Thursday, November 28, 2002
Here is an obituary for George Hills. It was prepared by his daughter Catherine.
Dr G.A.M. HILLS MBE. ERD. Dlitt.FRHistS.
6th June 1918 - 13thSeptember 2002
Former BBC World Service Broadcaster and Spanish Historian, George Hills, died on 13th September, aged 84.
Fr,John Moffat S.J. led fellow Jesuits and Parish clergy in a Requiem Mass at St.Joseph's Church, New MaIden, Surrey, where he had lived since 1955.
Born in Mexico City, of Anglo-Basque parentage, the youngest of seven children, he was educated by the Jesuits from the age of seven at Wimbledon College. He gained his first Degree from King's College, London University.
Commissioned into the Royal Artillery, he continued to serve in the Far East as an Intelligence Officer until 1947, when he joined the BBC External Services as South East Asia Programme Organiser, and rapidly became the Corporation's South American Representative, living in Argentina with his wife, Marie, for two and a half years. They came to know Juan and Eva Peron well, also numbering the composer Sir William Walton among their close aquaintances.
Returning to England, his Broadcasting career included positions as Programmes Organiser for Spanish and Latin American Spanish Services and latterly as Staff Training Officer for External Services. Sir Trevor Macdonald and Angela Rippon were past pupils. In 1962 he was asked to accompany H.R.H.Prince Philip on his Royal Tour of South America as BBC Representative. His bilingual ability and knowledge of the Continent was once again put to good use.
On his retirement from the BBC in 1977, Mr Gerald Mansell wrote of Dr. Hills that he "left his mark on more members of staff than any other person at Bush House. Above all, he sought to instil the virtues for which he cared and believed in so passionately, into successive generations of newcomers to broadcasting and the media"
Dr. Hills' expertise in training was widely sought at home and abroad. Radio Canada Nacional brought him to Montreal in 1976 to organise and deliver various courses. In the emerging Democracy in Spain, following the death of General Franco, he was instrumental in establishing Training in T.V. and Radio, in the Basque Region as well as other areas of Spain, in particular, Madrid.
The last 25 years saw much involvement in this field. In Madrid he helped to found the new University of Francisco de Vitoria, dedicated to Broadcasting and the Media. As recently as June of 2002, he returned to a week of celebratIons to mark the 25 Anniversary of this University together with 250 ofhis past students, now respected Broadcasters and Captains of lndustry. Days before he died, Dr Hills received the news that a T .V. and Radio Studio in the Francisco de Vitoria was to be named after him. He accepted this honour with his usual humility.
George Hills published his first book: Franco- The Man and his Nation in 1967. In researching this biography, he had been granted rarely given interviews with the General. Three more Hispanic tomes followed: Spain in 1970 ; Rock of Contention -A History of Gibraltar in 1974 and The Battle for Madrid in 1976. He was working on a fifth book in two volumes on the subject of a History of the Communist Party in Spain when he died. His family hope that another writer can be found to complete this work from the copious notes he left.
A devout Catholic, Lourdes played a major part in his life. He had been a Member of the Hospitalite of N.D.de Lourdes for 50 years. He had been elected as English speaking Representative on the Council of Lourdes in 1982, serving in this position until 1993. Apart from the War years he had devoted one, more often two weeks to working with those on Pilgrimage in Lourdes every year. On one occasion he had walked the whole journey from Wimbledon to Lourdes. Two weeks prior to his death he returned to the Shrine, still giving he1p and re1aying information in his fluent Spanish and French from his wheelchair.
Dr.Hills is survived by his daughter, Catherine Mary, son, Edmund, and grandsons John and James. His elder sister, Juanita, of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, lives in Mexico. He was married to Marie for 61 years until her death on 7th September 2001. Mentor and friend to many, respected Historian, George Hills was awarded an MBE for services to Broadcasting in the New Year's Honours List of 1992. His other honours reflect his military and academic achievements.
In conclusion one can do no better than reiterate a comment made by Mr.Gerald Mansell at George Hills' retirement. To those who knew him the words do not apply to Broadcasting alone: " His influence will survive long after his early departure “
C.M.Hills-Tennant
2nd October 2002
posted by Steve Rouse at 8:47 PM
Monday, September 23, 2002
The article below was produced in a hurry because of the deadline for the production of the College magazine. Since it was produced George Hills has died and his funeral was on Saturday 21September. It was attended by large numbers of hospitalier(eres).
posted by Steve Rouse at 11:19 PM
Lourdes 2002 by Steve Rouse
I think I should have put 'Flash!' at the top of this article because it is being prepared only twelve hours after my return from Lourdes, itself only just halfway through the period known to English speakers in Lourdes as 'Wimbledon Fortnight.' Its priority has been given a higher rating than the uxorial insistence that the grass needs cutting.
The theme chosen for this year by the Lourdes authorities is 'Water' (Wife:"The dustman comes today, have you put out the rubbish?") Their foresight was excellent; it rained everyday that the first Wimbledon working party was there. (Wife: I am just off to get my hair done.") This contrasted sharply with the same week in 2001 when it was so hot that my wife decided not to come this year. (Wife:"You can't put that in.") To celebrate the theme the taps at which one may wash and drink the water from the spring have been augmented by additional installations in the Prairie on the other side of the River Gave. Each one is named after a well or spring mentioned in the Bible. Whilst on matters mechanical it can be noted that the ascenseurs in the building where we stayed were maintained by a company called Schindler - obviously, therefore, each is a Schindler's lift.
In the August Group there were fourteen of us, including Colin Monteiro's wife Delphinia and ther teenagers Craig and Davinia. It was a delight to have Fr John Moffatt who had brought Jonarthan Thevanayagam and Tim O'Riordan. They have just left St Ignatius College and are on their way to Oxford University in October. They were outstanding and I pray that they will come again. Mike Pedder and Ed Hills had brought one of their College contemporaries, John McGloin, for whom it was a first trip to Lourdes. It seemed to me that he fell in love with the place - he also discovered an outstanding restaurant whose location is secret. George Hills was with us too and celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of his engagement medal. For this achievement he was given a tremendous ovation at the conclusion of the Hospitalité's medal ceremony Mass on Wednesday evening. Unfortunately, George is very ill and in case of deterioration it was arranged that he would be lodged with the Catholic Association (CA) pilgrims in the Acceuil Notre Dame where medical and nursing care were available. There, he caught a stomach bug and became very ill indeed. When the CA left, the Irish Diocese of Elphin were kind enough to take him in. They gave him excellent care and he was able to return home by train with a team of eight which included Richard Featherstone and Tony Brook.
