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Friday 24th July

The Train Journey…

We woke up bright and early, having had the first good nights sleep since we left Crawley. We were really excited about meeting the main pilgrimage when the huge Lourdes train arrived.  smiling faces and waving arms greeted us as we burst into song on the platform – with the classic  ”OH A&B WE LOVE YOU!”. As everyone piled off the train, we set to work unloading baggage and directing the pilgrims. Unfortuanteley for us, (Patrick and Kate) our group was the one that got left behind to load the accueil truck with wheelchairs and hoists, but because of this, we did get an ice cream afterwards!

The Opening Mass…

With Bishop Kieran before the Opening Mass

As the “techies”, it was our duty to go to mass early with two huge trolleys full of sound equipment, and set up! After a short briefing from the sound engineer, Marius, we learnt many new skills with the microphone stands, speakers and leads. The mass was beautiful and our A&B community were officially welcomed into Lourdes.

The Water Walk…

Father Rob led the redshirts in a procession around the Gave (the big river that runs through Lourdes). The water walk, consist of 9 stations which represent biblical references to the water. At each station was a bible passage followed by a reflection and an action. For example at one station we splashed our neighbour with water! After the walk a reverence overcame our group as we walked through the holy grotto of Our Lady. Beautiful candles of all sizes were positioned as we came out of the grotto and gave us a chance to reflect. I (Kate) lit a candle myself and everybody seemed to go into a world of their own. I looked about me and there were a few happy tears streaked on the faces of my fellow Redshirts- this was enough to set me off too!  The whole group came together and hugs were shared on this amazing, bonding night.

Our first trip to the Grotto

Mass at Bernadette’s altar…

Despite the yawning, us techies had to be up and ready to go to set up for the morning’s mass. Patrick was whizzing about being very technical whilst I multi-tasked with the camera. From a clear vantage point I managed to snap the main moments of mass and the Redshirts holding the rainbow umbrellas at Holy Communion. The rest of the Redshirts formed the magnificent red carpet welcoming the smiling A&B Pilgrims. The afternoon consisted of singing at the baths, practising for the talks and visiting the Accueil. As neither musically gifted or a first time Year 11 I (Kate) helped piece together the drama for our presentation to the pilgrimage on Wednesday whilst computer whizz Patrick helped design the powerpoint.

The Main Pilgrimage photo after Mass this morning...

Okay… the plan this week is to get the Redshirts to write a report at the end of each day. Sadly though, today has been soooo busy that they are all tired and they’ve gone to bed. (ahhhhh, bless!)

Anyway, we know that loads of you are following this site, so here are some photos:

Gare de Lourdes... greeting the main pilgrimage

The arrival of the train... an exciting moment

The Bishop's Breakfast - quite a tradition...

It was nice to see some former Redshirts now part of the Hospitalite

It seems our original meeting in Crawley was a very long time ago now. We set off on the coach to dover at about 12 noon, after a mass of commissioning with the Bish. The journey started well and we able to catch a ferry at dover a hour early thanks to brilliant negotiation by our coach drivers!

Waiting at Dover

We had a swift and gentle crossing, with many redshirts out on top deck, enjoying the sun and breeze. Having re-boarded the coach Ray asked all the redshirts to sit next to somebody different, in order for everyone to meet more than one person! The coach journey went well and seemed to go quite quickly thanks to the films and constant chatter of the lively, excited redshirts.

When we finally arrived in Lourdes, after a 20 hour coach journey, unbelievibly that is one of the fasted redshirts travel times ever, and so for many of us our rooms were still being cleaned, so wasting no time Ray took us on a quick tour of the domaine. Having returned from our first ever grott-trot as a group, we were given our key and then introduced to our room mates for the week. We then had a break in which many of us chose to freshen up from the journey, which was then followed by lunch.

After lunch we split into our small groups and we all went on our Rosary Walk were we visited Bernadette’s family mill, and then the cachot, a small box like room in which Bernadette and her large family lived for over a year. We then went for an ice-creme for the first time with our groups. We then walked back to hotel for a tack competition, all comparing the impressive tack we had bought with our small group.

Out and about round Lourdes

We are all looking forward to meeting the rest of the pilgrimage on friday when they arrive, and welcoming them to Lourdes!

Written by Joe Groom and Alice Rooke.

If you’re following the Redshirts’ progress in Lourdes, keep looking at the twitter box. It’s to the right and a few inches down!

Ray shows us all around the Domain...

Just after 8am this morning the Redshirts arrived at the hotel Chapelle et Parc in Lourdes.

Every day there will be reports on this site to keep you up to date on our progress. Any comments [see below] are welcome.

Many of the group gathered under the arches of the Domain...

Rosary Square

This weekend saw over fifty of this years Lourdes Youth Service Group (known as ‘The Redshirts’ … but you knew that, right?) gather for 24 hours at St. Joseph’s Church in Guildford. The weekend was spectacular for a number of reasons. The vibe and atmosphere in the group was amazing. People bonded together so well and really got stuck into the tasks we gave them. There were a lot of questions about what happens in Lourdes and a lot of excitement too.

We leave for Lourdes in just seventeen days now. It’s getting really close.

We spent the weekend getting to know eachother and doing a little bit of preparation for Lourdes. We learned some music, talked about ‘the talk’ discussed our role as Redshirts, and started to bond together as small groups.

The weekend ended with Mass, celebrated by Bishop Kieran and Fr. Rob Esdaile (our Redshirts’ Chaplain). We were also delighted that Adam Simon (President of the Lourdes Pilgrimage Trust) and his wife, Barbara, stopped by to share a few thoughts with us at the end of Mass.

A great deal of thanks go to Fr. Colin, Fr. Aaron and the community at St. Joseph’s, Guildford too. They very kindly stepped into the breach at the last minute to give us somewhere to host the weekend, and we were very grateful.

This weekend the Redshirts Leaders got together at St. Bartz (nr. Lewes – ish) for a weekend of intense planning, prayer, reflection, discussion and team bonding.

The weather was beautiful... as was the food

There are twelve leaders in total: ten group leaders – all of whom are lay people from around the diocese – as well as Fr. Rob, our Chaplain and, of course, Ray Mooney.

During the weekend we were able to make some seriously concrete plans for the week in Lourdes, which was both important and enjoyable. Life during the pilgrimage can be so intense that it’s good to get together beforehand and do as much preparation as possible. That way, when we hit the ground, we can make the experience as good as possible for the young people in the group.

All of us are really excited about Lourdes now. It’s just over three weeks away. Bring it on!

Mickey and Sophie doing some vital music prep (sort of...)

Members of the Youth Service Group at St. Joseph's

One of the priorities of the Youth Service is to give the Redshirts a change to serve at events around the diocese. The week in Lourdes is all about ‘love through service’ and so extending this charism into other parts of life is a natural development for the whole project.

The Redshirts are invited to come along to a variety of events in the diocese throughout the year and the response is usually a generous one.

Sunday June 14th saw the annual FIESTA – a day for those with learning difficulties and their families, which this year was held in the beautiful grounds of St. Joseph’s School in Cranleigh. The Redshirts’ duties included car parking, setting up equipment, serving drinks, entertaining small children (a particular favourite) and many others.

As ever their presence was appreciated.

The whole group with Ray

Serving drinks and food after Mass. The hats, by the way, weren't just a fashion statement - It was a very hot day!

Amusing some of the smaller children with parachute games.