The Shrewsbury Diocesan
Pilgrimage to Lourdes
1951- 2000
A talk by Father Sharrocks, PP of St Werburgh's,
given at the Diocesan History Day
in September 2000 in Greasby
It has been said that history often repeats itself. When
I came to the diocesan archives to see what there was about Lourdes and the
diocesan pilgrimage, you can imagine what a pleasant surprise it was to find
a letter from Bishop Murphy to the deans of the diocese written on January
2nd 1951. It reads;
Dear Dean.
I wish to form a committee to make arrangements for an annual pilgrimage to
Lourdes. It is important that every part of the diocese be represented and I
feel that the eight deans with the Vicar General and myself would form a
suitable committee. I have made arrangements for a preliminary meeting at St
Werburgh's Chester on Monday next, 8th January, at 11 00 a.m. I shall be
pleased if you are able to attend.
Yours devotedly in Christ
Bishop of Shrewsbury
Much of what I have to say today is based on anecdotal
evidence from pilgrims over the years, a few memories of my own - after all
I wasn't born when that first meeting took place in St Werburgh's, that was
to happen three days later!! I have also gathered together snippets from the
minute book of the Diocesan Hospitalité which begins in April 1959.
No records exist from that first meeting in St Werburgh's
but in any event a pilgrimage left the diocese on September 2nd arriving
back on September 12th. In a letter of August 27th that year Bishop Murphy
suggested that a Novena in honour of Our Lady of Lourdes be held in all the
parishes for those unable to attend the pilgrimage and he granted permission
for Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament be held each day of the Novena. He
suggested that the Novena should commence on September 8th and finish with a
General Communion on September 16th and that there be two intentions:
1. To invoke the protection of the Mother of God over the
persecuted peoples of the world;
2. To ask that the priests and people of every parish in
the diocese may grow in the love of God and his Holy Mother.
The first pilgrimage must have been a satisfactory
experience because in his 'Ad Clerum' of September 26th 1951 he wrote: I
would like to thank all those who helped to make the Lourdes Pilgrimage such
an outstanding success. In particular, I would like to thank Father Nixon
for all the good work he did in organising the pilgrimage. I look forward to
being able to lead a still greater pilgrimage to Lourdes next year and I am
sure that all the priests of the diocese will be ready to give all possible
help to this end. He wrote virtually identical paragraphs after each
pilgrimage in 1952 and 1953.
In November 1951 Bishop Murphy asked that each parish
priest appoint an organiser or Lourdes Committee to gather in names for the
pilgrimage and to arrange savings groups. He also devoted his Advent
Pastoral Letter that year to Lourdes and the pilgrimage hoping that more and
more people would join in what has now become an annual diocesan event.
Now you will be pleased to know that I am not intending
to go through all 50 Diocesan pilgrimages and explain what happened. I want
to try and give an overview of the last 50 years and highlight some of the
events of the pilgrimage and try and put them in the context of what has
been going on in the Church generally. I will use four headings; travel
arrangements, care of the sick, some familiar faces and Lourdes and the
Sanctuaries. Above all, I ask you to be patient because I have never done
anything like this before.
Travel
An essential part of the pilgrimage is of course getting there. I remarked
last February to the people of St Werburgh's that my travelling to Lourdes
in February for the feast and the directors meeting was of course a business
trip. Fortunately I enjoyed my business and how fortunate that Our Lady
appeared in the south of France rather than in Saltney! But whatever we
think about the place, it is not that easy to get to. There is a lovely
story told of a Merchant seaman coming home on leave having spent months at
sea. His wife told him that she had arranged for them to go away and
promptly took him back to a boat where they sailed for Bordeaux and then
from there went by train to Lourdes. That was just before the war.