Richard spent the week working outside the baths transferring people to and from the special chairs and Tony was the English-speaking formatteur (trainer) for the week. Callixtus Arulandanam popped up as he always seems to do. Unfortunately Judex Céline was prevented at the last moment by a death in the family and then by his mother's illness. My week was spent at the Acceuil St Frai where the job involves heping with the arrival and departures of pilgrims and trying to add some order to the hourly comings and goings within the very restricted space. The smallness of the space carries the risk of friction between various pilgrimages as they each seek to do their own thing almost always at the same time as everyone else. It was in this context that I was delighted by the work of the 'hospital team' of the Salford Diocesan Pilgrimage. Despite the time pressures on them they remained completely unflappable. The pressure was never transmitted to their sick pilgrims and each of whom was given the time they needed, for example, to go up or down a step. The Lourdes risk is that people are treated as bundles to be moved rather than as people to be helped. The Salford team never allowed that to happen and their leaders whilst using the equipment patiently explained to the youngsters helping them how to do it. A gold star for Salford. (Their end of pilgrimage party was excellent too.)
The Wimbledon September group included Fr Cyril Elkington who is insisting that this year must be his last as chaplain. Ige Ramos and Kevin Connolly arrived from the Philipines as usual. Jim Larner Jnr. made the shorter journey from Killarney. Michael and Martin Adams were also there. (Martin has just been accepted to join the Surrey Constabulary - congratulations!) Lawrence Farrugia, a former teacher at the College arrived with his wife Elizabeth, who will be making her engagement this year, and who works in the baths. It was great too to see Ian and Maureen Gordon. However, and above all, it was a delight to welcome a Jesuit Scholastic, Roger Dawson, together with no less than thirteen young men just about to enter Rhetoric. (Indeed, Fr Holman had allowed them to miss the first few days of term in order to come to Lourdes.) We had adopted a new recruitment strategy for which credit must go to Simon Pinfield. Ten young men were targeted as suitable and invited to a curry meal at the OW Club. Not only did all ten take up the invitation to come to Lourdes, but three of their friends too.
I was able to e-mail to Fr Holman as follows as soon as I returned:
"The Lourdes Hospitalité pounced on Lawrence Farrugia over breakfast on Saturday and asked him to be the leader of a newly formed Equipe 84 which would consist of thirteen 'jeune Anglais et leur professeur'.
We had just got them all signed up at the Bureau on Saturday morning when there was a phone call from Fr Cyril up at the station saying that they were all needed up there. A 'Fourgon' was sent down to collect them and they spent the whole day loading and unloading. Ian Gordon ensured that each of them got to work as part of an ambulance car outside team and an inside team. That evening two of them came up to me and said that they had had "a brilliant day, far better than we ever expected." On Sunday they were to be part of 'Service de Ceremonie' helping to organise the International Mass, the Afternoon Procession and the Torchlight Procession. I did not get to hear how they enjoyed that, but I had the opportunity to see them manning a line to stop people going where they wanted to because the Blessed Sacrament was just coming - boy! did that bring back memories of more than forty years ago."
He replied (in part): "I took a large group 10 years ago and had the same story to tell, but at a wedding I did three weeks ago, it was all these 28 year olds would talk about. In some ways, for our OWs, the shift maybe changes from helping the sick to helping the helpers and perhaps that is what is being asked."
You can read a fuller report of the pilgrimages of 2002 at www.hospitalite.blogspot.com.
posted by Steve Rouse at 11:08 PM
Saturday, March 09, 2002
Here is the President's Report to the AGM held on 8 March, 2002
WIMBLEDON COLLEGE HOSPITALITÉ OF NOTRE DAME DE LOURDES
President's Report to the Annual Meeting on 8 March, 2002
In 2001 we certainly upheld our traditions albeit in a slightly shrunken form. We managed only two working parties and only at the last minute did we recruit two College leavers to join our pilgrimages. They were Alain Desmiers and Sean Dooley. What they lacked in numbers they most certainly made up for in quality. Both are now overseas for their gap years. It is worrying that we have suddenly lost the thirty-somethings who have been our mainstays for over a decade. Worrying, but not catastrophic. I am sure that Our Lady's call will be heard again in Wimbledon, but we do have to help to find ways to make sure that it is not drowned out. The working party reports were prepared and circulated as usual and can also be found at www.hospitalite.blogspot.com.
The HNDL itself is carrying out reorganisations. The aim is more efficiency, effectiveness and fairness, but it does seem to have forgotten the existence of 'welcoming' hospitalités such as our own which are not also associated with 'accompanying' hospitalités. One manifestation is that we cannot now block-book accommodation and each of our working party members must make his or her own booking. Thanks to Peter Chamberlain's efforts this may change in future, but it is a real problem in recruiting College students who do not seem able to commit themselves to come until well after all the accommodation has already been allocated. To balance this it has to be said that an immense effort has gone into the formation of stagaires once in Lourdes and several of our members are prominent in this provision.
Five of us attended the annual reunion of British members of HNDL which was held in Salford last November with lavish hospitality from Salford Diocesan Hospitalité. It was good to meet up with people that one otherwise only sees in Lourdes and to find that they still larger than life when returned to Britain. It was at that meeting though, that I first heard of the worries about the organisation of the torchlight procession in Lourdes. On several occasions the assembling of pilgrims has fallen into chaos with stories about a Scottish bishop being knocked over and even manhandled as groups struggled to stay together.
The Committee has met twice since the reunion in September, 2001. We noted that the Hotel D'Anvers gave a special price to Stagaires and that this lessened the problem of finding accommodation for late-bookers. On travel it was decided that the Committee would book only rail travel (if you want to go by air you have to book that yourself) and that John Dilger would go direct to the SNCF office in London to make bookings on the first day on which it is possible to book the journeys concerned. A possible rail journey via Lille is to be explored. We also decided to ask Fr Holman whether he would be willing to get involved in recruitment from the College and to respond positively to the suggestion for collaboration from the Stonyhurst Chaplain, Fr Michael Power. We noted the possibility that the Southwark Diocesan Pilgrimage Youth Group might seek participation by College students and agreed that we should treat any requests for financial assistance as for HCPT and to ask Southwark to promote the possibility of a stage with this hospitalité.
2003 will see the eightieth anniversary of the first College pilgrimage and it was agreed to consider favourably the idea of a weekend pilgrimage to celebrate this, subject to the views of Fr Holman and subject to finding people willing to organise it.
Fr Cyril Elkington has told us that, for health reasons, 2002 will be the last year in which he will be able to come to Lourdes as the chaplain to the September working party. This will be a great loss to us and the end of another era. We will want to place on record our most sincere thanks to Fr Cyril for all the energy and fun he has contributed as well as the spiritual care and insights.
Lastly I want to confirm that our annual dinner will take place on Saturday 18 May at a venue yet to be arranged. I will send out a newsletter with that and other information.
S P Rouse
President
posted by Steve Rouse at 6:13 PM
Thursday, November 22, 2001
Here is the circular about next years dates and an appeal for money to add to the fund.
DATES
Please get these in your diaries now.
8 March 2002, AGM at the College starting with Mass at 7.30pm.
(Committee members please note change of date to suit Fr Holman.)
18 May 2002, Annual Dinner at a venue to be arranged.
23/24 to 30/31 August 2002 1st Working Party
30/31 August to 6/7 September 2002
2nd Working Party.
