A French couple, Gerard and Camille, had two sons who could neither walk nor talk, nor have any real contact with their parents. In 1968, the family wanted to join their diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes. Because the boys were so disabled, the family was not accepted.

So they made the journey themselves. Their hurt increased when at Lourdes itself the hotel management asked them not to bring the boys into the dining room and when they heard people say. "When people have children like that they should keep them at home."

THE EXPERIENCE OF JEAN VANIER

Later on, they met Jean Vanier and Marie-Helene Mathieu and told them of the pain they had felt. Jean Vanier had often made pilgrimages with disabled people. He had been struck by their immediate response to all the signs that speak to the heart-water, light, processions. This sensitivity had bonded them together on the journey.

OUT OF PAIN, PEACE AND HOPE

The idea came to organize a pilgrimage especially for intellectually disabled children and young people and adults. At Easter 1971 twelve thousand people spent three wonderful days in Lourdes, which transformed into a place of peace and joy.

PEOPLE WITH A DISABILITY ARE A GIFT

Out of this miracle of the heart, parents discovered that their child could be a source of peace and joy. The disabled realized that this was all for them, that it was they who were the cause of the joy of this great crowd. Young helpers received more than they gave.

A CHALLENGE FROM - JEAN VANIER

On the last day of the pilgrimage Jean Vanier summed up what everybody was feeling, when he said to the community leaders.. "What has been given to us at Lourdes is so great, it is such a precious gift, that we do not have the right to let it be buried now."

When the pilgrims returned home, they continued to meet regularly and Faith and light communities began to multiply.

THE SPREAD OF FAITH AND LIGHT

In 1975 a second international pilgrimage brought the groups together in Rome, a third and a fourth in Lourdes in 1981 and 1991. There are more than 1000 Faith and Light communities throughout the world, WITH 16 in Australia. The bond that unites them all is the Risen Jesus himself He gives Fait