Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes 12-17 September 2012

Bishop Smith will lead the annual pilgrimage to Lourdes next September.

Bookings are already underway. Pilgrims can contact Pilgrimages Abroad at 69 Upper O’Connell Street, Dublin 1 or phone 01 6359 300.  The pilgrimage costs €699 which includes return flights, 5 nights full board, taxes and insurance.

To take part in the youth section of the pilgrimage, contact Fr Mark English at 01 8255 342.

Reflecting on the forthcoming pilgrimage in the context of the Feast of Pentecost, Bishop Smith remembers how St Bernadette described the start of the apparitions – “I heard a noise like a gust of wind”.  That description is reminiscent of the Apostles in the Upper Room on the day of Pentecost. In a similar way, the Holy Spirit was given to Bernadette so that she could contemplate, internalize, participate in and bear witness to the Good News.  Little by little, the Holy Spirit becomes a true spiritual teacher for this little girl.  “We should invoke God’s Holy Spirit”, Bishop Smith says “so that the great mysteries of our faith may likewise be made known to us”.