Accommodation
Each individual now has to book his/her accommodation in Lourdes because the Hospitalité won’t accept block bookings.
If I think you might come to Lourdes next year I have enclosed a copy of the annonce de stage. Please fill this in and return it to me by 31 December and I will send forms en bloc to Lourdes. Unless we put in our requests by very early January we may not get the accommodation we want. If you are uncertain about coming it is best to assume that you will. It is easier to cancel later than to book. However, we have also sussed that the Hotel D’Anvers offers room-only rates to stagaires which are roughly the same as the Hospitalité.
Filling in the form
On the right hand side of the form put ‘Benoit Labre’ – this is the new block behind the Foyer Bernadette – as the place where you want a room (or studio for couples).
If you think you will go by train I suggest you put the time of arrival in Lourdes as 20.30 – this will signal that they need to make arrangements for a late arrival. However we plan to try to make water tight arrangements for collection of room keys during ordinary office hours.
On the left hand side of the form it asks ‘in which service do you work?’ – for the men among us the answer is ‘Saint Joseph’ – women will know which service they belong to.
Travel
Few of us now go by air. If you do you should make your own arrangements with Tangney. You can get their brochure by looking at their advert in the Catholic press.
We will make train bookings. This year John Dilger will go in person to the SNCF office in Piccadilly on the first day on which it is possible to buy tickets, ie two months before the planned return date. This means that we should be able to get the best possible price. After this date you will be responsible for making your own travel arrangements.
THE FUND
No appeal to augment the Fund has been made for several years. Now we need some money. We have about £2,600 in hand but want to push it up. Please send your cheques made payable to ‘Wimbledon College Lourdes Fund’ to me as Simon Pinfield, our Treasurer, is in the throes of moving house.
My address is: 44 Lower Road, Leatherhead, KT22 9ER.
The fund also makes limited grants to College pupils who go to Lourdes to work with HCPT or Southwark Diocesan Pilgrimage.
posted by Steve Rouse at 10:22 PM
Here are the working Party Reports for 2001
WIMBLEDON COLLEGE HOSPITALITÉ DE NOTRE DAME DE LOURDES
Working Party Reports 2001
June
Since there were two of them I suppose that Peter Chamberlain and Steve Rouse’s trip to Lourdes in June 2001 can be counted as the first Wimbledon working party of the year. They went by train but this was not the smoothest experience. On the way out they were held up by a suicide on the line (as was part of the August party) and on the way back by a tree jumping on to the line just before Bordeaux. This latter problem was compounded by the buffet car running out of wine of any kind despite being restocked at Bourdeaux.
Peter works in Formation these days and was ‘delighted’ to discover that he had two groups of American first-years, totalling more than fifty in number, on whom to practice his skills and to whom to impart his knowledge. However, even he was stumped by the question, ‘Say, Peter do you know where I can get a massage in Lourdes?’ After so much novelty it was good to see that tradition was maintainedby John Ryan, the Chef de Gare, who always sat in the Café St Honoré at the table next to the owner’s rostrum. (There is no such saint as Honoré by the way.) They were told that the Café Honoré opened in 1920, only three years before the first Wimbledon College pilgrimage.
John Ryan also featured in one of the best stories of the week. Steve, being the responsable at St Frai often had to ring the station to find whether a pilgrimage train had arrived. Usually the phone was answered by a young Italian woman. John described her as his secretary. On a vist to the station Steve noticed a young woman in scout uniform bossing around the rouleurs. On being asked if that was his secretary John replied, “No, that is my director of personnel”.
Peter and Steve claimed to be so busy in their respective jobs that it was difficult to meet up, so it was odd to see them almost every evening with coffee and calvados at the Café Cintra. They did also make the Mass in English almost every day at 9.0am where the hymns tended to be of the ‘Soul of My Saviour’ type.
Peter serves on the council for Formation (formerly école). It, in turn, has appointed him as one of the representatives to the Council of the Hospitalité itself. This means that of the four Anglophone councillors over the years, three have come from Wimbledon, Peter Crane, Georges Hills and Peter Chamberlain. This is a record of which the College can be very proud.
August, Stephen Rouse
Wheelchair access has now been provided to the Rosary Basilica (that's the one in all the photographs). It has been beautifully and cleverly done by 'bending' the pavement. Inside the Rosary Basilica, at the foot of the right-hand column, there is an inscription which reads:
"Jesus mercy. Immaculate Mother pray for them.
In memory of members of the Sacred Heart Church and
past students of Wimbledon and Stonyhurst Colleges, who
laid down their lives for their country 1914 -1918."
The August Party included Alain Desmier, who had been part of the group of poets who came last year with Gerry Gallen SJ, and his fellow College-leaver Sean Dooley, who is just off to spend his gap year with the Jesuits in India. We were delighted to have them and hope they will keep on coming. Two more of last year's poets group should be mentioned; Edward Bull and Henry Day appeared prominently (but anonymously) in a photograph of brancardiers at work in the Lourdes Hospitalité's French language Bulletin.
August also saw Colin Monteiro make his commitment to keep coming to Lourdes and receive his silver medal. He threw a party afterwards at the Hotel Solitude at which I made the aquaintance of the giraffe. I had been aware of the sizes of beer glass - demi, distingué and formidable, but giraffe, which holds 2.5 litres was a new one on me. Apparently it had been discovered by Colin's fourteen year-old son Craig, though I hasten to add that he was not allowed to drink out of it.
We heard of the 'Incident of 15 August'. On this day, the Feast of the Assumption, there were some 60,000 people in the Domain when some poor man tried to commit suicide by filling his car with gas canisters and inflammable materials and driving it towards the Grotto. A tragedy was averted by the quick action of four members of what Tony Brook always calls the Temple Guard. They prevented the vehicle from penetrating more than four car-lengths into the Domain and smothered the fire so quickly that none of the gas canisters exploded.
On a much lighter note it was good to hear the following exchange at the loading dock of the Acceuil Notre Dame, "It is unusual to see an English chef." "Well, it is Wimbledon fortnight." I can also report my lucky escape. Invited to drink champagne with the leadership group of the pilgrimage from the Diocese of Rheims, I was asked what I thought of the vintage. I replied that it was excellent, to which the response was "Good, my brother in law makes it".
The August party had to be self-chaplained. We managed the rosary together once and the stations of the cross. We arranged a Mass to be celebrated by the curate from Sean Dooley's parish who we met in Lourdes. It went ahead but once again the lateness of a train arrival prevented many from attending. The Mass in English at St Joseph's Chapel everyday at 9.0am turned out to be the key spiritual resource for the group.
George Hills had been able to come to Lourdes this year despite the ill-health of his wife Marie because she was to be looked after at the Princess Alice Hospice. It is with great sadness that I have to record that Marie died a week after George returned from Lourdes. She had been as great a supporter and worker for Our Lady of Lourdes as George himself and had worked as an Hospitaliére of the Acceuil Notre Dame for many, many years. May she rest in peace.
