Lourdes at Last!

Picture of the major Basilicas of Lourdes.

After a week of traveling I arrived at the Gare de Lourdes on Saturday afternoon.  I was greeted by the coordinating chaplain for the English language community, Father Brian de Burca.  We walked to the car in a soft drizzle and he brought me to my room for the next three weeks or so.  (I'll speak about the Chaplains' Residence in a later post.)  While I would have loved to get my room in order, the sun burst out and so I had to go immediately to the Sanctuary.

Crowds Praying before the Grotto.

Lourdes is a very spiritual place.  I presence of Our Lady and Bernadette, I believe is still very acute here.  But Lourdes is far from being a peaceful place.  The crowds, the prayers, the singing, the processions can wreak of chaos.  And so it was on that Saturday afternoon.

Statue of Our Lady in the Central Place.

At 6PM I went to the chapel where the English Community has its daily Mass and I offered my first Mass here for the Peoples of Incarnation and our mother parish, Our Lady of Lourdes.  It was quite lovely experience.  The people who come for the English daily Mass were described fondly as "spiritual orphans."  They didn't come to the sanctuary on a formal pilgrimage or with a priest like I do with our parish groups.  They are individuals, families, groups without priests and many of the English-speaking volunteers who come to Lourdes to assist the pilgrims -especially the sick- each year.

My main ministry at the Sanctuary will be hearing confessions and assisting English-speakers in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  I'll fill you in about my schedule and ministry a little later.