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On Sunday, hundreds of this year’s Lourdes Pilgrims gathered at St Paul’s Catholic College, Burgess Hill, for the annual Pilgrimage Reunion. Every year during our Pilgrimage, new friendships are formed and old ones strengthened, creating a whole pilgrimage family. As pilgrims are drawn from all corners of the Diocese, the Pilgrimage Reunion, and those organised for each hotel group, can be rare opportunities for pilgrims to meet up with their Lourdes family and share news, as well to reminisce about their time in Lourdes together.

Bishop Richard celebrated Mass for the assembled pilgrims and in his homily reminded them that in Lourdes, the priorities of the world are reversed – and are the right way around – with the first place given to the weak and poor. He called on the congregation to

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“be attentive and give space in our lives to that silence and that quiet that we experience at the Grotto in Lourdes, late at night, in the early hours of the morning, to those moments of silence in our lives when we can be open to the gentle voice of the Lord who calls us out of our pride and enables us to get our world the right way round, enables us to walk in his way, to be his people, to be those who at every moment of our lives will show to the world around us just what it means to live in the light of the love of God.

“Each and every one of us, in our different ways, with our different strengths, our different gifts, enabled, through our experience, to bring that light of Christ to his world. So today we rejoice in our pilgrimage experience. We rejoice that the Lord has called us to listen with the ear of our hearts, to turn away from those things that would take us away from him, and rather be those who put the world the right way round.”

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After a very social lunch break, from which the rain just held off, as many pilgrims as would fit safely in the school hall seated themselves for the great Pilgrimage tradition, which is the slideshow – a joyous mix of music and photographs submitted by pilgrims, which filled the hall with laughter and tears, as both the most poignant and the most amusing moments of the pilgrimage were relived. The joy even spread out the doors, as those who could not fit into the hall watched through doors and windows!

Reflecting on the 2025 Pilgrimage, and the gathering of the Lourdes family for the Reunion, Pilgrimage Director Alex Manko said:

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“Seeing so many of our pilgrimage family come together in the UK through the celebration of Mass and continuing the friendships began in Lourdes is always a highlight of my pilgrimage year. Knowing that so many people have experienced the invitation of Our Lady to spend time with her Son and then bring the love and faith of Lourdes back home to their families and communities across our Diocese is a special gift to those of us who plan the pilgrimage.”

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A very last-minute change of plan brought the reunion from its usual home of the last few years to St Paul’s Catholic College, Burgess Hill, and huge gratitude is owed to St Paul’s for opening its doors to welcome the hundreds of pilgrims at only two days’ notice, as well as to the Pilgrimage Team for  making new plans at very high speed.

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With thanks to Harry Robertson for the Reunion photographs.

Photographs from this year's Lourdes Pilgrimage will be available on our Flickr site soon.