“Yet the face was different from that on which the priest had gazed so often in Portugal, in Rome, in Goa and in Macau. It was not Christ whose face was filled with majesty and glory; neither was it a face made beautiful by endurance to pain; nor was it a face with strength of a will that has repelled temptation. The face of the man who then lay at his feet was sunken and utterly exhausted…The sorrow it had gazed up at him as the eyes spoke appealingly: “Trample! Trample! It is to be trampled on by you that I am here.”

The above is a passage from Silence by Shusaku Endo, one of the most remarkable novels I have ever read. If you haven’t read it, beg, steal or borrow a copy, or better still go out and buy it. Reading Silence brought home to me how fortunate and pampered most of us are today in the Western World, obsessed with materialism and our own ‘rights’ (generally our material rather than human rights). The passion and suffering of Christ were brought home to me when I was in Turin two weeks ago with my Catholic Parish from Baldock, and waited patiently with thousands of other pilgrims for nearly three hours to Venerate the Holy Shroud. I was amazed how ladies of 87 years were able to wait for their turn without complaint and then, footweary but fulfilled trudge back to the hotel where we were staying. Our visit to the Shroud Museum the next day gave us a wonderful insight into the make-up and history of the Shroud. If it is a medieval fake, the so-called fakers would have had to be the cleverest human-beings who ever inhabited this planet, such is the recent consensus among scientific experts who have re-analysed all the evidence, some of which was not available during the 1998 carbon-dating.

More on the suffering of Christ : our first groups of pilgrims have returned from witnessing the Passion Play at Oberammergau and have reported that it was a stunning experience and, for some, a “life changing experience”. We were blessed that on the days many travellers were unable to fly because of the ash-cloud, all of our flights were able to take off and land on schedule! Divine intervention?

It therefore came as a surprise to me, when I received a few letters from people who had witnessed the stunning Passion Play, complaining that they had not had a mini-bar in their hotel room, or that they had to walk across the street to use the swimming pool! I am certainly not without fault myself in appreciating material things (Oui, je suis un grand pecheur, aussi,) but, my young staff have been working round the clock to ensure the well-being of our pilgrims. Some of them even stayed up all night, working on a contingency plan to bring everyone back should their flights have been grounded. Fortunately this proved to be unnecessary, but I am proud of my staff. They work three times as hard as the pampered, striking BA cabin crew for less than half of their pay.

That was my rant! Having said this, Pax Travel will continue to do everything to look after the welfare of its pilgrims. This is always first and foremost in our minds, and is why 70% of clients are first, second or third time pilgrims, and many of them we regard as friends. Hopefully it is also one of the reasons Pax was voted best religious tour operator for 2009.

The other Passion Play is being performed in the stunningly-beautiful setting of Sordevolo, north of Turin. I am flying out to join the Pax group, guided by Judith Dean and Maddie Holmes, and will witness the play on Sunday July 4^th. The last date on which Pax has availability for Sordevolo is Saturday 11^th September on our short tour lasting from 9^th – 12^th September which will be based in the mountain sanctuary of Oropa, (which contains one of the five Black Madonnas in Europe). There are just a few more places remaining on this tour, a bargain at £599!

Also highlighted on our website are our autumn pilgrimages, which include two tours to Syria, and several to the Holy Land, as well as visits to Lisieux, Fatima, Rome and Assisi, and the Franciscan Sanctuaries of the Rieti Valley (Greccio, Rieti, Spoleto, Fonte Colombo).

We would love you to join us on one of our autumn pilgrimages. For anyone who has visited Oberammergau with Pax Travel during the summer of 2010 we will offer a £60 reduction on the quoted prices. Why not contact us for a check on dates and availability?

On a more humble note, a sincere thank you to all of you who are travelling on a Pax pilgrimage this year. We appreciate your custom, and if you are happy with our arrangements, we are delighted. If you are not so happy we will try to remedy this!

Best wishes to all.

Philip Dean.

Thank goodness our prayers have been answered and the latest volcanic ash cloud has moved away. I know that this a grey area (no pun intended), but I sincerely hope that the regulatory authorities in UK and Europe, together with our new government (HOPEFULLY!) and the airlines and travel trade can work out a more proactive way of dealing with this situation in the future. None of us are able to predict the direction that future volcanic ash will take. At least the authorities seem to be listening to recommendations from the manufacturers of aircraft engines rather than simply the burbling of bureaucrats! We have been talking to other AITO operators and travel insurers, and are trying to incorporate events such as disruption caused by volcanic ash flows into insurance cover, but Rome was not built in a day, so for the present it be a wing and a prayer and a seat of your pants job.

Talking of Italy, I am off to Turin tomorrow with our Catholic Parish group from Baldock. As well as viewing the Holy Shroud of Turin, we will also be visiting place associated with St John Bosco, as well as the shrine of Our Lady of Consolation. More about that when I return.

Bookings are now coming in for the packages we are offering in Birmingham and Oxford for the Papal visit and the Beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman on September 19^th. If you are thinking of bring a group, and would also like tickets for The Dream of Gerontius on Saturday 18^th, then do not hesitate to get in contact with us.

We also have space on our pilgrimages to Mexico, Syria, The Holy Land, Turkey, Rome & Assisi, and the Franciscan Sanctuaries of the Rieti Valley this Autumn.

Philip Dean