Father Louis Orfila organized a pilgrimage to Lourdes in the summer of 1954. The pilgrimage would comprise of H.L. Bishop Fitzgerald and 70 pilgrims.

En route by train, as it was about to pass by Puente Genil, Cordoba -Spain, there was a forceful ‘bang’ followed by a sudden halt. Carriages tilted with luggage cases dropping off the racks onto the passengers. The train had derailed! There were fatalities and injured. Passengers began to get off the train, albeit with some difficulty because of the carriage’s derailed angle. The fear was that another approaching train could cause another catastrophe. The pilgrims helped each other. Father Orfila bravely went to the assistance of the dying and wounded. Bonfires were lit to provide light and warmth. It was at this point that it dawned on the pilgrims that they themselves could also have been casualties. Because of an oversight by the station-master in Algeciras, the carriage where the pilgrims were to travel in was placed at the end, not in its proper place. A special emphasis on thanking Our Lady for her protection developed as a major objective for the pilgrimage to Lourdes.

On return from pilgrimage, Bishop Fitzgerald organized a thanksgiving torchlight procession towards St. Joseph’s Parish Church, being the Church nearest to the Shrine at Europa Point –the military were still using the true home where the statue belonged. The statue remained at St. Joseph’s for many years.