September, Kevin Connolly
Words cannot describe how honoured... nay, humbled..I felt when advised by his Excellency the President that I had been elected in absentia as leader of the September party. This euphoria was short lived however when, having accused a certain Scottish member of the party of unduly influencing my election, he assured me that he and his wife would do their utmost to make life as difficult as possible for me.
Well I am here to say, that contrary to their reputation this couple went far and above the call of duty to make my stewardship as smooth an experience as possible, and for that I thank you both. However all rumours to the effect that I may be nominated as leader for a second term should be ignored.
As usual the majority of the party spent their time at the station and also managed a quick stint at the airport. On most occasions they managed to form an equipe made up of OWs plus 2 or 3 others under the guidance of Jim Larner on the outside and Ian Gordon on the inside of the ambulance. There was only one early start and in the main the work was not too heavy.
Marcel was the Chef de la Gare for the first few days and things ran like clockwork. On Thursday there was a change in the Chef de la Gare and from then on complete chaos was the order of the day. On the Friday there was a train with five ambulances, about 250 sick to load and about ten brancardiers to do the work. Ian formed a three man équipe with Michael and Martin Adams to work inside the ambulances. By that time Ian had injured his back and so adopted a managerial role and delegated the heavy work to his two assistants. They coped admirably. Michael in particular found it a new experience working inside the ambulance learning skills not taught at the école. Maureen Gordon was once again put in charge of the girls at the station and made history by being, so we were told, the first lady to be sent to work with the airport équipe. Isn't it high time that females were actively encouraged by Hospitalite de Lourdes to work alongside males in a more 'physical' role?
Elizabeth Farrugia was once again empowered by virtue of her language abilities and caring manner to work inside the Ladies baths, whilst Ige Ramos and myself were highly visible as 'Masters of the Ceremonies'. In time-honoured tradition the powers that be ignored the new request form and denied Ige his wish to work at the station. Although endowed with a surfeit of Chefs, Ige and I were left to our own devices during our very first day of the blessed Sacrament procession inside Pie X , but as we all know that can be a blessing, and so it proved to be. Common sense is however prevailing in certain quarters, and more and more 'Grotto' masses are being held across the river. Apart from the safety aspect, this also makes it much easier as far as placing the sick people is concerned.
The prize for consistent early mornings must surely go to John Dilger during his work inside the Grotto, and this aside from his formation work for the English speaking stagaires
It would seem that the ubiquitous mobile phone has finally taken over at Lourdes, and one could hardly move without hearing that familiar tone. I had occasion to gently remind one pilgrim of where she was, when I discovered her taking a call whilst walking through the grotto.
Congratulations are due to Michael Adams and Lawrence Ferugia who made their engagement followed by celebrations for friends and invited guests in the Foyer.
Judex Celine claimed the distinction of being the only hospitalier in Lourdes wearing a bronze medal during the week. Sorry Judex, we should have told you. His embarrassment was overcome when he exchanged it for a silver one.
Our group dinner was held at a new venue, and It was agreed that The Albret was a very good choice of restaurant, even if it was a bit of a hike to get there. In time honoured tradition, several friends of Wimbledon were happy to join us in our celebrations. The evening was wound up by a speech from the party leader who kept the assembled company enthralled for almost 3 minutes.
Still on the subject of food, watch out for a new recipe book from the Abri St. Michel entitled '101 ways to cook Dinde'
Thanks are due to Fr. Cyril for his efforts to ensure our spiritual welfare was cared for. It was gratifying to discover that Mass is once again permissible at the station, and duly taken advantage of.
Apologies from your leader, to Michael and Martin Adams, who, due to a breakdown in communications arrived in Lourdes to discover that the promised room keys had not been collected on their behalf. Thank you both for being so gracious about the inconvenience of having to climb over a cubicle in order to secure shelter for the night. I assume that those er..borrowed blankets were duly returned to the hotel.
Finally I would like to thank all party members for their co-operation during this my first and last stint as party leader.
PARTY MEMBERS
Fr. Cyril Elkington, Judex Celine, Michael Adams, Martin Adams, Elizabeth Ferugia, Lawrence Ferugia, Ian Gordon, Maureen Gordon, Jim Larner, John Dilger, Ige Ramos
Kevin Connolly
posted by Steve Rouse at 9:58 PM
Saturday, September 15, 2001
Here is the article I have hurriedly produced for the Wimbledonian for Autumn.
Good luck to its new editor our very own Simon Pinfield.
WIMBLEDON COLLEGE HOSPITALITÉ
OF OUR LADY OF LOURDES
by Stephen Rouse
Lourdes 2001
This year the Hospitalité sent three working groups to Lourdes, if you count Peter Chamberlain and me going by ourselves in early July. Peter nowadays works in Formation (formerly école) and serves on the council for that service. It, in turn, has appointed him as one of the representatives to the Council of the Hospitalité itself. This means that of four Anglophone councillors over the years three have come from Wimbledon, Peter Crane, Georges Hills and Peter Chamberlain. This is a record of which the College can be very proud. Tony Brook and John Dilger also work in Formation along with Georges Hills.
In Lourdes there is always something new. This year Peter and I, seated outside the Café Parvis, realised that the cable car, which had been precariously slung near the top of the Pic de Béout since the telerefique closed some years ago, had been removed. We also saw a nun with white robes and a black wimple, but with a baseball cap perched on top. As far as I could tell she had nothing to do with HCPT.
We also learnt that the Cafe St Honoré, where Wimbledon brancardiers and hospitaliers have spent so much money and well earned leisure since 1923, had been founded in 1920. Returning from Lourdes I looked up St Honoré, but he does not appear to exist - unless, of course, you know better.
More seriously, wheelchair access has now been provided to the Rosary Basilica (that's the one in all the photographs). It has been beautifully and cleverly done by 'bending' the pavement. Inside the Rosary Basilica, at the foot of the right-hand column, there is an inscription which reads:
"Jesus mercy. Immaculate Mother pray for them.
In memory of members of the Sacred Heart Church and
past students of Wimbledon and Stonyhurst Colleges, who
laid down their lives for their country 1914 -1918."
The August Party included Alain Desmier, who had been part of the group of poets who came last year with Gerry Gallen SJ, and his fellow College-leaver Sean Dooley, who is just off to spend his gap year with the Jesuits in India. We were delighted to have them and hope they will keep on coming. Two more of last year's poets group should be mentioned; Edward Bull and Henry Day appeared prominently (but anonymously) in a photograph of brancardiers at work in the Lourdes Hospitalité's French language Bulletin.
August also saw Colin Monteiro make his commitment to keep coming to Lourdes and receive his silver medal. He threw a party afterwards at the Hotel Solitude at which I made the aquaintance of the giraffe. I had been aware of the sizes of beer glass - demi, distingué and formidable, but giraffe, which holds 2.5 litres was a new one on me. Apparently it had been discovered by Colin's fourteen year-old son Craig, though I hasten to add that he was not allowed to drink out of it. In September both Laurence Farrugia, a former teacher at the College, and Michael Adams, father of Martin also received their silver medals followed by a party at the foyer with some Italian friends. News of events at this celebration has yet to leak out.
