Remembering Lourdes Before the Floods

In about three weeks’ time, we leave on pilgrimage to Lourdes. Just ten days ago flash floods - the worst for a century - devastated much of Lourdes, leaving the national Shrine under several feet of mud and debris, and many hotels and businesses severely damaged. The mayor of Lourdes said the damage ran into “tens of millions of Euros” and the clean-up operation could take months. (Lourdes is the second-biggest hotel site in France with six million visitors a year).

            I will report on the situation when we get there but, in the meantime, I thought you might enjoy this report from last year’s pilgrimage to Lourdes.

*************************************************************************

            My wife and I made our first pilgrimage to Lourdes this year, joining the more than 700 travellers from Arundel & Brighton Diocese. We decided to travel as able pilgrims, not sure if we were fit enough to act as helpers. Apart from a weekend pilgrimage to Paris earlier this year in the company of some wonderfully caring and spiritual sisters from the Vincentians in Partnership spirituality group, our prior pilgrimage experience was virtually zero.
            We flew to Toulouse in the company of seven friends from Brighton. Three of our group used wheelchairs and it was good to see how practiced and helpful the Easyjet staff were. 

 

 

             Despite thirty years of intensive international travel, I had never before seen a hotel’s owners and waiting staff greet travellers with laughter, hugs and squeals of joy. But L’Europe is no ordinary hotel. It is one of ten hotels (out of the 270 or so in Lourdes) used by A&B Diocese to house its pilgrims. It has a well-earned reputation for friendliness and spirituality. Our bedroom had two religious pictures and a crucifix on the wall, and outside in the second-floor corridor were displayed dozens of holy prints and paintings – plus a complete set of Stations of the Cross - while statues of saints lined the staircase to the ground floor.  
     
            On arriving we received the Lourdes Pilgrim’s Handbook, which was an indispensible guide to the week’s activities, scheduling daily masses, rosaries, Ways of the Cross, reconciliation and healing services, processions, visits to the Baths, a presentation by the Redshirts - and even hotel parties! Thankfully, the events were optional and we were counselled not to do more than we were capable of; wise advice, as, one afternoon, exhausted, we stumbled into bed and only staggered out three hours later determined not to miss the four-course dinner with its wonderful French sauces.

            Arriving about ten in the evening on the first night, we hastily unpacked and made our way through the crowded streets towards the Domain, the area surrounding the Grotto, just a 15 minute walk from our hotel. There were dozens of small shops lining the way, every one still open, and almost every one selling religious objects, from small plastic water bottles in the shape of the Blessed Virgin to huge candles for several hundred Euros. Hundreds of pilgrims were milling about, shopping and processing, there were quite a few wheelchairs and many helpers wore old-style nurse’s uniforms. However, shop staff complained that it was much quieter than usual; they said numbers of pilgrims were significantly down - especially the Italians, allegedly the best spenders - due to the Euro crisis.

            Entering the Domain, we immediately left the profane and noisy world for sacred ground. The sound levels fell dramatically, the clamour of commerce vanished and all that could be heard was the shuffle of feet, the rubber whoosh of wheelchairs, muted talk in a dozen languages, and the hum of prayers. To our left was the spectacular floodlit Basilica of the Rosary with its soaring spires. We passed two pilgrims carrying a huge candle on their shoulders, reminding me of the assistants who carry the caber to the next competitor at Scottish Highland Games....On we went, past the Lourdes Water taps, booths for the sale of candles and souvenir medallions, joining streams of pilgrims all headed in the same direction.          

 

       

            All paths lead to the Grotto, the heart of the Domain, the reason for its existence. At eleven o’clock at night there were still about one hundred pilgrims in silent prayer and adoration, many kneeling. The Grotto, a hollow in the rock face worn smooth in part by the caresses of pilgrims, was lit by the soft glow of dozens of candles, and dwarfed by the massive Basilica of the Immaculate Conception above. In a niche in the rock above our heads was a life-size statue of the Blessed Virgin, placed in the very spot in which she had appeared to Saint Bernadette 154 years before. We stood where more than 200 million people have stood since 1860 and, for just a moment, time seemed to stop. Prayer was as natural as breathing in this place of stillness and presence.    

            Beyond the Grotto we passed a small forest of burning candles in metal stands before we came to the Baths where pilgrims bathe in the miraculous waters that sprang from the Grotto. In the distance, in the darkness on the other side of the river Gave, were various places of interest including chapels, a Way of the Cross, the new Water Walk, and the Accueil hospital for sick pilgrims.

 

            The next day the main group of pilgrims arrived and we joined the week of activities that comprised the official A&B Diocesan Pilgrimage. Every morning we processed to the diocesan mass, streaming from our separate hotels, led by a vanguard of wheelchairs, reversing direction after mass to hurry back for midday lunch. After lunch we sallied forth to various activities and then, noticeably slower, returned for dinner at seven. Afterwards, some pilgrims unwound in the hotel bar, others explored the town, a few ventured back to the Domain to pray – and I suspect as many hurried to the Little Flower, a cafe bar where good company, song and drinks attract many from A&B.