On Tuesday September 4th 1951 a train left Birkenhead
Woodside at 12 40 p.m. with 360 pilgrims, stopping at Chester General and
Crewe before arriving in Folkestone at 8 42 that evening. Tea and Dinner
were served en route. The boat left Folkestone at 10 30 arriving in Boulogne
at Midnight. The pilgrimage train left at 01 55 a.m. arriving in Lourdes at
6 00 p.m. with breakfast and lunch being served and making it a journey in
total of some 30 hours.
The return journey left Lourdes on Tuesday September 11th
at 10 13 a.m. and arrived in Boulogne at 2.20 a.m. The boat left Boulogne at
4 00 a.m. and arrived at Folkestone at 5 30 a.m. In typical British Railways
fashion the timings for the return train in England had not been received
when the booklet was printed. If timings for the following years are roughly
the same then that first year the train would have been back in Birkenhead
around about 3 00 p.m. The cost of that first pilgrimage including first
class travel and the meals on the train was £25. According to the
pilgrimage booklet the rate of exchange was around 980 French francs to the
pound
On Wednesday July 26th 2000 coaches left various parts of
the diocese at around 8 00 p.m. carrying 640 pilgrims and went to Dover for
the 3 45 a.m. crossing to Calais arriving there just after 6 00 a.m. The TGV
train left Calais Ville Railway Station at 8 00 a.m., arriving Lourdes at
around 4 30 p.m. - a journey time of some 21 hours, but without breakfast
dinner or tea.
There is now a buffet car on the train and some pilgrims
now bring quite magnificent picnic lunches. A packed meal is served on the
return train journey which leaves Lourdes very early - around 7 00 a.m. and
everyone gets back home late that night or in the early hours of the morning
if your coach has a puncture as one did this year. The cost of this last
pilgrimage started at £315 rising to £395 with supplements for first class
travel and single rooms as available. The rate of exchange was just over 10
French francs to the pound. There were a number of pilgrims on our 50th
pilgrimage who had been on the first one in 1951, and have lived to tell the
tale.
Over the fifty pilgrimages there have been delays of one
kind or another but perhaps nothing can compare with 1958 which was of
course the Centenary Year of the Apparitions. That year our pilgrimage had
three trains in England and there were storms in Kent. Indeed such was the
intensity of the storms that one train was delayed for 8 hours whilst the
track was cleared of trees. The villagers of Eynsford in Kent maintained a
constant supply of sandwiches and hot drinks. They also fixed together a
number of garden hoses to replenish the steam engines boilers with some 450
gallons of water. It is certainly a different version of the excuse of the
wrong types of leaves on the line! Villagers said that it was a miracle that
the train had come to a halt when it did otherwise there could have been
disastrous consequences. The driver apparently had had to stop because of
the intensity of the rain - quite simply, he couldn't see where he was
going.
Another highlight of the 50 pilgrimages were the years in
the 1980's when we used to take big gas fired water boilers and brew fresh
tea in the luggage van. The implications for health and safety do not really
bear thinking about these days but for some reason the French Railways at
the time did not object. Not only was there fresh tea but also one year we
made bacon butties and did a roaring trade as the smell wafted down the
train. Bordeaux station on the return journey was the place to buy chips.
One year a group of helpers solemnly carried a person on
a stretcher down the platform from one end of the train to another whilst
some of us queued at the chippie. M. Barrère, our French travel agent,
thought I was mad when I told him that we needed to stop for a quarter of an
hour at Bordeaux on the return journey for chips! I can remember the first
pilgrimage with Bishop Gray when I offered him a gin and tonic with ice and
lemon four hours out of Lourdes on the way home. 'Where did you get that
ice?' he demanded. I said, 'You're with Shrewsbury now - not Liverpool.' The
pilgrimage train was the scene of much fun and laughter. And still is. The
sheer logistics of moving 500 and more people some of whom are handicapped
is, of course, not without its problems. At a meeting of the Hospitality in
November 1959 a minute reads,
'A lengthy discussion followed on the subject of the
chaos which occurs each year over the embarkment and disembarkment,
especially at Boulogne, but also at Folkestone on both journeys. It was felt
that something could and should be done, from an official source in the way
of giving clearer and more definite instructions to the ordinary pilgrims.'
