SCOTTISH GRANDPARENTS PILGRIMAGE A ‘FAMILY AFFAIR’!

The President of the Catholic Grandparents Association, Máire Printer, is in Scotland this week, ahead of our inaugural Grandparents Pilgrimage on Sunday, August 21st.   Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto in Carfin is the venue for this unique event.  Mass will start at 2.00pm followed later in the afternoon by the Rosary and Blessing of the…

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HUNDREDS OF HAPPY PILGRIMS ATTEND PILGRIMAGE IN AYLESFORD.

Hundreds of people attended the inaugural Catholic Grandparents Pilgrimage in Aylesford Priory on Saturday July 16th 2011.  The event, though dampened by some inclement weather, failed to dampen the spirits of pilgrims on what many people described as an inspirational and uplifting day.  The event was organized by an inter-diocesan committee from the Archdiocese of…

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60th Anniversary of the Pope’s Priestly Ordination.

Blessings on Pope Benedict today – 60th anniversary of his priestly ordination.  Comhghairdeas!  Today is also the feast day of St Peter & St Paul. An extract from a poem in today’s Divine Office readings for St Peter & St Paul: “Rejoice, O Rome, this day; thy walls they once did sign With princely blood,…

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People of the Year award for founder

A Co. Mayo grandmother, the driving force behind the world’s first national Catholic Grandparents Association, has been honoured in a prestigious People of the Year awards scheme. And now Catherine Wiley hopes the Rehab Mayo People of the Year accolade will help the Association “reach into every parish in Ireland, so that we can support…

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10,000 Irish grandparents inspire worldwide movement

Over 10,000 Irish grandparents, who attended the National Grandparents’ Pilgrimage in Knock in September, have kick-started a worldwide movement of grandparents – and, next month, over 1m Catholics will hear from a Co. Mayo grandmother about how it all came to pass. Following the phenomenal success of Pilgrimage, the Vatican has now announced plans to…

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Irish pilgrimage inspires Pope to write new world prayer

Over 4,000 Irish grandparents, who attended the first-ever National Grandparents’ Pilgrimage in Knock Shrine last year, have inspired Pope Benedict XV1 to write a new prayer in honour of grandparents all over the world – and it will be given its first recital ever in Knock next Sunday. Following the success of the pilgrimage last…

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Hunt is on for 10,000 prayers

Grandparents all over Ireland have been asked to put pen to paper and compile a whopping 5,000 prayers in honour of their grandchildren. An appeal has been sent out to children to writer a prayer in honour of their grandcildren as part of a unique event for grandparents, and the organisers hope to reach a…

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Grandparents day in Mayo school

Primary school children all over Co. Mayo are set to receive special visitors to their schools – their own grandparents. A grandmother is spearheading a campaign to establish Grandparents’ Day in the county’s primary schools, and already it has been backed by former Rose of Tralee Aoibhinn Ni Shuilleabhain. Under the novel scheme, grandparents will…

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Irish grandmother inspires the world

A Co. Mayo grandmother who ran Ireland’s first-ever National Grandparents’ Pilgrimage last year has inspired church leaders in countries around the world to run similar pilgrimages, following her address to a high-powered Vatican Council last week. Catherine Wiley, a native of Castlebar who lives in Murrisk, outside Westport, said she was “very moved and humbled”…

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Grandparents nationwide to be celebrated

It is said that the greeting card people Hallmark invented ‘Mother’s Day’ and ‘Father’s Day’ as a money-spinner. Seems like they never thought of the possibilities of a ‘Grandparent’s Day’ though. The first-ever National Grandparents Pilgrimage will take place on Saturday, September 22nd, at Knock Shrine, Co. Mayo this year. The unique event was inspired…

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Dana Statement

I am delighted to have been asked to be a part of the first National Grandparents Pilgrimage. I am not a grandmother myself yet but I had a very close relationship with my own grandmother Nellie Sheerin. She came to Amsterdam with me, and my mother, when I travelled to Amsterdam for the Eurovision in…

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Irish grandparents to be honoured with new pilgrimage

Ireland already has a Mother’s Day and a Father’s Day, but now a Co. Mayo grandmother has launched a campaign to honour grannies and grand-dads and grandfathers – and the goal is to gather the largest collection of prayers ever assembled in the country. Catherine Wiley, who left Castlebar for London in her teenage years…

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