We heard of the 'Incident of 15 August'. On this day, the Feast of the Assumption, there were some 60,000 people in the Domain when some poor man tried to commit suicide by filling his car with gas canisters and inflammable materials and driving it towards the Grotto. A tragedy was averted by the quick action of four members of what Tony Brook always calls the Temple Guard. They prevented the vehicle from penetrating more than four car-lengths into the Domain and smothered the fire so quickly that none of the gas canisters exploded.
On a much lighter note it was good to hear the following exchange at the loading dock of the Acceuil Notre Dame, "It is unusual to see an English chef." "Well, it is Wimbledon fortnight." I can also report my lucky escape. Invited to drink champagne with the leadership group of the pilgrimage from the Diocese of Rheims, I was asked what I thought of the vintage. I replied that it was excellent, to which the response was "Good, my brother in law makes it".
Fr Cyril Elkington once again acted as chaplain to the September party, and we offer him our thanks. The August party had to be self-chaplained. We managed the rosary together once and the stations of the cross. We arranged a Mass to be celebrated by the curate from Sean Dooley's parish who we met in Lourdes. It went ahead but once again the lateness of a train arrival prevented many from attending. The Mass in English at St Joseph's Chapel everyday at 9.0am turned out to be the key spiritual resource for the group.
George Hills had been able to come to Lourdes this year despite the ill-health of his wife Marie because she was to be looked after at the Princess Alice Hospice. It is with great sadness that I have to record that Marie died a week after George returned from Lourdes. She had been as great a supporter and worker for Our Lady of Lourdes as George himself and had worked as an Hospitaliére of the Acceuil Notre Dame for many, many years. May she rest in peace.
posted by Steve Rouse at 10:09 PM
Friday, January 12, 2001
Here is the webpage of the old Wimbledonians Association
Old Wimbledonians
posted by Steve Rouse at 9:23 PM
AMDG
WIMBLEDON COLLEGE HOSPITALITÉ
NOTRE DAME DE LOURDES
Newsletter - 1/2001 steve.rouse@ukonline.co.uk
www.hospitalite.blogspot.com Phone:01372 372650 Fax:01372 818698
Fr Ignatius St Lawrence
To celebrate the contribution to Wimbledon College and to the Hospitalité of Father Ignatius St Lawrence SJ two things are being organised.
At 6.30pm on Saturday 10 February Mass will be celebrated at the Sacred Heart Church, Edge Hill for the repose of his soul.
It is also planned to produce a booklet of anecdotes and reminiscences about 'Iggy'. Please send your contributions, which should be personal, to me preferably by e- mail to the address above or, if you are not into exciting electrons, to 44 Lower Road, Leatherhead, KT22 9ER.
Committee News
We met on 7 January. So far 7 people have asked for room bookings for August and 9 for September. It was decided to book 12 and 11 respectively and 8 beds for nouveaux in September.
AGM 8pm Friday 30 March at the College
Please do your very best to come as it will start with Mass and low numbers will be very embarrassing. Also we need to reappoint officers and committee members to do the work.
Annual Dinner 7 for 7.30 on Saturday 19 May. Please tell Steve Rouse if you will be coming - details later.
Non-Working Party Tony Brook is to investigate the possibilities for a Hospitalité group within the Raphael Pilgrimage for those not up to active work.
Congratulations to Peter Chamberlain
As already reported Peter has been appointed to the Council of the new Service Acceuil et Formation at Lourdes. That Council has now elected him as one of its two representatives on the Hospitalité Council itself. So, many congratulations Peter! Now two OW's have served on the top council. Peter and George Hills. Fr St Lawrence would have been very proud.
Anticlimax
Just before Christmas I received a large envelope addressed to me in the inimitable style of the Lourdes Hospitalité - they think I live in Lover Road and can't be persuaded otherwise. I wondered what honour was about to be bestowed on me. It turned out to be an advertising brochure for a new kind of lourdes water. Some enterprising soul has opened a splendid new aquarium on the road out towards the airport.
Lourdes News
Another perquisite is the newsletter called Allez Dire! The December edition is headed "On some disputed questions, an acceptable layout for the 2001 season". The main items of news are that the Blessed Sacrament Procession will remain at 5.0pm. It will still begin from the Tent of Adoration, but there will be a choice for sick pilgrims: they can begin the procession from there or can go directly to the Underground Basilica (Pie Dix). On reaching the Crowned Virgin the procession will split into three parts and enter the basilica by different entrances. The Torchlight Procession will be brought forward to 9.0pm.
In addition to the new service of Acceuil and Formation another, Service St Michel, has been set up. This is responsible for physical services such as the Foyer, the workshop and equipment and for accommodation and catering. This may, one day, lead to a more professional organisation of room booking and allocation. We can only hope so.
COME TO THE AGM ON 30 MARCH
posted by Steve Rouse at 9:20 PM
To encourage the production of reminiscences and anecdotes I offer my own.
My first memory of Iggy, as we knew him, involves one of his other great loves - cricket. At the age of eleven I was handed the ball and invited to bowl. As the umpire at the bowler's end he cocked his chin and enquired "Well?". I replied nervously "Err, fast." After my initial delivery he elevated his chin even further and said "I thought you said 'fast'".
Towards the end of the Syntax year he sent for my parents and explained that the College had nothing more they could teach me (well that's how I always tell the story) so I went out into the wide world. A couple of years later, through the bullying of Mike Cave, I joined the OW Sodality and that must have been how in 1959 I came to go to Lourdes with a College Working Party for the first time. It was presided over, in every sense, by Iggy and I came to see him in a very different light. In those days we would go for a fortnight and always had a day off. From '59 to '61 we would take a coach trip to the Pyrenean Lac de Gaube. This was fed from a glacier and while the more classically minded hired the boats on the lake and reenacted the battle of Salamis Iggy always led a group to walk up to the glacier. The direct route involved criss-crossing the icy stream which came out of it. Sometimes there was a wooden bridge but most times we had to wade through. Iggy never took off his shoes and socks to do this but would just stride through. I assumed that Jesuits were forbidden to reveal their naked feet.
By 1962 I had found someone even more exiting with whom to spend the limited amount of holiday time which local government service allowed. (The curious can refer to Luke 14:20.) It was not until 1983 that I started going to Lourdes again because Tony Brook insisted that I had promised to go when next he did. Iggy had mellowed, he had developed a wonderful smile and was kind and gracious to women, as I saw at first hand when Denise started to come with us. Before that one my least distinct memories was a controversy which arose at the special lunch with the Hospitalité president which in those days followed the medal ceremony. Someone, it couldn't have been me could it, was brave enough to assert the merits of whisky as against brandy. We were dragged off to the presidential villa for a field test. The more we tested the more vigorous was the argument with Iggy patriotically maintaining a certain viewpoint. Luckily the contest was brought to an end by the need to go off and organise the afternoon procession. The question remains unresolved.
