Aug. 14, 2009.

Students participate in last night's service.

Ok, so maybe I threw you off a bit with the French title I have given this post. Let me explain.

Yesterday marked a great milestone for five of us: Guy and Viv Simonelli, Hope Carter, Jeff Frano, and I. At the invitation of the members of the Hospitalité de Notre Dame de Salut, the oldest such group associated with Lourdes, we made the commitment to continue to come to Lourdes for the rest of our lives (circumstances permitting).  (The association began in 1874 to help organize the thousands of French pilgrims that were beginning to come to Lourdes.) We, along with about 38 other people, participated in an installation ceremony last night at 9 p.m. in the Chapelle de Bernadette.

We arrived for a rehearsal at 8 p.m. Now I have always thought that the French were organized people. That was not the case last night. After four attempts at seating us, they finally settled on a plan. (That took 20 minutes.) Next, we briefly rehearsed taking our place on the first step in front of the altar space. Part of the service included the head honcho calling out each of our names and our standing up and saying, “Me Voici” before taking the long walk to the front of the chapel. In French it means I am here. So, it’s safe to say that each of us wrote those words on our programs and practiced many times before uttering those words.

It’s also safe to say that the French know how to put on a good ecclesiastical show. And, for sure, they know how to sing – and sing well. The singing last night was very impressive.

Having said “Me Voici,” accepted our new cross, and recited the commitment prayer (in French), we processed out, each of us holding a candle presented to us by a dignitary. All 40 or so of us walked (and sang in French) to the Grotto, said a few prayers, and sang the Salve Regina. It was a very special moment. Then it was time for a little reception – non-alcoholic beverages and cookies.

It turns out that we made a bit of Lourdes history last night. We were the first American group be asked by the Hospitalité de Notre Dame de Salut to make this level of commitment. In fact, we may be the first Americans to have been asked. The jury is still out on that, however. The French are very serious when it comes to this French-American collaboration. They fall all over themselves every time they thank us for our 16 years of service. The new cross pin makes us full-fledged members of the Hospitalité de Notre Dame de Salut.

This afternoon I went to work in the baths. The French have taken over working the baths and usually have taken a dim view of Americans volunteers. (Earlier in the week the Italians ran the baths, and they are much more inclusive toward Americans.) Well, today, with my new pin, I just waltzed right in and took my place among the French volunteers. No questions asked. Actually, a few of them congratulated me.

This morning we did the Stations of the Cross along the Prairie. This afternoon, the students had the afternoon off. Some shopped, some slept, and ten of them hiked a mountain that provides extraordinary view of Lourdes. Tonight the students will participate in the candlelight procession, either by pulling a voiture or walking as part of our group.

Tomorrow is the Feast of the Assumption, the biggest day of the year in Lourdes. We will work pulling voitures. It will be an outdoor Mass with 25,000-30,000 people.

Anniversary Story

In an earlier post I wrote about Joe and Elisa Metz, the couple who had hosted my parents when they went to Lourdes as malades in 1997. I found out today that the Metzes and my parents share the same wedding anniversay, August 14. Coincidence?

Cross Story

I’ll make this story short. Three weeks ago via email, I invited my friend Marco, with whom I have work in the baths for several years, to be our guest at last night’s commitment service. I also asked him to take photos, and he agreed. When I arrived in Lourdes and saw him, I reiterated the invitation and told him that the ceremony began at 8:30. He then bemoaned the fact that even though he’s been coming to Lourdes for 20 years (and working with the French National Pilgrimage for the past 10), he had never been asked to receive a cross to mark his commitment to Lourdes. He’s not the complaining type, so he dropped the issue.

The next morning, I happened to run into him near our hotel and he said to me, “I will see you at 2:30, my friend.” I said, “No, the service begins at 8:30.” Again, he said, “I will see you at 2:30,” and he pointed to the cross pinned to my tee shirt. Then it dawned on me: he was going to be at the 2:30 “formation” meeting for those people who were going to receive the new cross. In short, somehow, perhaps by the power of the Holy Spirit (Our Lady of Lourdes? Bernardette?) he had been selected that morning to receive the cross that the day before he had bemoaned not receiving. So for members of our group, all of whom know Marco, and especially for me, the ceremony held more significance than it would have had Marco not received his cross.

Kate M. pulls a malade in a voiture to Mass this morning in the Pope Pius X (underground) Basilica.

