Our 2023 pilgrimage is over and what a momentous, and celebratory one it was!  2023 was special in two ways.  First and foremost, it was the 140th Anniversary of the first Oblate pilgrimage, led by Fr William Ring OMI in 1883, a mere 25 years after the apparitions to St Bernadette in Lourdes.  Secondly, and very significant, was that it was our first ‘full’ return to Lourdes with our beloved Assisted Pilgrims since 2019, i.e., pre-Covid.  If someone had said to us in 2019, as we departed from Lourdes, that it would be four years until we were once again in the Accueil Notre Dame (“Welcome of Our Lady”) where our Assisted Pilgrims stay, it would have been dismissed out of hand.  And yet, it was four years.  

 

It was a wonderful pilgrimage, in every way.  We were blessed with good weather, which always makes such a difference for our pilgrims and especially this year given the very poor weather that so many of us experienced at home.  To walk once again in that sacred place, to be able to be present at the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, to witness once again, with our own eyes, the flow of water in the Grotto, one of the signs to Bernadette, it certainly fulfils the sentiment often quoted by the late Fr Willie McGonagle OMI that when speaking of Lourdes; “For those who have been, no words as necessary; for those who have not, no words are possible.”

 

But there is a variation on that in this digital age!  So many of you joined us online during our days of pilgrimage.  Perhaps you were not present physically, but we were always conscious of your presence and your unique way of participating.  We remembered you in our prayers and we certainly hope that you felt the connection with us in Lourdes, just as we felt the connection with you.

 

To all of those who joined with us this year, this special anniversary year and the year that marked our proper return to Lourdes, thank you.  In whatever way you supported us, we appreciate it.  Our Oblate Lourdes pilgrimage holds a very special place in the hearts of so many people; when we are there, we remember all of those – you, and your loved ones, and those who, over the past 140 years, have walked the same path.