MSC Pilgrimage to Lourdes 2018

Each year, the coming of September sees a flurry of activity at the MSC Missions Office as we prepare for our annual pilgrimage to Lourdes. This year’s pilgrimage took place from September 17^th to 22^nd, and as ever, it was a wonderful journey for all involved.

MSCs Fr Michael O’Connell, Fr Tim Gleeson, Fr Joe McGee, Fr Eugene Clarkson, and Spiritual Director Fr Charles Sweeney joined our pilgrims on this year’s trip. The opening Mass, which saw 80 pilgrims join together in prayer and song, marked a beautiful beginning to what was a truly enriching journey for all.

Mass at the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes is always a highlight of the pilgrimage, and this year was no exception. Here, the sun shone on our MSCs and pilgrims and they prayed for our MSC mission friends and benefactors in the magnificent surroundings of the Grotto.

Another very special stop on this year’s pilgrimage was Mass at Sheepfold Chapel. This rustic chapel dates back to the 1800s, when St Bernadette would shelter her sheep under its thatched roof. With a great sense of peace and serenity residing here, Mass was an especially memorable occasion for our MSCs and pilgrims.

Many thanks to all involved in making this year’s pilgrimage such a rewarding one, where many happy memories were made, new friendships blossomed, and old acquaintances were fondly renewed. Until next year!

 

If you would like to find out more about the annual MSC pilgrimage to Lourdes, please click here.

Jubilee Celebrations in the Irish Province

Celebrations abounded at the Sacred Heart Church in Cork on Thursday, June 28th 2018, as eight MSCs from the Irish Province marked the great occasion of Silver, Golden, and Diamond Jubilees. Friends, family, and fellow MSCs travelled from across Ireland, the UK, and beyond, gathering on the Western Road in Cork to celebrate in the glorious June sunshine on this very special day.

Irish Provincial Leader, Fr Carl Tranter MSC, opened the Jubilee Mass with a warm welcome to all present. Fr Carl was himself celebrating his 25-year Jubilee, and in his opening address, he spoke of God’s love, which “empowers, heals, and transforms”.

 

“As each of us look back over our lives today in gratitude, as we remember and recollect with members of our family, friends and fellow MSCs, we might allow ourselves to be amazed and astonished at what the Lord has been able to do in and through us, often in spite of us!” Fr Carl said. “We recall being given appointments or responsibilities we felt wholly ill-equipped to undertake; we remember times of great struggle and challenge, even seeming failure; and we delight in the memories of love, success, joy, wonder, gratitude, growth, communion, friendship and consolation. We recognise each as a gift and a grace. This is what gives us cause to celebrate today. Not anything we have ‘achieved’. A couple celebrating 50 years of marriage are not celebrating what they have achieved, but the gift of love which has endured through the years, which has sustained them despite the challenges, and which has borne fruit in so many different ways across the different seasons of their lives. As MSCs, we celebrate that same great gift of love today.”

The commemoration of this year’s Jubiliarians was a joyful celebration of community, fellowship, and thanksgiving, recalling the triumphs and the challenges of the years gone by and looking ahead with faith, hope, and love.

Congratulations to the Jubilarians!

Silver Jubilee (25 years)
Fr Con O’Connell MSC
Fr Carl Tranter MSC
Fr Terry O’Brien MSC

Golden Jubilee (50 years)
Fr Patsy Kelly MSC
Br Donie Hallissey MSC

Diamond Jubilee (60 years)
Fr Eugene Clarkson MSC
Fr Eamonn Donohue MSC
Bishop Emeritus Hugh Slattery MSC