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John Wolff's Book on Brother Michael's Spirituality : "Who Are You Looking For?" Now available on
Archbishop Mark's Homily
5th June 2026
Homily HCPT/ Bro Michael Strode – 5th June 2026,
St David’s Metropolitan Cathedral
I remember going on pilgrimage to Lourdes with a parish group. A travelling family had come with us, and there was among them a young mother of about 20 years of age. We took our first trip to the site of the apparitions and stood on the other side of the river opposite the grotto. You know what it looks like there. There is the site of the apparitions which looks like a cave and the statue of Mary in it. Above the grotto is the towering Gothic-style basilica Church reaching up into the sky. Catching her glimpse of this for the first time, the young mother sighed, “Oh how beautiful, look Mary is holding up the Church”
I think this is what we understand by the Marian dimension or principle in the life of the Church. Holiness for each person is lived in being a disciple like Mary, someone who points us to Jesus. It is something which Bro Michael understood intuitively from his own pilgrimages to Lourdes. Michael had come as a pilgrim to Loudes for the first time in 1951 and it is because he had this sense of Mary's prayer holding up the Church and his desire to participate in this that he brought the first group of children from Chailey in 1954. It was two years later in 1956 that HCPT the Pilgrimage Trust was officially founded. So, it is good to gather today during this 70th anniversary Year.
At the heart of those pilgrimages is this experience that Jesus is close to the little ones and that Mary points to Him, in them. Bernadette in her simple and generous response to the Lord showed the pathway for all Mary's children to discover Jesus more deeply. For us priests and helpers, for all volunteers, it is as St Paul reminds us in the Acts of the Apostles, a chance to begin again, "to demonstrate …..repentance by …..deeds". It is this combination which has proved to be so successful in the Pilgrimage Trust these past 70 years.
It is a fitting moment, too, to reflect more deeply on Br Michael’s life, and now several years after his death, to discern the possible presentation of his case for Canonisation to the Holy See. In making this discernment the Church looks for three things in particular – that the person being considered kept the Catholic faith in an orthodox manner. Secondly, that their life and works manifest something of the heart of the gospel, and thirdly, that there is a prayerful cult of the individual. That last dimension points to a sense among the holy people of God, that this is someone to go to in order to find help in following Jesus Christ.
It seems to me that the first two of these are fairly clear in Bro Michael's life. He professed and lived an orthodox Catholic faith, and in this next period we will examine everything that he has written to be sure this is the case. He clearly lived a life of great virtue, heroic in many ways given his own personal health limitations and the obstacles he encountered. He was an example and inspiration to others to reach out to the little ones. In the last years of his life, when the apostolic work had reached its completion, he gave himself generously to live the Cistercian life on Caldey Island, a life marked by unceasing prayer, personal sacrifices and love of his brethren. It is good to welcome here, among us, Abbot Jan and Fr Simon Peter, form the community. It is a blessing for the Archdiocese to have a Cistercian house of prayer in our local church.
It is the third element which we need to encourage and discern more deeply concerning Br Michael. I remember when I first went on HCPT as a young man. Although Michael was Director, and it was his vision and his inspiration which drove the pilgrimage, he did not take a “high profile” within the charity or indeed on the pilgrimages. Although many of us knew him by name we did not encounter him very much. It was part of how he lived his faith, in a ‘hidden dimension’, to the end. In order for people to call upon his guidance and help, in faith, they need to come to know him.
It seems to me, that this is still the challenge in the discernment of his cause, today. There are a significant number of people who have heard of him, know his story, and are inspired by him. But there are many, many others, even within HCPT, who do not know much about him, and I wonder do they see him, today in their lives, as somebody to go to, for help in faith and in life?
This is why it is good to have this celebration on what would have been Br Michael’s 103rd birthday, so that his story and his inspiration can be more widely known. It is only through such opportunities that many others get to hear about Br Michael, come to know what he did to show others the face of Jesus and help them to experience the love of the Blessed Mother. It is this for which we now pray and hope as we entrust Bro Michael, and all that we do, into the hands of God. For as Br Michael himself said, “It is really God's work”. It is indeed God’s work, and it is this which we desire to celebrate in Br Michael.
+Mark O’Toole
Archbishop of Cardiff-Menevia
CBMC Bulletin - 11 th Edition
Easter 2026
11th CBMC Bulletin FINAL 3 Invitations.pdfCBMC Bulletin - 10th Edition
December 2025
CBMC 10th Bulletin FINAL 8.12.25.pdfCBMC Bulletin - 9th Edition
May 2025
CBMC 9th Bulletin HH October 2025 Retreat Final 20.07.25.pdfMemorial Walk for Brother Michael
In this Jubilee year of ‘Pilgrims of Hope’, we are encouraged to ‘embark on a journey of faith and transformation’. Come and join us (HCPT, CBMC members and others) on a walk in the beautiful Sussex Downs. There will be a stroll (not a sponsored walk) Mass, followed by a buffet.
Memorial Walk Flyer 8.6.25 FINAL .pdf2025 CBMC Retreat to Hosanna House
The 2nd CMBC Hosanna House Retreat - Tuesday 14 to Saturday 18 October 2025
Hosanna House CBMC Retreat Revised Invitation 14 - 18 October 2025.docxCBMC Bulletin - 8th Edition
May 2025
CBMC 8th Edition Bulletin 3 Events (Revised 1.05.25).pdfCBMC Bulletin - 7th Edition
December 2024
CBMC 7th Edition Bulletin HH Retreat FINAL pdf.pdfCBMC Bulletin - 6th Edition
August 2024
CBMC 6th Edition Bulletin Retreats 10.7.24 Final.pdfCBMC Bulletin - 5th Edition
March 2024
CBMC 5th Bulletin Final 8.03.24.pdfCBMC Bulletin - 4th Edition
Feast of the Immaculate Conception, 8 December 2023
CBMC 4th Bulletin (Reviews V2) 4.12.23.pdfCBMC - Chairman's Interim report, August 2023
CBMC Interim Report 2023.docxThe Tablet: Centenary Mass for HCPT’s Brother Michael Strode
An article by Ellen Teague published in The Tablet, 6th June 2023
https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/17193/centenary-mass-for-hcpt-s-brother-michael-strode-
ICN: Celebrating Brother Michael Strode
An article by John Flood, published by the Independent Catholic Network, 5th June 2023
https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/47305
John Wolff's Book - 'Who Are You Looking For?'