When I became President of the Hospitalité I took on the job of helping Iggy to get from Tisbury to Lourdes and back. Usually Denise and I would collect him from Woking Station the day before we were to fly and put him up overnight having checked that the marmalade jar was full. The changed catering arrangements in Lourdes were not to Iggy's taste and anyway it was not easy to carry a tray and walk with a stick so Denise became his housekeeper/butler at meal times, plunging into the fray to gather up his order and carrying it for him to the table. We saw him last at Woking Station in September 1999. A traffic accident had delayed our journey from Luton Airport and he missed the 4.0pm train. He insisted that we should not wait with him until the next train two hours later. We found a porter who promised to see him onto the train and Iggy phoned me later in the evening to say that the porter had done his job and that a young man had immediately sprung up and offered his seat though unfortunately next to a noisy group of children whom even the famous tilt of the chin had failed to quell.
When I told Iggy in 1996 that I was going to retire and become a full-time university student his chin came up again and he said "I am sure you will be undertaking your higher education at the right end of your career." It was impossible to win wasn't it. In the Summer of 1999 Denise and I took a short break in Ireland (to recover from the rigours of finals you know.) It was the week when the results were due to come out and arriving home in the small hours I heaved the door open against the great mass of post and hunted through it for my results putting aside for the moment an envelope addressed in Tony Brook's handwriting. After capering round the kitchen for some minutes (because I had got a first, since you ask) I thought how much pleasure it would give me to tell Iggy. Then I opened the letter from Tony - Iggy had died. The best I could do was go to his funeral and tap out the news on his coffin.
posted by Steve Rouse at 9:17 PM
Sunday, December 10, 2000
Here is the link to the College webpage
Wimbledon college
posted by Steve Rouse at 1:11 PM
Wednesday, November 22, 2000
AMDG
WIMBLEDON COLLEGE HOSPITALITÉ
NOTRE DAME DE LOURDES
Newsletter - 3/2001 APRIL steve.rouse@ukonline.co.uk
www.hospitalite.blogspot.com Phone:01372 372650 Fax:01372 818698
ANNUAL DINNER
You have the date in your diary Saturday 19 May 7.0 for 7.30pm. The venue is the 'Haywain' (as last year), Dorking Road, Epsom. Friends and family are welcome. Now I need definite bookings. Please let me know as soon as possible. I will send a menu to those who say they are coming.
PRAYERS PLEASE
Please pray for Marie Hills who is having to spend six weeks in hospital for radiotherapy.
Congratulations
Martin Terrell writes: We had a little girl yesterday morning (10 April) - who weighed in at 6'12 and is a perfect and healthy little babe, to be known for the rest of her life as Sophia Charlotte Maria. It all went very well indeed - apart from a rush to hospital at 3.15 in the morning and the birth at 4 am which was a little quick but the mother is certainly not complaining."
Fr Ignatius St Lawrence
Booklet of anecdotes and reminiscences about 'Iggy'. I have had seven contributions so far and you can find them at
www.stlawrencesj.blogspot.com
NEWS from the AGM
Our financial position is sound. We have about £3,500 and spent around £600 last year.
We need a new secretary now that Dominic Platt is having to spend a long period in
Japan. Any volunteers?
Ed Hills succeeded Peter Chamberlain as vice-president.
James Hatt and Elizabeth and Lawrence Farrugia have joined the Committee.
We agreed that we need to resolve the problem that we take students from the College with us on an unofficial basis, but the Hospitalité in Lourdes will only accept 17 year olds if they are part of an official group with responsible supervisers.
Lourdes Working Parties
The main issue this year is accommodation. As I reported in the last Newsletter each of us now has to make their own booking. Anyone who sent the form to me but has not had a booking confirmation from Lourdes should let me know at once. Anyone who wants to go but has not sent a form should get in touch with me straightaway.
Peter Chamberlain reports that there are to be new arrangements for arrivals after the bureau closes in the evening. A dormitory at St Michel will be kept open and there will also be someone 'on call' contactable by phone.
We have yet to resolve the problem of accommodation for nouveaux because we have to supply names and don't yet know who they may be.
OW Website
The OWs have a website at:
www.owa.org.uk
COME TO THE DINNER ON 19 MAY
My address is 44 Lower Road, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT22 9ER
WIMBLEDON COLLEGE HOSPITALITÉ DE NOTRE-DAME DE LOURDES
President's Report to AGM 23 March 2001
In the last few days I have heard from Martin Terrell, now living in Tonbridge Wells and whose wife is expecting, any day, their third child. He says that it will be a while before he achieves "a Rouse-like" resurrection in Lourdes attendance.
Apart from some eccentric travel arrangements, last year's working parties went very smoothly, though it is disappointing that we have again lost a July group. However, it was very good news to see so many students (7) from the College, together with Gerry Gallen SJ arriving with the September group. I hope those 'old hands' were not too shocked by the displays of energy. I very much hope that some of these 'nouveaux' will come again next year and that others will join them.
Difficulties last year seem to relate entirely to 'signing-in' for both accommodation and duties. For the 'nouveaux' the processes each took two hours in total. This is quite unreasonable. The Lourdes Hospitalité itself has now set up an new 'service' for accommodation and catering - 'Service St Michel' and we have to hope that there will be improvements. The first fruits, however, seem to be a backwards step so far as we are concerned. It is no longer possible to make block-bookings for accommodation; everyone has to complete a form for him or her self (the combined 'Annonce de Stage and Demande d'Hebergement') Both Peter Chamberlain and I have tried unsuccessfully to get us exempted from this rule. In future each of us must fill in this form and I urge you to do it promptly. We will continue to distribute forms, but if a form is not returned we cannot get a room for you. In addition I urge everyone to assume that they will be coming the following year and to complete the form on that basis. Cancellation is penalty-free whereas not having a room will be a problem.
This accommodation problem is resolvable for those of us already committed to working in Lourdes (the solution is in your own hands), but it has considerable implications for recruiting College students as they are often not able to commit themselves until quite late in the year. We will have to see how it works out and can make further representations. However, there is one further problem. The Hospitalité de NDL now wants to insist that stagaires be at least 18 year's old, unless coming with a duly constituted and responsible organisation, eg a school. This is in response to a change in French law. We have always made it clear (for example to parents) that the Lourdes pilgrimage is not an activity organised by the College. For the moment we have decided to operate as we are in England, but as an organisation in France. I think that this will work as long as we have with us a member of the College staff whenever students come too, but I think the Committee must review the position.
On 10 February the 6.30 pm Mass at the Sacred Heart Church was celebrated for the repose of the soul of Fr Ignatius St Lawrence and this was an event organised by the Hospitalité. A considerable number of OWs came from distances to attend and it was followed by a reception at the OW Club attended by about 20 people. He would have been very pleased.
