2019 Blog
Introduction
Every day during our pilgrimage to Lourdes 2019 a group of 5 girls will be writing a daily blog about their day. The first blog is from our family fun day and welcome in June.
Family Fun day 29/06/19
Hi I’m Carla Dynan and I’m going to Lourdes this year for the first time as part of the volunteer team! A couple of weeks ago my sisters and I spent the weekend at Manchester and as part of that got to meet a lot of the people going to Lourdes at a sports day event. Everyone was so welcoming and had lots of great stories about previous years that have made me very excited for things such as the torchlight procession and the themed party! I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again and can’t wait for the week in France to get started:)
I’m Daisy Dynan and I’m coming to Lourdes this year as one of the youth volunteers, along with both of my sisters. It’s my first year going to Lourdes so I’m very excited to see what the whole experience will be like. I really enjoyed the pre-Lourdes sports day that I went to a few weekends ago in Manchester, as I got to meet lots of the other volunteers and everyone was so welcoming! I think the thing that I’m most looking forward to is the fancy dress night because the photos of it from previous years all look like so much fun
Hi, I’m Abi, and I’m traveling over from Belfast to Lourdes with CAFT this summer. I’m really looking forward to taking part in as much as possible, especially the creative or artistic activities with the children. Spending a weekend in Manchester also gave me a great insight as to what the project involves, and the friendly, family atmosphere that we were welcomed with made me all the more excited for August!
Day One (Abi)
I arrived at Lourdes in the afternoon with my two sisters, and after a quick turnaround at the hotel, we made it to the mass at the rosary basilica in enough time to witness the huge scale worship taking place. Both the crowd and the three churches together seemed enormous compared to anything we’d seen before and we first-timers were blown away.
We then went back to the hotel where we were introduced to the parents, helpers and children. After this quick introduction we split off into different age groups to have a more in depth discussion about what we were looking forward to (the beach and water park were high on the list) and how the week would be run.
In the evening we gathered in the hotel lounge for a singsong and in no time we were all up on our feet singing along to the CAFt classics! It was a great day that got everyone even more excited for the week ahead!!
Day 2 (Carla)
We started off Saturday by going to Mass and the anointing of the sick together with Salford Diocese. It poured as we waited for the service to start, but we didn’t care and just sang away about spaghetti and superheroes. The service itself was lovely and the sacrament felt like a special moment, as everyone that was not being blessed stood in a massive circle, holding hands around the edge of the church.
Later on in the day we had a dance party and played some very competitive games of musical statues which was fun for everyone to take part in or just watch.
That night we took part in the torchlight procession which was incredible, and a beautiful thing to witness (even with the rain).!!
Day 3
On Sunday there were two Masses available. There was a grotto mass in the morning but I was still asleep and missed it . After the mass we all met in the domain for the group photos. We got back to the padoue for lunch and went to the cite St pier for a group mass. It was great weather and we were lucky because mass was outdoors. When mass was finished we went to the playground and played rounders and a very intense game of one touch football . After tea the ladies went out for “Mum's night out.” today the weather was finally better and it was a perfect day for our planned activities.
Day 4 (Emily)
On Monday we started off the day doing a QR code hunt all over Lourdes. We went to many interesting places such as the house St Bernadette lived in both before and after her family went bankrupt and around the domain. We split up into groups of 5-10 people and had to take a picture at different locations in Lourdes. My group finished at 12 o clock so we were just in time for lunch.
When we finished lunch everyone got ready to set off for the water park. I got on a coach but a few people drove if they had cars. When i got to the water park I straight away got my swimming costume on and jumped straight into the pool to cool down from the heat. Once i had cooled down me and my friends headed straight to the biggest slide. Although i went on it last year, i was still very nervous as the slide was almost a straight down drop. After i plucked up the courage to go on I realised it wasn’t that bad after all.
After a few slides we decided to all get into the pool and do some dives, flips and even catching a ball in the air whilst diving in. Whilst we were playing we were challenged to stand on all the diving boards and try to catch the ball mid air and pass it to the next person along. After many attempts and over an hour of practices we finally did it and it was so relieving. The French were wondering what they did wrong to get a load of crazy english people in their waterpark. Then everyone went on a few more slides,got an ice cream and it was time to go back to the Padoue and get ready for the fancy dress party. The theme this year was whatever makes you happy. I dressed up as an 80’s girl along with Carla, Abi and Daisy. It was so much fun. We were singing and playing games until the rain made us go inside.
Day 5
After having breakfast we split into two groups, one group went on a tour of Lourdes on Le Petit Train and the second group went for a swim. I went swimming and we played a very competitive game of waterpolo which was extremely exciting!!
We then headed back to the hotel for a much needed lunch. After lunch we got ready for the Diocesan Closing Mass with face paint and glitter. At the end of the mass medals were awarded and Fionnuala Murden, Brendan Lane, Patrick O’Dowd and Christine Cowan got her 25 years medal!! We all stood up and cheered her and the other recipients.
After the Mass there was a blessing of the candles ceremony, which was very touching, as we thought about all those who we were lighting candles for. We headed back to the hotel for dinner, and afterwards all the dads headed out for the dads’ night out. The kids and volunteers went down to the domain to watch the torchlight procession, I loved watching it and listening to all of the singing. I think it is the most beautiful part of Lourdes. We then all went down to the grotto and the candles to light some more. We then went for a walk through the town to get ice creams, which were delicious.It was a fabulous ending to another fabulous day in Lourdes!!