Tomorrow night, in Batley, it’s the annual torchlight procession. This historic
tradition, sometimes called the "Lourdes of the North," brings
together the Catholic community of Batley and surrounding areas in a display of
faith and devotion to the Virgin Mary.
The first I ever saw of it, I was 11 years old. There were hundreds of people walking
past our maisonette, each with a candle glowing in a paper holder. They sang,
or chanted“Ave Maria.” The line of
reverential people went on, in the cold Autumn night, for almost half an hour.
My own family was not religious. I’d been to a protestant church two or three times in my childhood, and a Catholic church never. I had never seen churchy people outside a church or churchyard, and the effect on me was much like that of a somehow unsuspecting local of seeing the Padstow ‘Obby Oss come past unexpectedly. To my eyes, it was a “folk tradition” of people venerating an unfamiliar entity – a Wicker Man scenario, but reversed, as I was the pagan, and they were the Christians. (And, as far as I know, they didn’t barbecue anyone afterward.) There are many Festivals of Light at this time of year, and now, fifty years later, I can slot the procession in as one of these – comparable with Diwali, held this year on October 31st, Imbolc and Kwanzaa. It’s one thing to read about it in a book, quite another to see people enacting it on your literal doorstep.
The
procession was kicked off in 1951 by the
arrival at St. Mary’s of Father Gallon, lately of St. Patrick’s Sheffield.
The event is still organized by St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church on Cross
Bank Road and has become a significant part of Batley's cultural and religious
calendar.
The procession begins at St Mary's Catholic Primary School
and wends its way to St Mary of the Angels Church. This route through the
streets of Batley creates a river of light and sound. The sight of hundreds of
flickering flames moving through the streets is visually stunning and moving
for spectators and participants alike.
Like many public events, the Batley Torchlight Procession went into hiatus due to the pandemic. The 2022 procession marked a triumphant return, with the community embracing the opportunity to participate in this august tradition.
