The annual Oblate pilgrimage to Lourdes is both the origin and mainstay of the Oblate Youth Service (OYS). Around 95 of us travel to Lourdes each year to become part of the Oblate team that helps to care for the over 120 invalids (our guests) each September. As a service, we join the team of professional and non-professional doctors, nurses and helpers to provide care and companionship to the guests during their week. 

The origins of the OYS can be traced to the 1987 Oblate pilgrimage, however the pilgrimage itself (and the involvement of young members of the Oblate family) stretches back long to 1883. Unlike the short two-hour flight from Dublin of today’s trip, the days of the ‘overland trip’ involved an arduous three-day journey involving a ferry from Dublin to Holyhead, train to London, another train to the port, a train from the ferry to Paris and a final train journey to Lourdes – the Paris-Lourdes train taking 20 hours alone.