On Saturday, September 24, twenty excited Community members and friends left Piarco Intl Airport for our two-week pilgrimage to the Shrines of France and Spain. On arrival at London Heathrow on Sunday morning, after a wonderful flight on BWIA, we were met by our Mancunia Courier and long-time Living Water friend, Maureen Clarkson, who has accompanied us on numerous pilgrimages in the past. Also joining us at Heathrow were three other Community members and another joined us in Paris.
We boarded our coach at
Heathrow and travelled to Folkstone to get aboard the Eurotunnel train.
Our first Mass was celebrated by our Pilgrimage Priest, Fr Roger Paponette, on
board the bus, below the English
Channel somewhere between England and France! When Mass was ended,
Robert, one of our pilgrims, suggested that we lift up our country at every Mass
and end the Mass with the hymn "Lord, heal our Land." and this we did at the end
of every Mass, every day.
On arrival at Calais, we transferred to a French coach and had the most wonderful, safe, careful driver - Pascal - for the duration of our pilgrimage in France.
We arrived in Lisieux in the evening and this beautiful sunset welcomed us. After a restful night, we were all ready next morning to start our pilgrimage.
Monday, September 26 - St Therese of Lisieux
Mass
was held in the Crypt of the Basilica of St Therese and it was an absolutely
heavenly sight that welcomed us with all the beautiful mosaics. We also
had the opportunity to visit the Carmelite Convent, where St Therese spent the
last nine years of her life and to view the exhibition of mementoes and relics
of her life. We also visited the childhood home of St Therese at Les
Buissonnets, an attractive red-brick house set in secluded gardens.
Therese was the youngest of the five daughters of Louis and Zelie Martin, all of
whom entered the religious life. After Zelie died, when Therese was very
young, the family moved here from Alencon. The house has been charmingly
preserved to recapture the Martins' way of life.
For many of us, on this first day, hearing, seeing and learning so much about this young determined girl, St Therese, whose greatest mission in life was "to love" - we felt full to overflowing, with much to think about and try to pattern our lives after.
Paris
We left Lisieux in the afternoon and headed for Paris, where we were treated to a wonderful tour of the city by Pascal, our driver, and Maureen, our courier. We saw all the famous sights - the River Seine, the Champs Elysees, the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, just to name a few.
Tuesday, September 27 - Sacre Coeur Basilica
This morning we visited the
Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal where St Catherine Laboure's
incorrupt body lies in state and still loooks as though she died only yesterday;
and then to the Church
dedicated to St Vincent de Paul where his incorrupt body remains.
We then took the
funicular up to Montmartre to visit the white-domed Sacre Coeur Basilica,
standing high above the rest of the city on the hill of Montmartre. The
Basilica was built by public subscription as an act of reparation for France's
defeat in the war against Prussia in 1870. As a continuing act of
reconciliation, exposition of the Blessed Sacrament has continued uninterrupted
since the Basilica opened.
We attended the public Mass and then had a delectable lunch provided by the Sisters of the Basilica and served by them with such love.
Nevers
Leaving
in the mid-afternoon, we travel south east to Nevers, where St Bernadette's
incorrupt body is now enshrined in a golden casket beside the high altar of the
Convent's main chapel.
We spent the night at the Convent, which is the mother-house of the Sisters of Charity of Nevers. St Bernadette lived at their house in Lourdes for several years after the Apparitions. In 1866, she left Lourdes, never to return and came here to enter the Order. As Sister Marie Bernard, she lived the enclosed life of a Sister of Charity until her death in 1879.
How awesome it was to spend time with St Bernadette just a few feet away from us.
The following morning, we were so blessed as we celebrated Mass in the main Chapel next to St Bernadette. We also had the opportunity to visit the lovely gardens in the Convent, the infirmary where she died, the small chapel in the grounds where she was first buried, the statue of Our Lady of the Spring where she liked to spend time in quiet prayer, and the museum which contains mementoes of her life in Nevers and in Lourdes.