            The week passed all too swiftly, time seemed to accelerate at the end, and all too soon Paul and Mary, our very capable hotel leaders, were marshalling us onto the coach for Toulouse airport. It is impossible to recall every detail of that memorable week, but here are a few observations.

            The Domain - or Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, to give it its proper title - is visually spectacular with large open spaces overseen by the soaring spires of the Upper Basilica and the dramatic Byzantine style of the Rosary Basilica with its dome surmounted by a huge gilded crown and cross. But, unfortunately perhaps, to modern visitors the spires also bear a disquieting resemblance to the centrepiece of Mr Disney’s parks, and the grand open space where thousands gather also echoes the great public squares of capital cities.

 

            What is different – what blew my socks off - was the Basilica of Pius X, the largest church in the Domain, holding 25,000 worshippers. Built mostly underground in 1958 of grey pre-stressed concrete pillars and beams that cross the low ceiling, it has been described as an underground car park or an upturned boat. This bare concrete cavern has little natural light, is cold and draughty and has poor acoustics. But, to me, this austere place is also beautiful and full of meaning, a reminder that God is everywhere. It may be cold but as you walk around you see dozens of glowing stained glass panels that depict the mysteries of faith, above them are almost 40 large tapestry images of saints and martyrs, lessons in holiness, and, moving on, the eye is drawn to an appropriately simple but very striking modern crucifix over the high altar. Opposite the choir stall is the entrance to an almost-hidden side chapel. Slip inside and there is an altar with a ‘fragment of the soutane worn by Pope John Paul on the 13^th May 1981 and marked with his blood’. Pause in prayer for a moment and wonder why you ever thought this was like a car park - and the next time you park in a multi story, remember that God is with you!

            The anointing of the sick took place on the fifth day, also in the Pius X Basilica. We had been warned by the priests staying with our hotel group to take tissues, a wise precaution. Emotionally charged? Certainly. My eyes were dry but there was a lump in my throat. Our hotel group stood in a circle behind the wheelchairs, our hands on the sick pilgrims, willing God’s love and mercy through the intervention of the Blessed Virgin of Lourdes as Fr. Laurence, accompanied by Fr. Terry and Deacon Ian, blessed each sick pilgrim. In the deep silence that followed, tears flowed, people reached out and touched, held each other. We were reminded that we are all sick and need healing.

            I was a reluctant candidate for the Baths and went along, more in the spirit of ‘try anything once’ rather than undertaking a religious experience. Yes, you disrobe completely and, clad only in a cold, wet robe the size of a bath towel, you descend up to your chest in chilly water to say your prayers.  No, there is no towel to dry yourself with afterwards, you put on your own clothes and walk out. Yes, you are completely dry twenty seconds after putting your clothes on. No, I can’t explain it either but, God-willing, I plan to go back to the Baths next year and maybe I can work it out then. If not, I’m not going to worry - I’ve found a new way to worship.    

            The sick are at the heart of Lourdes. The sight of dozens of wheelchairs and wheeled beds leading the Marian Torchlight Procession or the Blessed Sacrament Procession testifies to their special and honoured place. However, I was puzzled why Lourdes continues to attract the sick in such numbers when fewer than 70 miraculous cures have been validated by the Church. Even the reported 2,000 to 5,000 documented cures is a small number when set against the 200 million visitors to date. To put it another way, with a reported six million visitors a year, if we assume 10% are sick and if only 1% of these were healed, that would still be 6,000 sudden healings each year....there is a temptation to apply the logic and the maths of the Lotto and Premium Bonds to the miraculous!

          

            But there is an alternative perspective. Lourdes points to the next world, not to this one - even Saint Bernadette would suffer for the rest of her short life. The Blessed Virgin did not promise anything, certainly not an end to pain or to malignant neoplasm. She did ask for penance and prayer for the conversion of sinners. Every pilgrim to Lourdes is sick through sin and healing occurs on many levels, in the waters, in front of the Blessed Sacrament, in the sacrament of reconciliation, at Lourdes, and after returning home. There are undoubtedly miraculous physical healings, but perhaps the real miracle is the change that Lourdes induces in the pilgrim: feelings and displays of love, caring and service; of humility; of self-awareness and introspection; of humbled recognition of our failure to love, and spontaneous gratitude for the Blessed Mother’s unceasing intercession. If that is the case, then the statistics should reflect a 100% effect, for no-one is untouched by Lourdes. 
 
            There is obviously much more to recall, such as the good humour and selfless inspiration of the helpers; the chance friendships made and the joy of both helping and being helped; the cheerful greetings of the Redshirts every day – regardless of the weather; praying the rosary with our hotel group, opposite the Grotto, as twilight fell; Bishop Kieran’s uncanny ability to teleport from one place to another with friendly greetings; the gruelling High Stations; the Moon girls’ hilarious delivery of ‘Plastic Jesus on my Dashboard’ at the hotel party; the streaming river of light that is the torchlight procession, and so on. But, better than a second-hand description, watch out for the announcement of the 2013 A& B Diocese Lourdes Pilgrimage and book your place. Your Mother is waiting!