As the feast of Don Bosco fell on a Saturday this year the South London Salesian Cooperators decided to make a mini pilgrimage to one of the earliest reminders of the Salesian presence in Great Britain. They visited the grave of one of the first Salesian priests to arrive in London, sent by Don Bosco from Turin. He was a young Irishman, Edward McKiernan, whom Don Bosco described as a very saintly young man when he was clothed as a Salesian at the Oratory. He was not destined to live long when he arrived in Battersea, contracting tuberculosis and dying at a small House in Trott Street (26) on which the Salesian Parish church now stands. He was young, generous and ready for the challenge. His death was a huge setback to the establishment of the Salesians in Great Britain.

So, as part of the cooperator 's commitment to look back and reflect on their roots during their 150^th anniversary, our group travelled a short distance to Mortlake on the river Thames. There, in a small quiet parish church, they gathered at Fr Edward McKeirnan's grave to pray. This gave us a direct link to Don Bosco. Edward was the leader of the last mission he sent from Turin, and we felt the connection through time to Don Bosco's work, especially in London. After prayers at the grave, we were able to celebrate Don Bosco's mass in the parish church. Fr Adrian, the parish priest of St Mary Magdalene in Mortlake, explained that his graveyard was one of the few in London in the early 19^th century where Catholics could be buried and we saw other graves of Catholic religious close to Edward McKiernan's.

This early death of one so young reminds us today that our call to Salesian living is always going to be a challenge and not without its setbacks. Our 150^th anniversary is a time to refocus our commitment to the challenges of the Salesian mission today.

Thanks to Fr David O'Malley SDB for the text and photographs