On the morning of 27th September, The Carmelite Lourdes Group left Mitchelstown. There were about 40 pilgrims, 9 of which were youth volunteers from the CBS. None of us youths had been to Lourdes before. We were aware that our job involved pushing wheelchairs, but beyond that we didn’t really know what to expect!

The first thing that strikes you when walking around Lourdes is the pleasant atmosphere. This doesn’t stop at the gates of the Sanctuary though. Everywhere you go the effect is the same. Of course, we can’t forget that it is a functioning town where people have to make a living and as such it’s always busy, but not hectic and overwhelming.

On Sunday, the night after we arrived, the Carmelites had the honour of leading the torchlight procession. At this, the pilgrims walk and pray the Rosary, holding a lighted candle in their hand as a reminder of Baptism. It takes place every night during pilgrimage season, as it has done since 1872.

Considering our age, youth meetings were a mandatory requirement but these proved not to be a burden but upbeat, proving fun but productive, where there was always something to be done. The last Mass of the pilgrimage was to be the Youth Mass, and so everyone was given a job: choir, readers, Eucharistic ministers, collectors, offertory procession etc. There was also a slideshow put together by photographers from each group which was shown on a big screen during the Mass. For us, this was nice to see photos of our different experiences in Lourdes.

On Monday morning we went to Mass at the Grotto. This is where the apparitions of 1858 took place, and is appropriately left simple and largely undecorated as it was at the time of Bernadette’s visions. In contrast with the grand Rosary Basilica and surrounding frescoes, the Grotto has nothing but a plain stone altar and lectern so that Mass can be said. There is a stand next to the altar where pilgrims place candles during the season. The spring that Bernadette dug is at the back of the Grotto, and there is a box for written prayers or petitions to be put. These are collected daily and burnt. It’s amazing to see that no matter what time of the day or night you go to the Grotto, there are always people there in devotion. We were there at 3AM on the last night and the Italians were still in full flight!

The only rain during the whole trip came during the Blessed Sacrament Procession. This takes place daily in Lourdes. Like the Corpus Christi Procession held yearly in Mitchelstown, the Monstrance containing the consecrated host is carried while prayers are said. The pilgrims walk ahead of the Blessed Sacrament and the procession finishes up in the underground Basilica. Opened in 1958 by Pope Pius X, anticipating the huge crowds expected for the centenary of the apparitions, the underground Basilica is unpopular with some pilgrims. They say that the bare concrete reminds them more of an underground car park! While it may not be the most aesthetically pleasing of the churches in Lourdes, it is definitely an amazing structure. It seats 25,000, and if necessary it can stand a good deal more.

On Tuesday, we took the sick to the baths. This ritual has been practiced since 1858 when, it is said that Our Lady told Bernadette: “Go drink at the spring and wash yourself there”. Every year, approximately 350,000 pilgrims do so in these baths.

On the night before we left, Fr Patrick brought the youths from Mitchelstown, along with a few from Kinsale, down to the Sanctuary around midnight. We sat down on the wall, the river Gave between ourselves and the site of the 1858 apparitions, admiring the spectacle before us. The Grotto, which inspired thousands of similar monuments worldwide (many in Ireland), illuminated by hundreds of candles. The Italians were definitely making the most of their allocated time! They were singing, and although I didn’t understand the language, I’d have to hand it to them that it sounded excellent… They might not have intended it to be background music to the last night of our pilgrimage, but it certainly fit that purpose.

We prayed the Rosary and then lit our candles, walked back across the bridge in near silence and stood them with the others which had been left there by all kinds of people. Some lit by people in need of something, others lit out of gratitude for what they already have. We stood there for a while, and reflected on what had been a brilliant experience.

Of course, however easy it may be, you can’t stay there staring at your candle all night! It would just burn out and be very anti-climactic. We filled up a few drums of Holy Water and went back for some music in one of the hotels. We sang and chatted well into the early hours of the morning, only to end up going back down to the Grotto again! I suppose you could say, ‘It calls you back’.

For those who need something tangible to take from the experience and may find it difficult to understand the Marian Apparitions, it’s hard to deny that there is most definitely something special about Lourdes. Everyone is there for the same purpose and as a result everyone is in good form; everything is well organised, but still laid back; there’s nobody rushing around and everyone is going out of their way to help someone else. Religious or otherwise, one cannot deny the positive energy and atmosphere evidenced in the small town of Lourdes.

As St. Francis of Assisi said, “It is in giving that we receive”. We left Mitchelstown 5 days earlier, ready to give help to the sick. However, we received far more in Lourdes than we ever would have expected. We made new friends, we had fun, we learned a lot and we discovered the joy of service.

On behalf of the volunteers from the CBS, I’d like to thank Mr Duggan and Declan Masterson who brought us and looked after us. I’d like to thank Fr Patrick who was able to play all the modern trendy songs that I had never heard of. I’d like to thank Paddy Seery who kept us all in line! I’d like to thank the Carmelite ‘Blueties’ who were great to put up with us, and finally I’d like to thank all the pilgrims, both able bodied and sick, who made the trip memorable for all involved.

blog comments powered by Disqus