I want to express your thanks to Fr Michael Holman for celebrating Mass for us and for allowing us to use the College as well as for his strong support during the year. Frs Cyril Elkington and John Moffatt deserve our warm thanks for their work as chaplains and Gerry Gallen SJ obviously made a big impression too. As always I want, on your behalf, to thank the Committee for their work and to single out Simon Pinfield whose combined role as Treasurer and Travel officer is especially onerous.
Lastly, I can confirm the date for our annual dinner as Saturday, 19 May, 7.0 for 7.30pm at The Haywain in Epsom (as last year). I will send out menus and a map nearer the date.
Stephen P Rouse
President lourdes/presrep0.1
AMDG
WIMBLEDON COLLEGE HOSPITALITÉ
NOTRE DAME DE LOURDES
Newsletter - Autumn 2000 steve.rouse@ukonline.co.uk
Phone:01372 37265
2000 was another very successful year for the Hospitalité. We learned that trying to run a Pilgrimage in July no longer works and were rewarded by attracting eight nouveaux for September. Their motivation to come on pilgrimage had absolutely nothing to do with missing the first few days of term and they were a splendid group. It shows you just have to get the planning and funding right. Speaking of funding, our capacity to refuse the excuse 'I can't afford it' depends on your generosity. We are not in urgent need, but you never know, so cheques payable to 'Wimbledon College Lourdes Fund' and sent to Simon Pinfield at the College are always welcome.
August Party Report - Dominic Platt
As ever, the couple of days before Lourdes were a mad rush. Luckily things settled down at work and I called Simon Pinfield to say I would be coming and needed to know the travel plans. That’s good. It’ll be an easy trip, said Simon. After all, we’re going on Buzz. Buzz? I spend much of my life on aeroplanes and I have never travelled Buzz. Thirty-six hours later - tired, hungry and a few hundred Francs poorer I realised why. The silver lining was that Steve Rouse had managed to coax our room keys out of the Abri the only person to have any straightforward negotiations with the organisation’ in Lourdes all week so we could at least go straight to bed.
It turned out that we (Simon, Paul Ferro and I) were the second arrivals of the group. Some had arrived the day before; others were to arrive later the same day. In spite of this, the group quickly found its bearings and the majority of us were assigned to work at the station. Station work, as we have come to find in recent years, is not as demanding as it once was. However things were made more interesting by virtue of the building work over the winter. (The old Gare des Malades has been knocked down and replaced by a new Gare in glass, wood and Dome-style fabric.) George Hills summed up the more extreme views by inquiring of our French colleagues whether execution by guillotine was still in force and wondering whether it was not too good an end for those responsible for the new Station. Other opinions were varied not fussed either way, the toilet is something else , a waste of money , where’s the statue? but a lack of practicality and concern for the sick in the planning are probably the main areas for criticism.
The new station aside, the work we did have at the station went well. We were ably assisted by additions to the core team: Chefi from Spain, Geerten from Holland, and last, but not least, Colin and Delphinia Monteiro’s son Craig. .
Away from the station, Fr John Moffat and Colin were on rotating’ équipes, putting us all to shame as they worked three shifts a day, often in the pouring rain; Steve took up his regular post at the Acceuil Nôtre Dame, kept in check by regular visits from Denise; and Tony Brook resumed his role as a formateur, valiantly as it turned out when he was bounced into taking a group of French stagiaires on the footsteps of Bernadette, in French. Fr John must be thanked for the work he put into the spiritual programme. It certainly made me think a little wider than usual and took us beyond the normal programme of Mass, Rosary and Stations. Unfortunately, as has been happening too often in recent years, differing duties made it difficult to do everything as one group, especially Mass. Where we could, we gathered as smaller groups, but even then finding somewhere to meet was difficult.
Extra-curricular activities followed a well-trodden course. We dined en masse at the Hotel Gallia et Londres and drank at the Foyer, the Honoré and the Parvis. (Tony established that Madam does have a name, Marie-Thérèse, and that she has been working au Parvis for 27 years!) The prize for healthy living goes to the station team who once again found time to go swimming between shifts; the prize for eating goes to Craig and Davinia Monteiro for enthusiastically leading a late night feast at the Honoré; and the prize for bravery goes to Colin for asking George at the station (no, not our George) whether he really had worn the same t-shirt all week. As ever, the week went quickly and, before we knew it, people were heading back home.
Just as we had arrived in waves, so we departed. This flexibility of travel arrangements is good from a personal viewpoint, but does have the downside of the group breaking up once the first people leave. That said, those left did have the pleasure of meeting up with the September group for a few hours .
September Party Report - James Hatt
My week began inauspiciously: I arrived in the middle of the night and had to break into a box with the help of two accomplices (whose identity I am sworn to protect) in order to find somewhere to sleep for the night. But once I had claimed my key and met the rest of the party I discovered that it was working very smoothly already without any help from their nominal leader. The party included many old hands who knew exactly what to do without any help from me: the Wimbledon equipe de gare led by Jim and Ian was invariably competent and the nouveaux slotted in to it very neatly whenever their tour of duty took them to the station. Maureen was also up at the station, albeit dealing with the even less glamorous side of things. The changes to the medal system meant that Martin Adams and I received new silver medals at a low-key ceremony, but the week also saw a real celebration for Ige, who performed his genuine acceuil and received the traditional ceremonial kisses of all and sundry. He was certainly the centre of attention at the ceremony on account of the splendidly embroidered (and incredibly uncrumpled) shirt that he wore.The spiritual side of things was overseen by Fr Cyril, who managed to fit in masses for the party around the train timetables. The nouveaux, whose timetable of formation and so on did not always correspond with service de gare, by all accounts received plenty of spiritual sustenance from Gerry. The party was one member short we had regular fax updates from Mario about the problems he encountered in getting to Lourdes from the Philippines. Eventually they proved insuperable, but his efforts were appreciated. Thanks are owing to Kevin Connolly, Michael and Martin Adams, Laurence and Elizabeth Farrugia, Fr Cyril Elkington, Gerry Gallen SJ, Iain and Maureen Gordon, Jim Larner, Ige Ramos and the nouveaux Alain, Ranulph, Ifor, Sam, Adam, Brian, John for all their work.
Fr Ignatius St Lawrence
Among all the changes in Lourdes this year the biggest was the absence of Father Ignatius St Lawrence SJ who died in June. For the first time since he restarted the College Lourdes tradition in 1953, he had told us that he did not feel well enough to come to Lourdes as a chaplain. We had arranged for him to go as a pilgrim with the Stonyhurst Pilgrimage which coincided with our August working party. We had planned to tell him during the pilgrimage that he had been appointed an honorary vice-president of the Wimbledon College Hospitalité and present him with a certificate, but alas, it was not to be. On behalf of the members of the Hospitalité, I must record our very great debt to his vision which has enabled so many of us to reinforce our faith by responding to Our Lady's call.
Memorial services are not the done thing for Js so we are planning to arrange for a Mass for the repose of his soul on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, which next year falls on a Sunday, to be followed by a reception (or, as I am sure he would like us to say, a vin d'honneur). Please do not make any other plans for 11 February 2001 and further details will follow.