At a meeting last week, 41 years later, mention was made
of the chaos on the station platform at Calais on the return journey and how
nobody seemed to know what was going on. The passage of time does not always
mean progress is made.
For a number of years the pilgrimage travelled by air
sometimes with a train running at the same time. Air travel was described at
the Hospitalité A.G.M. in 1962 as 'alright'.
'We should however brief the hostesses to keep the
walking sick to the rear end of the plane and let them off first. It was
also decided that we should keep the newspapermen away from the plane as
these impeded the exit of the sick from the plane. The gangway to the plane
was very steep and it was felt something might be done in this line to help
us.'
In 1969 Fr Carroll who had succeeded Fr Nixon as the
pilgrimage director in 1964 announced that the pilgrimage dates would be
from 18th -25th August and that all bookings in 1969 would have to be made
through the Catholic Association. He stressed that he had no objection to
splinter groups making their own way there.
In 2000 we carried around 640 pilgrims on the train and
in addition there were coach groups from Macclesfield, St Ambrose College,
Bromborough, Altrincham, Dukinfield as well as others who flew with Mancunia
or made their own travel arrangements. The so-called 'splinter groups' are
now recognised as a very important part of the pilgrimage and give a very
important service to the pilgrimage.
One of the consistent areas for discussion over the years
has been the cost of the pilgrimage. In the late sixties and early seventies
there was talk of the pilgrimage being held in alternate years or to link
with other dioceses such as Liverpool or Salford. In 1976 concern was
expressed that the following year's pilgrimage might cost as much as £175.
Despite all these possibilities we have retained our independence and are as
strong as ever.
Over the years a number of travel agents have been used.
All have given varying standards of service but for the last five years we
have used M. Pierre Barrère from Maison du Pelerin in Lourdes. This new
trading arrangement, with a lot of the initial work done by a small
committee of volunteers, has helped to keep the costs down. In recent years
we have also been helped by the strength of sterling against the euro. At
the moment our pilgrimage is amongst the lowest priced diocesan pilgrimages
travelling overland.
Looking to the future we hope that in the next couple of
years it may be possible to take a Eurostar train direct through the Channel
Tunnel to Lourdes. Discussions are ongoing with the appropriate authorities
but there is a problem taking handicapped people through the Tunnel on a
train. They don't have the same problems with them going on boats and most
of our handicapped pilgrims cannot swim. Hopefully the matter will be
resolved and eventually, when the Government, Railtrack and the other
associated companies have got their act together we will perhaps be able to
get on a train in Crewe and go direct to Lourdes. This would make another
considerable saving on the journey time.
Care of the Sick
The regime for the sick pilgrims in 1951 was very strict. All sick pilgrims
were accommodated in the Asile. This was a hostel or hospice for sick
pilgrims, which was in the Domaine. Their day began with an early morning
call at around 6 00 a.m. and after they were washed and dressed were taken
to the Grotto where they heard Mass.
After Mass they were taken under the trees in the Rosary
Square where they were served what was accused of being coffee and bread
rolls. From there they were taken back to the Grotto or to the baths. At 11
30 they went back to the hospital for lunch. The food was poor. A thin soup
was served and then some main course. It was not very appetising.
As the years went by the custom grew of the pilgrimage
taking a lot of its own food to supplement the diet. After lunch, the sick
pilgrims were taken back to the Grotto or to the baths. At around half past
three they were then lined up in the Rosary Square in readiness for the
Blessed Sacrament Procession which began at 4 30 p.m. and lasted about an
hour. Then it was back to the hospital for supper - another unappetising
meal.
The Torchlight procession took place at around 8 30 but
the sick pilgrims were not allowed even to watch it and sometimes
pilgrimages organised their own processions around the wards. The sick
pilgrims were in bed and lights out by 10 00 p.m.
