Lourdes · 13–18 July 2026
Luke 1 : 28
Nottingham Diocesan Catholic Youth Service
“Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee” Luke 1:28 — our anchor line for the week
“Pray, hope, and don’t worry.”St Padre Pio
Everything you might want to pray during the week, in one place.
A decade step by step, and this week’s mysteries
A way to hand the day over before it starts.
“So Lord, what today are you and I going to do together?”Bishop Patrick
The Angelus honours the Incarnation by commemorating the angel’s greeting to Mary and her free acceptance of her destined role in the salvation of mankind. It is traditionally said at 6am, noon, and 6pm.
The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.
And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.
Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, mother of God,
pray for us sinners
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
Be it done unto me according to thy word.
Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, mother of God,
pray for us sinners
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
And the Word was made flesh.
And dwelt amongst us.
Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, mother of God,
pray for us sinners
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray.
Pour forth, we beseech thee, O Lord, thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ thy Son was made known by the message of an angel, may, by his passion and cross, be brought to the glory of his resurrection. Through the same Christ our Lord,
Amen.
Luke 1:46–55 — Mary’s song.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Hail, holy Queen, mother of mercy,
our life, our sweetness, and our hope.
To you do we cry,
poor banished children of Eve.
To you do we send up our sighs
mourning and weeping in this vale of tears.
Turn, then, most gracious Advocate,
your eyes of mercy towards us;
and after this exile
show us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.
Salve, Regína, mater misericórdiæ;
vita, dulcédo et spes nostra, salve.
Ad te clamámus, éxsules, filii Evæ.
Ad te suspirámus, geméntes et flentes
in hac lacrimárum valle.
Eia ergo, advocáta nostra,
illos tuos misericórdes óculos
ad nos convérte.
Et Iesum, benedíctum fructum ventris tui,
nobis post hoc exsílium osténde.
O clemens, o pia, o dulcis Virgo María.
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Your love.
Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created.
And You will renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray.
O God, Who did instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us in the same Spirit to be truly wise, and ever to rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
“Jesus, what do you want me to know?”
“What am I grateful for?”
“What do I need?”
For Wednesday night’s Reconciliation Service: walk through the Ten Commandments and ask yourself each question honestly.
Adapted for young people from “A Brief Examination of Conscience Based on the Ten Commandments”, © 2013 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
For Wednesday night’s Reconciliation Service — either of these.
Lord Jesus, Son of God,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart.
In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good,
I have sinned against you
whom I should love above all things.
I firmly intend, with your help,
to do penance, to sin no more,
and to avoid whatever leads me to sin.
Our Savior Jesus Christ suffered and died for us.
In his name, my God, have mercy.
Drawn from the Sanctuary of Lourdes’ theme for 2026: the year of the Annunciation.
This year Lourdes begins a three-year journey through Mary’s story in Luke’s Gospel, and we’re there for the very first step.
Mary was young, probably a teenager, in Nazareth, a town nobody rated. She didn’t know the future and had no map. What she had was:
God doesn’t force anyone. He invites.
And “full of grace” wasn’t a reward. Pope John Paul II called it “Mary’s name in the eyes of God”: loved completely before she had done a single thing. So are you.
“O Virgin, hasten to answer. Speak the word for which earth, hell and heaven are waiting.”St Bernard, on the moment before Mary replied
One yes, from one young woman, and everything changed.
On 25 March 1858, the feast of the Annunciation, Mary gave Bernadette her name here: “I am the Immaculate Conception.” Bernadette was fourteen, poor, and couldn’t yet read or write. She kept showing up at the Grotto, and kept her yes going when almost nobody believed her.
That’s why Lourdes is called a living extension of the Annunciation. This week you’re not reading that story. You’re standing in it.
God still calls people. Mostly not with angels; more often it is “a call whispered in our hearts”. A whisper is easy to miss in a loud life. That’s what this week is for.
What is God calling me to do with my life?
Carry it with you this week, and try the year’s three words on it:
welcome: what is God offering me that I never asked for?
listening: what keeps coming back when everything goes quiet?
yes: what would I say yes to if I trusted him completely?
You don’t need the whole map. Mary didn’t have one. One honest yes is enough to begin.
The Sanctuary of Lourdes’ 2026 meditation, in full (PDF)
Lost, hurt or worried? Contact a leader first. You are never a bother.
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Erin Doughty
Director, NDCYS
“Man cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself.”St John Paul II
One team is always on shift for our pilgrims. Two teams, half a day each: clear start, clear finish.