'Angels' - HCPT Easter pilgrimage to Lourdes 2025

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Catholic charity HCPT is celebrating its latest Easter pilgrimage to Lourdes, its first with liturgies provided by volunteers from the North East of England.

At the biggest Mass of the pilgrimage, in the Underground Basilica today, Thursday 24 April, celebrant Bishop Paul Mason (Bishop of the Forces) defined the assembled pilgrims as angels.

Amid references to the Angel of the North, and his hometown football club Newcastle United, Bishop Paul said there were three important aspects to being an angel. "We use our wings to bring the message of good news, our halo to bring light into each other's lives, and we are made of feathers because we work and move with a lightness of being."

The death of Pope Francis marked a poignant beginning to the pilgrimage on the Monday. Church bells tolled in the Shrine. Mourners travelled to Lourdes to pay their respects. HCPT's liturgies and events marked the sad loss and also provided a lively expression of worship for the children and young people present, with the pilgrimage theme of "Angels Among Us".

Knitters from across the country created colourful knitted angels to give to every child on the pilgrimage.

The pilgrimage consisted of 1,300 people from the UK, organised into 67 volunteer-run pilgrimage groups. A large international element was present with further groups travelling from Belgium, Croatia, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Romania, Switzerland, USA and the West Indies.

The overwhelming focus of the annual pilgrimage was the children. Hundreds of children and young people, aged eight and over, with a variety of needs, enjoyed a life changing week away. They were supported by an army of volunteer helpers, priests and nurses, many of them under 30 years old.

Conditions experienced by the children taking part included learning difficulties (33% of participants), behavioural problems (22%) and autism (19%). Other common conditions included asthma, Down's Syndrome and epilepsy. 8% of the pilgrims were wheelchair users.

In addition to Bishop Paul Mason, also travelling on the pilgrimage were Archbishop Leo Cushley (St Andrews and Edinburgh), Archbishop Manuel Cruz (Newark, USA), Bishop Jim Curry (Westminster), Bishop Frank Dougan (Galloway), Bishop Donal McKeown (Derry, Ireland) and Bishop Joseph Toal (Motherwell).

HCPT's pilgrimage groups each 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.

It being a children's pilgrimage, there were also opportunities in the week for arts and crafts, singing, parties and fancy dress.

The pilgrimage is a major undertaking for all concerned. All volunteer helpers are trained and vetted to support the children and young people and to keep them safe. To transport the UK contingent to Lourdes and back, HCPT chartered six flights each way from local airports. Pilgrimage groups stayed in 31 hotels in the busy centre of Lourdes.

The trip was preceded by the arrival, on Good Friday, of HCPT's sponsored cycle from Versailles to Lourdes. A team of cyclists travelled 550 miles to join the pilgrimage, raising over £40,000 so far: www.justgiving.com/campaign/hcptcycle25

Thousands watched Thursday's Mass live on the internet. A pilgrimage group from Nicholas Breakspear School in St Albans recorded video interviews between its students and pilgrims on HCPT's social media.

HCPT's pilgrimage season continues from May to October at its Hosanna House facility. The fully accessible house, in the hills above Lourdes, will host over 1,000 pilgrims of all ages, many of them with disabilities or life-limiting conditions. Then in 2026 HCPT will celebrate its 70th anniversary with its biggest Easter pilgrimage to Lourdes for some time.

HCPT was founded by Dr Michael Strode in 1956. Michael first visited Lourdes in 1951 and saw the potential to organise a pilgrimage for disabled children at the school where he was working. Michael was not content with letting the children stay in hospitals in the town as was the usual practice at the time. He insisted that they stayed in hotels as honoured guests along with the rest of the people they travelled with. This concept - the inclusive experience for sick or disabled pilgrims - was to have a profound effect on many other pilgrimages to Lourdes.

In his later years, Dr Michael, later Brother Michael, lived as a Cistercian monk. He died in 2019 aged 96. The inspiration of his humility and his Christian witness has led a group of volunteers to look into the possibility that Brother Michael might be recognised by the Church as a saint and, if so, to promote the cause of his canonisation: www.brothermichaelstrode.org

FURTHER LINKS

HCPT (Hosanna House and Children's Pilgrimage Trust) - www.hcpt.org.uk

Watch today's 'Trust Mass', the biggest HCPT Mass of the week, here: www.youtube.com/live/GwoLMD5UB0A?si=MOdHyud8IpjqmYoH