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Happening ... in the Local Church
150th anniversary at Lourdes
'Truly a foretaste of heaven'
 Window
at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception, Lafayette |
 Pilgrims
at Lourdes (Photo courtesy Sean Martin) |
 Pilgrims
at Lourdes (Photo courtesy Sean Martin) |
By Lisa L. Wilson
The Catholic Moment
On Feb. 11, 1858, the Blessed Mother appeared in a cave on the banks of the Gave River to a 14-year-old girl named Bernadette Soubirous.
One hundred and fifty years later, Lourdes, France, is one of the major pilgrimage destinations in the world, with four to six million pilgrims visiting each year. This month marks the sesquicentennial of the Blessed Mother’s first appearance to Bernadette. Eight million pilgrims are expected to flock to Lourdes this jubilee year.
Father Gerald Borawski, pastor at Our Lady of the Lakes Church, Monticello, has led pilgrimages to Lourdes.
“I have been to Lourdes three times, and each time I was amazed at how quiet it is and how reverent the people are,” he said. “The faith of the people is so thick there, you could cut it with a knife.”
Many go to Lourdes seeking physical healing, Father Borawski said, “but the greatest healing I have witnessed there is spiritual. In my own experience, I saw the faith of the suffering brought there looking for comfort. I bathed in the healing waters of Lourdes and I found a profound peace and a greater desire to give my life further to God.”
Between Feb. 11 and July 16, 1858, Bernadette saw visions of the Blessed Mother 18 times in a small grotto called Massabielle. Mary told Bernadette to tell the village priest to build a chapel at the site.
During one apparition, Bernadette walked a short distance from the grotto and began digging until a small puddle of water appeared. The puddle transformed into a pool that became the spring to which many miracles of healing are attributed.
The Church officially approved Lourdes as a place of pilgrimage in 1862.
A Eucharistic procession and blessing of the sick takes place every afternoon at the shrine, built in honor of Our Lady of Lourdes.
“It is magnificent to see the monstrance, the procession of priests and the sick following behind it,” said Rosemary Speaker, of Speaker’s Travel, West Lafayette. “I will never forget the reverence of the people, their faith, or the beauty of witnessing the blessing.
“Seeing all of the wonderful volunteers pushing wheelchairs for pilgrims who needed assistance, and the beautiful procession of the sick in the afternoon, was very moving,” she said.
Speaker also recalled touring the “humble place where Bernadette once lived.”
“It really moved me to see that Our Lady chose someone so humble and poor to give her message of prayer and repentance to the world,” she said.
Sean Martin, associate director for youth catechesis for the diocese, has visited Lourdes three times as a volunteer youth leader with Our Lady of Lourdes Hospitality North American Volunteers, a Catholic apostolate formed in 2002 to serve the sick and suffering at Lourdes. Volunteers from every nation come each year to assist the sick.
“There are a wide range of opportunities for volunteers,” he said. “Men and women have different assignments, but the opportunities to help include welcoming the sick, meeting them and helping them participate in the processions, Masses and even helping them in the baths.”
The sick come by train, plane and automobile.
“I have helped greet pilgrims at the train station, and helped them onto buses that take them into Lourdes,” Martin said. “Many, many people come to Lourdes seeking healing and you would think with so many people that it would be very chaotic, but it’s really very organized. And it’s amazing to see so many volunteers and people from every part of the world … It is a place of prayer — truly a foretaste of heaven.”
Ann Clark, a retired school teacher and parishioner at St. Mary, Frankfort, traveled to Lourdes as a pilgrim in 2001, and read the prayer intentions for one decade of the International Rosary.
“That was quite an experience,” she recalled.
“It was evening when the procession began, and it was still light. We began the prayers, and I heard the multitude of people saying the prayers with us. When darkness fell, I remember looking down on the procession from above and seeing a sea of candles.
“It is a holy place,” Clark said. “I found myself going to the grotto quite a bit in my free time. It was really a wonderful, spiritual experience, and very meaningful to me.”
To learn more
Visit the official Lourdes Jubilee 2008 Web site at www.lourdes2008.com.
The North American Lourdes Volunteers Web site can be found at www.lourdesvolunteers.org.