistance moving about the town and to services. There is also the option to stay in the Accueil, a residential facility where APs receive full-time care from volunteer helpers who work in teams. Again, please contact Fr Damien on Northampton@catholicassociation.co.uk for more information.

As Fr Damien says, “Our Pilgrimage really broadens our experience of the family of the diocese and of the cares and concerns of our Chief Shepherd, who will always value our prayers in Lourdes both for himself and for those for whom he is responsible. Please do come along this year, and share the experience of the Northampton Pilgrimage to Lourdes”

Northampton Diocesan Director: Rev Damien Walne
Northampton Diocese Website: http://www.northamptondiocese.org

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