Throughout the whole week they were not allowed out of
the Domaine and into the town and helpers used to go and buy any souvenirs
or postcards they might wish to take home. The hospital wards were dark and
primitive, with beds perhaps only a foot apart. One needed great faith to
sleep next to patients who were very ill and possibly contagious. If there
were any difficulties or problems then they were told to 'Offer it up.'
There was a lot of offering up done.
In the 1970's a new hospital was built in addition to the
Asile. The Saint Bernadette hospital was a great improvement on the Asile
which was then renamed the Accueil - the French word for welcome. However in
the 1990's this too was demolished to make way for the new Accueil Notre
Dame de Lourdes - a modern well-equipped light hospital similar to many of
our modern hospitals.
Some single rooms are available as well as twin rooms.
Most of the pilgrims are housed in 4 or 6 bedded rooms with en suite
facilities. The food is varied and a choice is offered to the main menu so
that if we feel pilgrims may not like a dish on offer on the main menu we
can choose an alternative. The food is served in attractive dining areas and
all the wards have good views of the Domaine or the surrounding Pyrenean
countryside. Wine or beer or soft drinks are served with the meals and a
birthday is celebrated with a cake and singsong.
The whole impression is one of spaciousness and a relaxed
atmosphere. The regime is less regimented and geared to helping our sick
pilgrims get as much as they can from their few days in Lourdes. Helpers are
only too happy to take them out into the town to see what's going on there
and buy their own postcards and souvenirs or stop at one of the many cafes
to enjoy a drink and the company of other people.
We are conscious that many of our sick pilgrims may live
on their own or do not see many people other than their own immediate family
or carers. The days of the pilgrimage are for many of them an opportunity to
live life a little fuller. What a contrast to the evening Fr Tom Fee came
back to the old hospital with Canon Ted Coonan, both having escaped with
some of the younger priests of the diocese for a drink. They were soundly
told off by the then matron Maggie Murphy and forbidden to go out again.
Another innovation in the last few years has been the
number of pilgrims who register as sick pilgrims but who are accommodated in
hotels with relatives or parish groups. A team of helpers are set aside each
day to help them get from their hotels to the various services and functions
taking place. This arrangement which was first brought about by a shortage
of beds in the hospital is now a regular feature of the pilgrimage and
enables us to take more sick/handicapped pilgrims to Lourdes each year.
Although it is interesting to note how when people see
others being picked up in wheelchairs from hotels they suddenly become sick
and need help! Equally remarkable are the way these people can undergo quick
recoveries which enables them to race along the station platform at Calais
to get a good seat on the coach for the return journey.
Some familiar faces
Whatever the regime in the hospital there were always many people on the
pilgrimage who would show great kindness. Some of the names that appear from
the past evoke happy memories. Dr Louis Walsh from Birkenhead was our first
pilgrimage doctor, a very devout man, and daily Mass goer, who always
treated the patients with great kindness, as did Dr Des 0'Kelly who
practised in Stalybridge.
Joe Harvey was the Chief Brancardier for a number of
years who by his gentle encouragement and support made the pilgrimage a
special time for both sick and helpers. Joe was a wealthy businessman with
interests all over the place. He stayed at the best hotel and would always
give a dinner at the end of the pilgrimage for various people. Joe Crawford
was a farmer from Crewe who helped. He was one who brought milk churns along
filled with fresh drinking water for the journey and blocks of ice.
I remember Eddie O'Neill who worked so hard for the
pilgrimage throughout the year and made it so special for the sick people.
Members of his family are still associated with the pilgrimage. Eddie
followed Joe Harvey as president of the Diocesan Hospitalité. Dr Brian Hawe
who died earlier this year was a conscientious pilgrimage doctor for whom
nothing was too much trouble and was always on hand to help and to reassure.
