THE
P RTAL
November 2017
Page 12
La Belle France
Jackie Ottaway and Ronald Crane have been to France
on Pilgrimage to St Thérèse of Lisieux
L
a Belle France is a wonderful country. She has produced so many inspirational saints, none more
so than St Thérèse of Lisieux. She has long been a favourite, so when the opportunity arose to visit her
shrine, basilica and town, we jumped at the chance.
Mgr Keith Newton led the Pilgrimage. He was
accompanied by Fr David Stafford. A quick flight from
Stansted took us to Normandy and then a coach to
Lisieux where we stayed for the whole pilgrimage.
We were fortunate to be in Lisieux for the celebrations
of the saint’s feast day - Mass in the Basilica, processions
and all. We were doubly fortunate to be asked to
provide readers for these occasions, so we really were
involved in the best sense of the word.
A trip to Bayeux enabled us to
view the tapestry and celebrate
Mass in the cathedral; on another
day we went to Mont St Michel and
visited the ruins of Hambye Abbey.
We spent a lovely day in Alençon
visiting the home of the Martin
family.
Sr Anastasia was our splendid
guide, and some of our party even
managed to visit the lace museum
as well. The English could not
visit Normandy without going to
Caen and the tomb of William the
Conqueror and his wife Matilda.
They each have their own Abbey at
opposite ends the city. On our last
day, we went to the local Calvados
factory!
Gill carried on, “The pilgrimage is
very positive, with everyone pulling
together. There is lots of laughter
and giggles. St Thérèse’s day was
wonderful. St Thérèse made it for
us. Our taxi did not come, but she
arranged that we arrived at the
Basilica in time.
“The Bayeux tapestry was a
vibrancy of colour, and Alençon
was lovely. The Martin family house
was amazing. I think I know about
St Thérèse and her family now, so in
that sense the pilgrimage has been a
happy experience”.
St Thérèse of Lisieux
Each day we were privileged to have Mass in one
of the splendid churches of Normandy. The Carmel
in Lisieux, the Abbey at Caen, Bayeux Cathedral,
the parish church at Mont St Michael and St Peter’s,
Alençon. Spiritually, it was a wonderful pilgrimage.
Our dear friend Dr Gill James was one of our
pilgrims. She is a retired academic who lives in North
London. Gill joined the Ordinariate in 2013 and sits on
the Editorial Board of T he P ortal . This was her third
Portal/Ordinariate pilgrimage. “It is an exploration for
me as I know hardly anything about St Thérèse, except
of course, the ‘little things’.
Franziska and Alan Norman
are Ordinariate members from
Cambridge. Both arrived in the Ordinariate via the
CofE. Franziska comes from Berlin and they met
there. In the same street as the Anglican Church there
was an Order of nuns who had perpetual exposition of
the Blessed Sacrament. It was this that brought Alan to
the Catholic faith.
He had entered the CofE through a liberal Catholic
door but found it impossible to reconcile liberalism
with catholicism. Franziska was in line to be a CofE
priest, but for various reasons, this did not work
out. They joined the Ordinariate, despite there being
no group in Cambridge. They attend Mass at Our