Page 11 - LOTN Advent issue 57

DIOCESE
St Andrew Community Summer Youth

Pilgrimage to Austria and Germany

Bishop Hugh Gilbert OSB celebrated Mass at Carfin Grotto for our young pilgrims before they set sail

Blessed are they that love You and rejoice in Your others stood stunned by the beauty that overwhelmed our
Peace senses. We were led instinctively to pray.
Tobit 13:18 St John Bosco’s youth house in Jünkerath, Germany was
particularly lovely, full of the spirit of the saint. Games,
t Raphael to the rescue! Beware when you make campfires, breadmaking, talks, music, adoration with a
the patron saint of healing the patron of your Marian procession and more.
Syouth pilgrimage! One might suppose that to Köln Cathedral found us with the Magi who had found
heal, there need be something that needs healing… It Him in Bethlehem. Austria and the Franciscan University at
wasn’t long before we had two visits of an ambulance, Gaming were full of generosity and kindness, truly a great
another three visits to the hospital, one doctor call, blessing in the Alps. Vienna and the historic tour, hikes up
one eye infection, one 24-hour vomiting bug, a kitchen the mounts, zips down, centuries-old Heiligenkreuz, paddle
crisis, a broken arm, a sprained ankle, pneumonia, heat boats, the Mother of Austria at Mariazell, lakes, pools,
stroke, heat rash, heat (in general), multiple swelling unforgettable talents shared, Blessed Franz Jägerstätter
wasp stings, severe sunburns, and, of course, the in Sankt Radegund, Maria Plain in Salzburg, Our Lady of
incalculable interior sufferings of body and soul all Sorrows in Marienthal and
able to be endured, healed and overcome by the graces the gift of a painting of St
pilgrimage offers. Andrew with Jesus’ children.
Our Lady was busy undoing knots from start to finish, And finally, Our Lady Undoer
by land and sea, from Scotland, to Germany, to Austria of Knots with St Raphael
and back again. I don’t think anyone could have guessed leading the way.
or even hoped for the extravagant dining experience the What happened in these
DFDS Newcastle-to-Amsterdam ferry crossing would have days perhaps only the Holy
offered. Well fed, mostly clean, with plenty of sleep…and Spirit could tell; the flood
we were ready to conquer every enemy! Or at least make of graces, which prayer
a start. and sacrifice bring, and the
Somehow the profound experience of Our Lady of willing openness of the
Kevelaer at the beginning echoed throughout the pilgrims to begin with.
following days. Our Lady of Consolation drew us in close Like the Miraculous Medal,
together as we knelt around her tiny miraculous image in Our Lady distributes all the
the Golden Chapel. The organ pipes sounded irresistibly in graces given to her to those
the adjacent Basilica, and our pilgrim group was naturally who ask. In some, seeds are Our Lady, Untier of Knots,
drawn into the magnificent church. Some knelt quietly, planted, others grow, still in the Perlach Church,
Augsburg, Germany

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