Don McDermott who was the pilgrimage pharmacist for many
years went to his reward just before our last pilgrimage. He was a fund of
experience and support which we all miss. The clergy, too, played an
important part. Bishop Murphy led the first pilgrimage and encouraged it
right from the planning stage. Bishop Grasar was a regular pilgrim attending
all of the pilgrimages throughout his episcopacy except when his health
prevented him from making the journey. Bishop Gray always took a keen
interest in what was going on and is the only Bishop of Shrewsbury, so far,
to have presided at the International Mass of the Sick on Sunday in Lourdes.
This he did when celebrating the Golden Jubilee of his ordination to
Priesthood in 1993.
On that day we made sure all our sick pilgrims were
together in the great Underground Basilica by getting there early. This
became known as the 'Shrewsbury solution'. As the Bishop arrived at the
sanctuary all our pilgrims cheered and were mistaken for Italians because
English people did not do that kind of thing. Fr Decha told them to be quiet
in Italian which had no effect. Joe Gray loved every minute of it but then
he loved every minute of being a bishop. Joe would always be ready with a
song from Ireland during any of the parties for the sick which used to be
held in the Transit lounge of the hospital.
Fr Nixon from St Paul's Hyde was the first director. What
an act of faith to start organising a pilgrimage from scratch? He was a very
organised man who got the whole thing off the ground. He was succeeded by Fr
Carroll who despite his bluff manner had a heart of gold and was utterly
devoted to Lourdes. Jack Lynch succeeded him. He always did his utmost to
visit all the sick pilgrims at home before they came to reassure them and
make sure that they would see a familiar face on the train or plane.
No mention can be made of the Diocesan pilgrimage without
the name of Fr Jack Hoskinson who travelled on the first pilgrimage and
virtually every pilgrimage until his death in December 1996. Jack for a time
was 'Master of Processions'. It was his job to get a good position for the
Diocesan Banner in the processions. It was always good to watch him
jockeying for position and refusing to concede ground particularly to
Italians. International rivalry has never been restricted to the football
field.
Other priests and people also have made significant
contributions over the years but since they are still alive I will spare
their blushes but I must thank my immediate predecessor Canon Paddy Healey
from Northwich who has just stepped down from being director after 16 years.
His tenure of office has seen many changes and was rewarded with his
appointment as honorary Chaplain of the Sanctuaries of Lourdes during our
recent pilgrimage. We hope he continues to travel with us.
Lourdes and the Sanctuaries
I mentioned earlier the regime that the sick pilgrims had to 'offer up' in
the hospital. They were taken to Mass at the Grotto each morning and
operated to a separate timetable to the 'ordinary' pilgrims. The whole place
was quite regimented but then so was the Church in general. The priests on
pilgrimage would have to queue up in the various sacristies to say Mass at a
side altar and then perhaps assist at the Pontifical High Mass celebrated by
the Bishop.
The programme for Sunday September 7th 1958 proposed a
Mass at the Grotto at 7 30 a.m. celebrated by Bishop Craven, one of the
auxiliaries of Westminster, followed at 10 00 a.m. by a Pontifical High Mass
celebrated by Bishop Murphy in the Rosary Basilica. After this, there
followed by an Opening Ceremony at the Grotto at 11 00 a.m. with an address
by Bishop Craven. I suspect that those who attended the Pontifical Mass may
well have missed Bishop Craven's opening address. The Blessed Sacrament
Procession was at 4 30 p.m. and, 'Children of Mary should assemble in cloaks
and veils at 4 15 p.m. by the arches on the right hand side of the Rosary
Church; the men should assemble near the Grotto.'
In those days the Children of Mary led the procession,
followed by the men and then the clergy immediately preceded the Blessed
Sacrament. Following behind the Blessed Sacrament were the bishops and
prelates, doctors and then the religious women and then anybody else who
wanted to join in. Sick pilgrims waited in the Rosary Square.
Another devotion in Lourdes was the Way of the Cross up
the hillside. It was a common practise then for one of the priests to
celebrate a Low Mass at the 12th station. Of course the sick did not go up
the hillside.
