THOUSANDS OF LADY’S ISLAND
2017 SEASON ENDS WITH A TORCHLIGHT PROCESSION
A TORCHLIGHT procession brought down the curtain on the very successful 2017 pilgrimage season at Our Lady’s Island.
The procession followed a closing Mass delivered by the head of the World Meeting of Families Fr Tim Bartlett who spoke about the Pope’s planned visit to Ireland next year and the importance of families.
In his homily, Fr Bartlett said that as Irish people we have a deep sense of the family bond, no matter how broken and strained that may be at times.
‘Despite all the cultural changes that have taken place in our society, Irish people continue to value the importance of family in our lives. We continue to have one of the highest marriage rates in Europe. We stay in close contact with our family across the world, wherever they may be,’ he told the large congregation gathered at the island for the closing.
Fr Bartlett said he believed one of the reasons Pope Francis - who has been invited to Lady’s Island - personally chose Ireland to visit next August ‘is because of pour deep commitment to the bond of family and its importance to our own lives and to society’.
Many thousands of pilgrims from throughout Ireland and further afield attended this year’s pilgrimage.
One of the biggest crowds in living memory took part in the opening where the new director of the pilgrimage Fr Jim Cogley welcomed all who attended and Bishop Denis Brennan was chief celebrant at the Mass accompanied by 25 clergy.
A new feature of the pilgrimage introduced this year was the presentation of a pilgrimage staff to honour someone who has given outstanding service to the Island pilgrimage over their lifetime.
The first recipient of the honour was Brendan Mullins a man who for many years was associated with management of sound and who as a younger man, 40 years before, had literally gone around the island on his hands and knees installing an amplification system that is