The group left our hotel from Nimes this morning at 8 am for a 5 hour bus ride to Lourdes. Since today is the sixth day of the trip, I think it is a good thing we have a long bus ride to Lourdes. Surprisingly, though it was not too boring! Some people watched movies, others caught up on journals, listened to music, talked, or played games. It's true, teenagers don't need their phones to have a good time! About 3 hours into the the bus ride we stopped at a cafeteria off the highway. The food was not too bad, for a highway rest stop, but the deals on bottled water were fantastic! I bought a six pack of 1 1liter water bottles for 6 Euros!
When we arrived at Lourdes it was so much different than I expected. Everywhere else we have been in France has been very elegant. It's a little town with winding streets lined with tacky shops filled, named after real and imagined saints, with any religious item one could think of. Rosaries, bracelets, crosses, candles, angels, tacky post cards and more. It was like a Catholic Disneyland or Niagara Falls in terms of the kitsch. While this all sounds odd and unexpected, entering into the Sanctuary and grotto was a completely different experience. Lourdes has three faces: tacky tourist Lourdes, holy peaceful Lourdes, and regular quaint town of Lourdes were locals live. The area controlled by Church is free of any commercial activity and is beautiful, holy, and peaceful. We left tacky Lourdes and entered through St. Michael's Gate across Rosary Square to the grotto. The grotto is sort of like a cave where Saint Bernadette saw and prayed to the Lady. In 1858, during one of the apparitions the "miraculous spring" was revealed. The rock in the grotto was smooth from so many people touching it and the spring was glassed in. You could also see where the glass was cracked during the recent flooding. There was a statue of the Immaculate Conception in place of where Bernadette saw her and a mass of candles right in front of it.
After walking through the grotto, Mr. Bizga shared with us some personal stores of people he knows personally who have been touched by pilgrimages to Lourdes. These stories underscored how most people receive spiritual versus physical healing. The stories did contain hints of the miraculous and were inspirational. When people move through the grotto they rub their hands across the rock. Knowing some personal inspirational stories made it even more special as we slid our hands across the rock as we moved through the grotto. Unfortunately, the line for the grotto was filled with people so we had to move quickly. We were told we would come back to the grotto later at night when it is quieter and more prayerful. This experience was just the beginning of a beautiful, but long night. Since our 5 days in Lourdes was reduced to less than 24 hours by ACIS we had to maximize our time here.
The group walked back to the hotel for dinner. We are staying at Jeanne D'Arc. The hotel was has two buildings and the back one were were staying in was not damaged by the flood. The hotel is owned by the same family were were originally supposed to spend time with and the staff knows Mr. Bizga well. The hotel lobby was filled with white leather couches and white marble stairs and chandeliers all throughout the building. The French staff spoke to us in kind tones and made us feel welcome. Everyone is friendly here and it gave me such a feeling of unity even though I had no clue what they were saying. We had a three course dinner meal with salad, pork roast with carrots, and a lemon tart. It was so delicious I think everyone was so full by the time we got to the end.
Straight after dinner we got ready for the candle light rosary procession in Lourdes. Mr. Bizga gave each of us a candle and we walked down together to the grotto together. We lit our candles and waited in a long line of groups until we heard the speakers come on to formally begin the procession. The prayers are said in the languages of the people praying represented there. It truly struck me, in a tangible way, we are part of one, universal Church. You hear so many different languages and see so many different nationalities, but we are all one in faith. We prayed a decade of the rosary in many languages and the sang "Ave Maria" all together holding our candles high above our heads. This moment was truly incredible and their is a tangible spiritual energy there. As time moved on it grew darker as we walked and the singing just put me in a state of mind that I was in God's presence and that this experience was so surreal to me.
I had learned about Bernadette in class earlier in the school year and I fell in love with her story. But now we are in Lourdes where this took place. As I looked around I would see so many people in wheel chairs who were sick or disabled, and everytime I did, I would say a prayer for them. It made me want to cry but it also made me want to smile because all of these people have such a strong faith in God, and this feeling if community and of God's people as one swept over me and hit me so hard. People would carry flags representing their parish, nation, or town. Others in the procession would hold hands and walk together, and others just closed their eyes and sang with the group with such peace and hope. When the procession was done I just felt so blessed. So many people around me had tears in their eyes full of emotion in response to the things they saw. It was just an eye opener for all of us that I don't think anyone was ready for it. It was unexpectedly powerful.
When we departed from the procession we were given free time until midnight which is when we would meet in the hotel lobby and return once more to the grotto. It was so late because Mr. Bizga knew it would be fairly empty and that the serenity and peace would be at high levels during this time; he was right. During our free time most of us just explored the town and enjoyed the gelato being sold on the streets. When we met back at the hotel the excited and happy faces turned serious and eager. We all walked back down to the grotto together bringing our small bottles to fill of the water from the Bernadette's spring at Lourdes.
When we arrived at the shrine, we sat on the benches in front of the grotto and prayed the rosary as a group. We all prayed in unison but the beautiful thing was that at each decade all of us prayed for different people and different things, and we were still doing it together. To look up during my prayers and see Mary in the rock and to look at the spring and all of the candles, representing prayers, was simply incredible. There was a spot right in front of me on the pavement which in French read, "This is the place where Bernadette saw her on February 11, 1858." During our rosary, an older man came and kneeled on that exact spot and this just touched my heart as I watched him do the sign of the cross and close his eyes in prayer. I said a prayer for him as well. When this was over, a few of us went back through the line of the grotto. This time we could spend more time touching the rock and praying at the spring. I felt the presence of God, but I also felt Mary and St. Bernadette when I looked at the small spring. We prayed so hard all throughout this, first stopping at the spring, and then at the statue of the Immaculate Conception. Directly after I made my my way through the grotto, I had followed the example of the older man did and knelt where Bernadette had. Words fail to describe what I felt, but rest assured it was unbelievable being able to experience that. It brought me so in tune with my prayers and once I stood up, and I looked around me, many of our group was crying. This just shows that this night was so important for all of us. Some of us were praying together, and hugging each other. It just brought me so much happiness to see all of us coming together and expressing that we all love and care for one another as God children. It is amazing how something so great can bring all of us together.
After filling up our little bottles with the Lourdes water for our friends and family, we were given candles to place them where so many others had put them in little metal stations. On the wall it read "This candle continues my prayer." I think this moment got to people as well as we turned around and looked at teary eyed friends. While it is obvious that this night was extremely moving. People experienced a combination of sadness and joy; I couldn't help but smile at the thought of how much love was shown. Even though we didn't return to the hotel until very late, this night was so worth it. It is so unbelievable that this little group from a Jesuit school in Ohio was able to take the opportunity to participate in such a touching and wonderful event. I felt the love of God, through Mary and Bernadette in a tangible way.
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