A new Service in Lourdes
The dreaded école has now been reformed and replaced by the Service Formation et Acceuil which, to ensure that it is properly organised like the other four Services, has its own Conseil whose members are appointed with the approval of the Bishop of Lourdes and Tarbes. It is a great pleasure to announce that our very own Peter Chamberlain has been appointed to this conseil. Congratulations Peter and bon courage.
Events
To work on our own spiritual commitment the Hospitalité is planning a day retreat in the Spring. To work on our commitment to conviviality we shall be organising a dinner in the early Summer. Details of both to follow.
Fools rushing in Department
I thought I had seen everything, but I should have known better. Arriving late for work at the top of the Acceuil Notre Dame I found a lady in a very powerful electric wheel chair who had just driven it off the Ambulance. Two attendants were fussing over a tube which she clearly wanted to be put into her mouth. It ran from the back of the machine and they had put it round the outside of her arm when it was clear that it would reach only if it went under. I had seen this method of controlling a powered wheelchair before - the owner sucks and blows to control speed and direction. I rushed forward to help. Having settled the tube comfortably I then looked on in amazement as the helpers went round to the back where I suddenly saw that the tube came up into a small, open topped metal box. A helper stuck a cigarette into that end and lit it up. This was my first sighting of an electrically powered mobile hookah.
Steve Rouse,
President
LDS
posted by Steve Rouse at 10:51 PM
Sunday, November 05, 2000
Lourdes September 2000 Party Report
My week began inauspiciously: I arrived in the middle of the night and had to break into a box with the help of two accomplices (whose identity I am sworn to protect) in order to find somewhere to sleep for the night. But once I had claimed my key and met the rest of the party I discovered that it was working very smoothly already without any help from their nominal leader. The party included many old hands who knew exactly what to do without any help from me: the Wimbledon equipe de gare led by Jim and Ian was invariably competent and the nouveaux slotted in to it very neatly whenever their tour of duty took them to the station. Maureen was also up at the station, albeit dealing with the even less glamorous side of things. The changes to the medal system meant that Martin Adams and I received new silver medals at a low-key ceremony, but the week also saw a real celebration for Ige, who performed his genuine acceuil and received the traditional ceremonial kisses of all and sundry. He was certainly the centre of attention at the ceremony on account of the splendidly embroidered (and incredibly uncrumpled) shirt that he wore.The spiritual side of things was overseen by Fr Cyril, who managed to fit in masses for the party around the train timetables. The nouveaux, whose timetable of formation and so on did not always correspond with service de gare, by all accounts received plenty of spiritual sustenance from Gerry.The party was one member short we had regular fax updates from Mario about the problems he encountered in getting to Lourdes from the Philippines. Eventually they proved insuperable, but his efforts were appreciated.Thanks are owing to Kevin, Michael, Martin, Laurence, Elizabeth, Fr Cyril, Gerry, Alain, Ranulph, Ifor, Sam, Adam, Brian, John, Iain, Maureen, Jim and Ige for all their work. A sign of the times: pictures of the September Party may be found on the internet (see below).
James Hatt
New Page 1
posted by Steve Rouse at 3:34 PM
You can, of course, vist the excellent Lourdes website at
Lourdes France official web site
Where you can even use the webcam to see what is going on at the Grotto.
posted by Steve Rouse at 3:22 PM
blogger.com
posted by Steve Rouse at 3:15 PM
Wednesday, October 25, 2000
(This is an article for the Autumn 2000 edition of the Wimbledonian)
WIMBLEDON COLLEGE HOSPITALITÉ
OF OUR LADY OF LOURDES
By Stephen Rouse
Lourdes 2000
After twenty or so pilgrimages to Lourdes I thought I had seen everything, but I should have known better. Arriving a minute or two late for work at the top of the Acceuil Notre Dame I found a lady in a very large and powerful electric wheel chair who had just driven it off the Ambulance which brings people down from the station. Two attendants were fussing over a tube which she clearly wanted to be put into her mouth. It ran from the back of the machine and they had put it round the outside of her arm when it was clear that it would reach only if it went under. I had seen this method of controlling a powered wheelchair before - the owner sucks and blows to control speed and direction. I rushed forward to help. Having settled the tube comfortably I then looked on in amazement as the helpers went round to the back where I suddenly saw that the tube came up into a small, open topped metal box. A helper stuck a cigarette into that end and lit it up. This was my first sighting of an electrically powered mobile hookah.
For the first time for several years there was no College Pilgrimage/Working Party in July (my own excuse was that my wife insisted that I go to my university graduation ceremony even though that meant missing the 14 July fireworks display in Lourdes), however there were two large groups at the end of August and the beginning of September. The latter included eight poets led by Gerry Gallen SJ. These made a big impression and we must hope that many of them have caught the Lourdes habit and will encourage their successors not least by reporting that they were allowed to miss a day of school at the beginning of the Autumn term.
The changes and improvements in Lourdes continue apace. This year it was the turn of the railway station where so many Wimbledonians have worked over the last four generations. The Gare Des Malades has been completely reconstructed with a covered area looking like a series of pavilions and made from 'Dome' material. The station équipe reported that whilst the architect may have won prizes for his design he had clearly not consulted the workers who found that their space for manoeuvre was now less than before and they never did manage to find the telephone on which they were supposed to report the arrival of trains to the two Acceuils (hospitals).
The Lourdes Hospitalité itself has been reorganised so that all four branches have been amalgamated into one and the process of membership has been condensed from eight years to four. The auxiliaire category of membership (bronze medal) has been abolished and after four stages, with compulsory attendance at training (formation) sessions one goes straight to full membership as an hospitalier/hospitalier'. The closure of the old Acceuil Notre Dame building has enabled the Hospitalité to have new and spacious office accommodation to replace the cramped rooms under the right hand ramp to the upper basilica.
Unchanged is the commitment to Wimbledon Pilgrimages of Fathers John Moffatt SJ and Cyril Elkington. We are extremely grateful to them for their work as chaplains especially as this is becoming more and more difficult to organise in Lourdes itself because of the variety of duties, and thus working hours, of our pilgrims. John Moffatt is preparing us for a time when it will not be possible to have our own chaplains and must take responsibility for organising our own spiritual activities.
Finally the biggest change of all was the absence of Father Ignatius St Lawrence SJ who died in June. For the first time since he restarted the College Lourdes tradition in 1953 he had told us that he did not feel well enough to come to Lourdes as a chaplain. We had arranged for him to go as a pilgrim with the Stonyhurst Pilgrimage which coincided with our August working party. We had planned to tell him during the pilgrimage that he had been appointed an honorary vice- president of the Wimbledon College Hospitalité and present him with a certificate, but alas, it was not to be. There is an obituary elsewhere in this edition of the magazine, but on behalf of the members of the Hospitalité, I must record our very great debt to his vision which has enabled so many of us to reinforce our faith by responding to Our Lady's call.
posted by Steve Rouse at 10:19 AM
Monday, October 23, 2000
I
posted by Steve Rouse at 9:27 PM
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