Farewell to the Choir
This weekend is the final weekend of sung services by our Cathedral choirs who will be taking a well-earned rest until the beginning of September. I thank them for their dedication and the quality of their choral singing over the course of the last academic year.
Some boys and girls will be singing as choristers for the final time this Sunday due to voices breaking or preparations for future GCSE’s – I extend a special word of thanks to them for the contributions they have made to the life of the choir.
I would also wish to thank all our young people and adults who serve and assist at the various Masses at the Cathedral who also contribute a special way to ensure that we celebrate the sacraments appropriately and with great dignity. I hope that many of them will still be around during the summer months to continue their serving.
Each year the Liverpool Archdiocesan Pilgrimage provides an opportunity for people of all ages, to gather together in prayer and seek a new way of finding God, through the support of Mary’s prayer and the gift of one another. The Archdiocese has been leading a pilgrimage to Lourdes for over a hundred years. Over the years many people have found Lourdes to profoundly touch and inspire them through the witness of the sick pilgrims. The vitality and commitment of the young people who come to help the sick, brings together people from every generation and renews that bond of love which lies at the heart of our Faith.
In Lourdes the dignity of every human person is respected and valued and a true sense of community is established. Following the official recognition this year of the Miracle Cure of John Traynor at Lourdes members of the Traynor family will be joining the pilgrimage this year to join in giving thanks to Our Blessed Lady for the many blessings we have received.
This Sunday at 5pm Archbishop Malcolm will preside at the Pilgrimage Departure Mass. For those of us who will not be travelling on pilgrimage we can still say the Lourdes prayer and the rosary to join with all those who will be in Lourdes and pray in communion with them for the sick and infirm.
Prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes; O ever immaculate Virgin, Mother of Mercy, Health of the Sick, Refuge of Sinners, Comforter of the Afflicted, you know my wants, my troubles, my sufferings. Look upon me with mercy. When you appeared in the grotto of Lourdes, you made it a privileged sanctuary where you dispense your favors, and where many sufferers have obtained the cure of their infirmities, both spiritual and corporal. I come, therefore, with unbounded confidence to implore your maternal intercession. My loving Mother, obtain my request. I will try to imitate your virtues so that I may one day share your company and bless you in eternity. Amen.
Monsignor Anthony O’Brien
Cathedral Dean
