The annual St Helier's Day pilgrimage may in future contain some of the elements of this year's Millennium celebrations organised by Christians Together of Jersey.

Yesterday crowds of Islanders and many visitors from France took part in this year's pilgrimage to mark St Helier's Day Feast Day.

This year the customary pilgrimage was augmented by the weekend of mediaeval mystery plays staged in various outdoor locations.

The co-ordinator of the weekend celebrations, Roman Catholic Deacon the Rev Iain MacFirbhisigh, said that he was delighted with the success of the weekend. He hopes that parts of this year's programme will be repeated in future years, to make the annual commemoration of St Helier's Day a broader and more popular event.

Among those leading the pilgrimage this year was the Roman Catholic Bishop of Portsmouth, the Rt Rev Crispian Hollis, the Lieut-Governor, General Sir Michael Wilkes, and the Dean, the Very Rev John Seaford.

Following 'Hosanna Rock', a musical nativity staged in the People's Park, the pilgrimage made its way across the causeway to Elizabeth Castle, where the concluding representations of the Biblical dramas were staged in the courtyard area of the castle.

The area was crowded with Islanders who had participated in the pilgrimage. After the concluding Crucifixion sequence of the plays, the Bishop proclaimed the Resurrection.

The afternoon ended with a rendition of the life of St Helier, performed in drama and mime. Music was provided by the Salvation Army Band and by a choir from the Jersey Federation of Women's Institutes.

JEP 17/7/2000

R'tou à la page d'siez-mé | Back to home page

E-mail: geraint@societe-jersiaise.org