For a week in July, these fourteen ordinary looking people did what thousands of others do; they came to Blackpool. But sun, sand and sea were not on their minds. They were not on a holiday either. They came on what is known as the Peregrinatio pro Christo (pilgrims for Christ). All members of the Legion of Mary, they came and prayed and worked in the parish of Christ the King. They included the team leader, Terry Harkin from Derry, plus twelve others from Ireland (including a priest and a Sister of Mercy) and one lady from Essex. Visiting in pairs, the team called at 2,700 doors, (not quite half the parish) to bring a message of faith and love and prayer to all who would accept it. Some of the Pilgrims commented on people from other Churches who edified them by their spirituality. After Mass every morning they met for prayer and to plan the work, then spent half the morning, plus all afternoon and all evening going from door to door. They have left behind them plenty of contacts for us to follow up; Catholics with whom to keep in touch and others who would like to enquire into the Catholic Faith. And all this was just ahead of our own Bishop’s statement on Evangelisation for Mission Sunday. (Home Mission Sunday)

We are trying to establish the Legion of Mary, as one way of carrying on their evangelizing work. One wonderful aspect of the week: the generosity of parishioners who provided accommodation and/or drove the Pilgrims from place to place, and of our primary school which provided everyone with lunch most days, and others who provided a superb buffet for the social after the closing Mass. Please pray with us that there may be a lasting legacy from this generous-hearted Pilgrimage for Christ.

At the final Mass when we said farewell to the legionaries we also thanked God for one of our own parishioners, a polish immigrant to this country many years ago. Pope Benedict had awarded the Bene Merenti ("to the well-deserving") medal to Aleks Skiba, and we were able to present it to him on this happy occasion. Apart from helping his wife Sylvia play a leading part in the flower arranging in our church Aleks has always responded to any task that needed doing, above all by maintaining and improving the very extensive grounds around the parish buildings. He has put many hours of strenuous work into this labour of love, even now in his 80s, until a sudden deterioration in his eyesight in June forced him to give up, just as the papal award arrived. He and the legionaries and so many of our other parishioners have done it all, “for God’s sake.”

TWO INTO ONE WON’T GO

We missed you during August, but you did not miss us. The fact is that although we missed one month, the messages kept on coming. Unfortunately the result is we have had to drop some regular features from this Septembers edition and abbreviate others in an effort to make room for as much as we could. We’re sorry if the result doesn’t please everyone, but we were not entirely to blame, and we did try our best in the circumstances.