My experience of Lourdes as a first timer was an overwhelming feeling of welcome: I didn’t feel like I was an outsider. I came to Lourdes not really knowing what to expect, and was a person who thought work was the be all and end all. Leaving Lourdes was emotional to say the least. But I know I wouldn’t have felt the peace I feel now had I not gone to Lourdes.”
The Diocese of Brentwood organises diocesan pilgrimages to Lourdes and Walsingham every year.
Last year’s pilgrimage to Lourdes took place from 19-26 July 2024.
Pilgrimage Director Paul Keane writes:
In July, 350 pilgrims accompanied Bishop Alan on pilgrimage to Lourdes. They were supported by the Brentwood Catholic Youth Service. This is always a homecoming for the Diocese of Brentwood as Our Lady of Lourdes is our patroness. This year’s theme of all pilgrimages to the Shrine were words of the Blessed Virgin Mary to the clergy, which she entrusted to St Bernadette: ‘…come here in procession.’ And so, every evening in Lourdes, as Our Lady requested, there is a candlelit procession, during which the rosary is prayed. As night falls, as the flames brighten, and the pilgrims slowly process – hailing Mary in various languages – the beauty of Lourdes is most clear. Our shared faith and hope shine out. This year, therefore, we sought to ensure that the gift of such processions of faith were especially recognised. They mirror the deep reality of our lives: that we walk with others, whose support we need, as we journey towards the Lord. In founding the Church, Jesus Christ teaches us that His Father has chosen to save us together.
This support of each other, in faith, is easy to see in Lourdes. We were young and old, clergy and lay, healthy and sick, from East London and Essex, forming one pilgrimage. Those able-bodied supported those in need. Those in need gave others a chance to serve. Do not stand apart. Join us next year and know the blessing of Lourdes.
Read more here: www.dioceseofbrentwood.net/news/why-not-experience-the-blessing-of-lourdes-next-year/
Read more about the 2023 pilgrimage here: Lourdes: ‘a place of prayer, healing and fellowship’ – Brentwood Diocese (dioceseofbrentwood.net)
Join Bishop Alan on the 2025 Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes (Friday 18 July – Friday 25 July 2025). The flights will be Southend to Lourdes. To book, please go online: Brentwood Lourdes – Lourdes – Tangney Tours (tangney-tours.com) If you wish to discuss any aspect of the pilgrimage, please e-mail Deidre Pembroke at [email protected]
Last year’s pilgrimage to Walsingham took place on 25 May 2024.
Led by Bishop Alan, it included Mass at the Basilica and a walk of the Holy Mile to the grounds of Walsingham Abbey to celebrate Vespers and Benediction on the site of the Holy House. Around 600 people attended. (People with mobility issues, wheelchairs and buggies, prams and/or pushchairs were able to travel from the Shrine to the Abbey Grounds by coach if they were unable to manage the terrain of the Holy Mile.)
Fr Daniel Kelly, parish priest at the Royal Docks, organises the pilgrimage. He says: “This year’s event will take place on 24 May 2025: Bishop Alan has asked that this be the main event for the Diocesan celebration of the Jubilee Year of Hope, so one of the Masses of Hope published by the Holy See will be celebrated at the Shrine and we hope as many parishes as possible are able to attend.”
The pilgrimage in 2022 was designed to be particularly family-friendly to dovetail with the X World Meeting of Families in late June. Many families responded to the invitation, with over 1,000 people attending. Read more here: Families enjoy ‘a special day’ at Walsingham – Brentwood Diocese (dioceseofbrentwood.net)
This year’s ecumenical Bradwell Pilgrimage will take place on Saturday 5 July 2025.
The pilgrimage always starts in the village itself at St Thomas’s church and pilgrims walk the nearly two miles from St Thomas’s to the beautiful St Peter’s Chapel. It is a truly ecumenical day with a wide variety of talks, reflections, exciting workshops, music, worship and prayer. This year theologian, writer and broadcaster Elaine Storkey will be attending. The pilgrimage is organised by Churches Together in Essex & East London (CTEEL) www.cteel.org.uk
https://www.facebook.com/ChurchesTogetherEEL
http://bradwellpilgrimage.co.uk
Rebuilding a culture of pilgrimage through Pilgrim Ways
Indefatigable walker Phil McCarthy launched a website earlier this year detailing Catholic pilgrimage routes in dioceses across the UK, with the aim of encouraging people of all faiths and none to explore some of the holiest sites in England and Wales. ‘Hearts in Search of God’ is a three-year project, inspired by Pope Francis’ words about pilgrims. It maps out 22 pilgrimages, with each route starting at one of the Catholic cathedrals in England and Wales, before going on to at least one of the local shrines, with the shortest route being 10 miles.
In our diocese, Phil has mapped two pilgrimage routes for individuals or groups to follow. The first is the Way of Our Lady of Light, which is a 68-mile route from the Cathedral of St Mary & St Helen in Brentwood to the Shrine of Our Lady of Light in Clacton-on-Sea. It can only be walked during the summer months because the route involves two seasonal ferries at Brightlingsea and a short tidal causeway.
When the ferries are not operating (or at any time) pilgrims can walk the second and shorter St Peter’s Way, which is 38 miles long and ends at the Chapel of St Peter at Bradwell-on-Sea. This is where St Cedd landed in 653AD on his mission to the East Saxons.
The Way of Our Lady of Light passes the recusant house of Ingatestone Hall and Catholic churches at Ingatestone, Stock, Danbury, Maldon, West Mersea, Brightlingsea and Clacton-on-Sea. The Way is through quiet countryside, river and coastal paths and is generally flat. Details of this and other routes can be found on the www.pilgrimways.org.uk website.
Read more about the project here: Rebuilding a culture of pilgrimage – Brentwood Diocese (dioceseofbrentwood.net)