As the Church changed and developed in the light of the
second Vatican Council so did Lourdes. The whole atmosphere has become a
little more relaxed. This is not always a good thing. One of the things that
has been lost despite the efforts of the authorities is the notion of
silence before the Grotto. But then our celebrations of Mass have become
noisier events over the past 50 years. It is difficult to tell people to be
quiet immediately after celebrating Mass at the Grotto but in losing the
silence in that place we have lost a little of the sense of the mystery
which is Lourdes. There have been attempts to restore the silence, including
proposals to stop celebrating Mass at the Grotto but at the moment the low
hum continues.
The Sanctuaries have of course been at the forefront of
the composition of liturgical music. Fr Paul Decha was a familiar figure at
the processions and International Masses leading the singing in different
languages. He, along with Jean Paul Lecot, the organist of the Sanctuaries,
composed a lot of new liturgical music which through translations of varying
standards have spread throughout Europe and the world Decha retired a few
years ago and subsequently died a couple of years after that. His death
occurred during our pilgrimage and some of us attended his funeral Mass in
the Rosary basilica. It was a mini-International Mass and we sang his
favourite English hymn, 'Soul of my Saviour.' Lecot is still in place and he
composed the music for the Vatican Jubilee hymn that has been sung during
this year. If you have come to St Werburgh's Chester for a Jubilee
pilgrimage you may have been invited to join in the singing of it.
Meanwhile in Lourdes, chaplains to the various language
groups have been appointed and are in residence throughout the year. The
notion of 'a pilgrim people of God' as an image of the Church has been
emphasised. With the advent of concelebrated Masses it is the norm now for a
diocese to celebrate one Mass together each day with everyone invited to
take part. The sick pilgrims do not have a separate timetable; we are all
pilgrims together. This has been emphasised in recent years with the sick
pilgrims being allowed to take part in the processions.
There is something quite emotional at seeing a diocesan
pilgrimage led by its banner and then the bishop and clergy with their
people of all ages and ability and disability walking along to sing the
praises of God and to pray for the Church and the World. The young people
who come to Lourdes in such great numbers are well catered for with cheap
accommodation and opportunities to celebrate and reflect together. Lourdes
is indeed an international town.
To accommodate all this, the Sanctuaries of Lourdes have
had to adapt and develop themselves. In 1958 the Underground Basilica was
opened by the then Patriarch of Venice, Cardinal Roncalli. A few months
later he became Pope John XXIII. It is a bit like an Underground car park -
in fact Roncalli rode round in a jeep to bless the walls - but comes alive
when in use for what it was intended - the celebration of the liturgy. In
February it is usually filled with some 20,000 people for the feast of the
Apparitions.
The St Bernadette Church was opened in 1988 and holds
around 5000 pilgrims when fully opened or divides into two to accommodate
smaller groups. Next to it is the Chapel of Adoration where the Blessed
Sacrament is exposed each and every day. The Rosary Basilica, which is at
present being restored, will celebrate its Centenary next year, - which
could be an opportunity for another jolly! The old Asile hospital has been
demolished except for the original building which has been transformed into
the Chapel of Reconciliation - where Confessions are heard every day in all
sorts of languages. If you have access to the Internet then you can visit
Lourdes on their website, see the Grotto on the webcam and send a petition
by e-mail.
But more than just the buildings, attitudes have changed
in Lourdes but then they have in the church at large. There is much less
regimentation. We are all together as a people of God celebrating our
salvation, our reconciliation with Christ and that we hope is what we seek
to do in our pilgrimage each year.
On Tuesday March 2nd 1858, the Lady said to Bernadette, '
Go, tell the priests to come here in procession and to build a chapel here.'
For the past 50 years our diocese has gone in procession with our bishop to
the Grotto of Lourdes. Our first procession in 1951 started at Woodside
station in Birkenhead and we have travelled a long way since then as a
pilgrimage, as a diocese and indeed as a Church. May God who has begun this
good work in us bring it to fulfilment.
Fr Sharrocks
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