(A Hundred thousand welcomes)
On Friday evening 2rd March 2012, Our Lady in the form of the Pilgrim Mother Auxiliar, touched down on British soil when she landed at Heathrow airport for the connecting flight to Glasgow. Our Lady, our soon to be crowned Queen, was able to quietly bless the whole of the British Isles as she silently and hidden flew on her journey to the Shrine here at Campsie Glen.
Divine providence had so organised it that the Auxiliar Pilgrim would arrive as the prayers in the Original Shrine were for the people and movement in Scotland. This was a tangible sign of God's and Our Lady's care for us, Our Lady had truly come on pilgrimage to us and we felt united to the original shrine in a very special way. On Saturday Sr.M.Margareta witnessed a most beautiful rainbow above the Campsies and our centre, the sign of the Covenant. Could we not have a better confirmation that the prayers in the original shrine and around the world had been heard? That the visit of The Auxiliar Pilgrim mother will be blessed!
It was on Sunday 4th that we officially welcomed Our Lady to Scotland with the Gaelic greeting "Ceud Mille Failte, which translates as a hundred thousand welcomes. We may have been small in number but this simple, warm greeting radiated from all hearts. Even the weather welcomed Our Lady.
It was a glorious sunny afternoon as we carried The Pilgrim Mother in procession to the Shrine, somewhat reminiscent of the blessing of the Shrine as the sun shone brightly onto the Auxiliar Pilgrim Mother
Once we were all gathered in the shrine and Our Lady was enthroned in the sanctuary we could commence with our devotion. As it was the 1st Sunday of the month, Mary and John Wallace gave us a brief presentation on the MTA picture and a short reflection on the Pilgrim Mother. Afterwards Sr.M.Margareta taught us the new Pilgrim Mother hymn which we were to sing throughout the devotion.
During the devotion we were able to greet Our Lady as Queen of the all the countries of Europe where she had visited or was still to visit.
It was also the occasion for the sending out of a new Pilgrim Mother and so Frank McCoid prayed his coordinators prayer and received the Pilgrim Mother to take to the people in Knightswood.
A special atmosphere permeated the Shrine. It was a joyous, prayerful and a grace filled time. It was one of those rare occasions when no one noticed that the devotion was much longer than normal (over an hour) it was a blessing and an honour to be there. One could really feel the presence of Our Lady, she had truly come to visit us with her Son and impart many blessings. With St. Peter we too want to say "it is good for us to be here..."
The Pilgrim Mother travelled to Ireland on 9th March, returning on the 15th and will remain in Scotland until the end of April. On April 22rd we will be holding a Pilgrim Mother Rally day here at the Shrine and his Eminence Cardinal O'Brien will attend. All are welcome.

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