(News/ InfoCatlicaHaving covered a large part of the United States, the relics of Saint Bernadette will begin a new pilgrimage, this time through the countries of England, Scotland and Wales.
It will be the first time these lands have welcomed relics, so the pilgrimage will begin in Upper Lourdes and continue throughout Great Britain, stopping at each of its Catholic cathedrals.
The first of these stops will be in Plymouth Cathedral (England) on September 9-10. Since it will be a special event, different choirs of students from Catholic schools in the country will participate.
After the ceremony, Saint Bernadette’s relics will be made available for viewing by devotees from locations in Devon, Cornwall and Dorset, and a candlelight procession will take place in the evening from 6pm.
To bid farewell to the relics, a festive mass will be celebrated, followed by the Anointing of the Sick, which all believers may attend.
The welcoming director of the cathedral, Canon Mark OKeeffe, comments on the event: It is an honor for us to have Bernadette with us, but in fact you will be with us physically for less than 24 hours. So what we hope to do is get the kids involved because she’s coming on Friday. So we have many schools in the city and we are going to ask them to do a welcome liturgy for it which will probably be very beautiful.
Likewise, the clergyman O’Keeffe asserts that it will be a very important experience for the local believers, because during all these activities and from them they will be able to feel Bernadette’s influence.
Likewise, this pilgrimage represents a very special opportunity because almost all events of this kind have decreased or been canceled since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mark O’Keeffe commented on this on an occasion where some pilgrims told him what they loved when they went there [Lourdes] The fact was that they were all the same. There is no trial or complaint. They all help each other and smile. And they said: I wish we lived like this all the time.
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