A book on the Life and the Spirituality of Brother Michael. For further information and to purchase a copy, the book now has its own dedicated page here.
CBMC Bulletin - 3rd Edition
Centenary Edition, 5th June, 2023.
CBMC Brother Michael 100th Birthday 3rd Bulletin (Final).pdfJune 2023, Catena Article
An update on the cause, published in the Catenian Association monthly magazine, 'Catena'.
CBMC Bulletin - 2nd Edition
Feast of the Immaculate Conception, 8 December 2022.
CBMC 2nd Bulletin 8.12.22 [Printing version].pdfMichael Strode - a saint in the making?
An article by Peter Strode published in The Tablet, 11th August 2022
https://www.thetablet.co.uk/blogs/1/2142/michael-strode-a-saint-in-the-making-
CBMC - Chairman's Interim report, July 2022
Just over a year has passed since, following earlier discussions, the CBMC was formally constituted.
So it seems a good opportunity to report on developments thus far.
CBMC Interim Report July 2022.pdfAn article from the Archdiocese of Birmingham
February 2022, Catena Article
A feature on the cause, published in the Catenian Association monthly magazine, 'Catena'.
Catena February 2022_52PP_AW_Brother Michael Strode (Final).pdfFrom the Catholic Herald
The Catholic Herald has written about the cause here: https://catholicherald.co.uk/campaign-begins-to-recognise-michael-strode-m
From the Independent Catholic News
An article from Nov 28th, 2021, in the Independent Catholic News https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/43556
CBMC Bulletin - Inaugural 1st Edition
Feast of the Immaculate Conception, 8 December 2021.
Please click the arrow in the top-right corner to see at full size.
CBMC Bulletin 8.12.2021 (3).pdfA Portrait of Brother Michael
With grateful thanks to artist Colin Bentley, here is the captivating portrait, commissioned by HCPT, of its founder, Brother Michael.
On seeing the picture at the launch Mass, Colin writes, ‘It was quite overwhelming sitting there looking at the portrait that’s hung in my studio for the last few years. I feel deeply proud that I’ve played a small part in this very special occasion. It’s made me realise that the portrait will still be part of that amazing journey way beyond my lifetime. It’s something I feel deeply proud of.’
Portrait of Brother Michael Strode Oil on canvas,
40 by 50cm Artist – Colin Bentley © 2021 Colin Bentley
PRESS RELEASE - 29th November 2021
The founder of a charity that has helped many thousands of children and adults with
disabilities to visit the shrine to Our Lady in Lourdes is the subject of a call for
testimonials that could lead to his being declared a saint.
On Tuesday 7 December, Archbishop Leo Cushley of St Andrews and Edinburgh
celebrated a Mass at Our Lady of Victories Church, Kensington to mark the start of a
process that it is hoped will lead to the canonisation of Brother Michael Strode, a
Cistercian monk of Caldey Abbey: the launch of a website of the Committee for Brother
Michael’s Cause (CBMC) and the beginning of an appeal for testimonials that could
support the Cause.
Brother Michael died on 27 December 2019, aged 96. He is perhaps best known, to
Catholics in the UK and beyond, as the founder of HCPT, the charity that for more than
65 years has organised pilgrimages to Lourdes for people with disabilities.
Richard King, the Chairman of CBMC, said: “In his devotion to the care of disabled
children and adults, Brother Michael was living out his love of humanity, firmly rooted
in his deep spiritual life. If the Cause succeeds, a modern-day saint would be a
tremendous example of love and service for the Catholic Church in Britain.”
Born in 1923, Michael Strode became a Catholic in 1945. Trained as a doctor, in 1953
he was appointed to Chailey Heritage, a hospital school for disabled children in
Sussex, where he remained until his retirement in 1988.
In 1956 he founded the charity now known as HCPT (Hosanna House and Children’s
Pilgrimage Trust). He insisted that disabled children be accommodated not in austere
hospitals but in small ‘family’ groups in hotels, so they could live their week (a ‘holiday
with Our Lady’) with their helpers - an idea that in the 1970s was extended to disabled
adults. A great number of young helpers have, over the years, learned to give
themselves to others and so actively participate in the Church and the wider
community. This inspired approach has been copied by many other pilgrimages.
In 1991 he joined the island community of Cistercian monks at Caldey. Here he lived
a monastic life of prayer until in 2016 his health declined and he spent his last years at
Nazareth House, Cardiff.
The Abbot of Caldey, Father Daniel van Santvoort said: “As a monk, his existence
became a life sacrificed to God, to his brothers, to all his friends and family in a life of
silence, prayer, service and dedication. This step certainly did not change him, in fact,
it was grace at work in him that brought out his unique humanity for everyone to see –
the beam of laughter and joy in his eyes, his ability to welcome life in a pure, childlike
way, and a great sense of fun that is (almost) inimitable.”
Notes to editors
1. For further details please contact secretary@brothermichaelstrode.org
This project has been instigated by the Committee for Brother Michael’s
Cause (CBMC), a group of people who have been inspired by his humility, his
Christian witness and his holy life.
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