Worshippers from St Hilda's, Cross Green, Leeds walked in the footsteps of saints on a visit to Lindsfarne, thanks to a generous grant.
17 candidates who have received the Sacrament since Father Darren Percival arrived in the parish in 2016, were amongst 53 parishioners who made the day trip, with the help of a generous grant from the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament.
The starting point was the church’s East window, which is full of English saints and martyrs, particularly the Northern saints of Aidan, Oswald, Cuthbert, Bede and Hilda.
After all the weekends of some good weather, storms were forecast, but it did not deter anyone. On reaching Lindisfarne, instead of saying Mass in the Priory ruins as hoped, the wet weather provision saw them move into S. Mary’s church (pictured left)
"From there they took the coastal route to Seahouses where the children were blown away by Bamburgh Castle, for none of them had ever seen a real castle," said St Hilda's churchwarden, Felicity Greenfield.
"One young boy talked about the sheep, horses and cows that he saw out of the window.
"He had never seen them in real life, only pictures in books.
"The day finished at Seahouses, in the rain and storms, but that was never going to put anyone off and the children still went in the sea and the rock pools," Felicity said.
Cross Green is one of the poorest and most deprived parishes in the country and where many parishioners are asylum seekers, single mothers or struggling to find work.