In August of this year, I joined a group of other Ballinteer Parishioners, led by Fr. Battelle on the annual pilgrimage to Lourdes. Setting off from Dublin Airport, relative strangers, we spent the next five days together. Praying, eating, getting to know each other and laughing. Strangers no more; in fact one never feels quite like a stranger in Lourdes.

Each year millions travel to this small village nestled in the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains. This once quiet hamlet is today one of the most visited and best loved Catholic shrines in the world. Each pilgrim comes with their own special intention, to pray, reflect take part and to bathe in the sacred waters of the Grotto, whose healing powers were revealed to fourteen year old Bernadette Soubirous one hundred and forty four years ago when the Virgin Mary appeared to her eighteen times.

From all four corners of the globe we congregated, from all walks of life, cultures, languages, yet all of us unified by one basic human emotion, hope. It is this sense of unity that I have held onto on my return. The knowledge that we relative strangers united and became a group, in turn we joined many other Irish pilgrims going on to become part of a congregation of thousands, all equal in our faith, our belief in the miracle of Lourdes, brothers and sister's together in the family of God.

Travelling to Lourdes as an able bodied person, no illness marring my life or the lives of my loved ones, being in the presence of those dealing with physical and mental illnesses, the sufferers and the carers is a humbling, rewarding experience. Not seeking a physical cure, what I received was a cure of a different kind, my pilgrimage has helped me to re-prioritise, to take time to appreciate and count my blessings, to put my life into perspective. How lucky are we who do not suffer. Yet for all the human tragedy, Lourdes is not a gloomy sombre place, it is a place of retreat. A peaceful serenity shrouds the area despite the hustle and bustle you would normally associate with the influx of thousands of daily pilgrims. Focal point for we pilgrims: the Grotto, is in constant use, with several masses and rosaries daily. The breathtaking candle light procession sets out from the Grotto each evening. Whether you walk, are led or chose to spectate everyone takes part. Young and old, mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, carers all united in prayer. The sense of being at one, included that this phenomenon in all its enormity is as big as each one of us.

No matter what you travelled to Lourdes seeking initially, you do not leave empty hearted. A shared faith draws us together; a belief in God's power to heal, we are all represented. There are no barriers, faith is the leveller; prayer the common language and hope the inspiration.

The Pilgrim

Rainbows

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The next programme of Rainbows in Ballinteer will start in the autumn.

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