Wednesday, Aug. 12.

We began our day yesterday by working in the baths. Again, some people worked outside and some inside. Everyone got out of there by about noon, so no one was late for lunch.(By the way, despite early forecasts of rain all week, the weather has been great – sunny and not too hot.)

After lunch, we did something new for this Malta Youth Pilgrimage, we took a short bus ride (10 minutes) to an alcohol and rehab center. What makes this center unique is that the residents “get clean” through a program that has three basic tenets: fellowship, work, and prayer. That’s it. Three young men presented to us an overview of the program, and two of them told us their story. One young man, from the U.S., told how he arrived at Communauté Cenacolo after his family discovered his heroin addiction. Another, from Northern Ireland, chronicled his ordeal of drugs and alcohol before arriving at Cenacolo. The third, an Italian, didn’t tell us his story; he was the emcee of the program. Our visit was strictly supervised. We were not allowed to wonder the grounds or smoke (not that any of us is a smoker). In short, we were to have no interaction with any of the other residents during our visit. Although the young men did not tour us through the facility, we got the impression that it is a very nice place. The buildings are open, clean, and bright. One building is a renovated horse stable, and another is a remodeled pig barn. Apparently, talking to groups is one of the requirements of the program, but these men admitted they do not enjoy this at all.

John and Manuel welcomed us to Cenacolo, a drug and alcohol rehab center in Lourdes. They have been residents there for about 2 years.

After our tour, we went back to the hotel for about 15 minutes before heading out to the Lourdes train station to help unload malades. Yesterday marked the start of the French National Pilgrimage, and so 100s of the old and sick arrived in Lourdes by train. I recognized a few of the malades, and was reunited with several of our fellow French volunteers (Pierre, Quenten, and Thibault Rollins  – French scouts who speak very good English because they had gone to school in St. Louis for several years). The unloading of the trains is organized chaos. The French pride themselves on their organizational skills, but I tend to think that sometimes even the best laid plans go awry. Somehow, however, it all seems to work and all of the malades get to where they need to go. We stayed at the station until about 9:30.

Paige W. and Elizabeth D. with their malades at the train station.

Doug B., Pierre Rollin, and Brandon O. worked as a team transporting malades from the train station to the hospital.

Pilgrim with malade at the train station.

As I write this post on Wednesday morning, we have gotten a later start to our morning. This was gone intentionally in order to give everyone a little extra sleep. Well, not exactly everyone, because a few of us (not me) got out of bed at 4:15 this morning to go to the trains to unload pilgrims. Now that’s service.

Right now everyone is off to “the hospital” to load the malades onto a voiture and pull them to where they need to go – perhaps a Mass, perhaps the baths. We will return to the hospital after lunch to repeat the process.

Yesterday was the feast day of St. Clare. Monsignor Wallin chronicled her life during his homily at our Mass at the train station. The Poor Clares have a cloistered convent in Lourdes, and that’s were we often have our daily Mass. Clare, along with St. Francis of Assisi, lived a life in community and of prayer, the same way the residents of Communatuté Cenacolo do. And, come to think of it, the same way we American pilgrims are doing this week.

UPDATE: We spent the morning pushing and pulling voitures (people in them, of course) to the welcoming Mass at the Esplanade and then back to the Hospitalité de Notre Dame de Lourdes (hospital). We had a great lunch of chicken, spaghetti, and french fries – with vanilla and coffee ice cream for dessert. It doesn’t get much better than that in Lourdes. Now we are beginning to gather to return to the hospital and do more pushing and pulling. Fr. will celebrate Mass at the hospital’s chapel at about 3 p.m.

Jack G. pulls his malade back to the hospital.

The kids on the trip have been wonderful. They pitched in from the start with all of their enthusiasm and energy, which hasn’t flagged despite rising early and going to bed late. During a conversation this morning with Marco, an Italian friend of mine who I met here in Lourdes several years ago, he observed that our young pilgrims are a great example of volunteerism. He said, “They do whatever is asked of them, even the unglamorous responsibilities in Lourdes.” It doesn’t get much better than that in Lourdes.

Monday, August 10, 2009. By Sarah H. and Megan J. After working in the bathes today for both the morning and afternoon shifts, we can safely say that we have had the true Lourdes experience within only 10 hours. Both of us have previously volunteered in Lourdes but have never helped out “behind the curtain” in the bathing area. We had always heard that taking a bath was a moving experience, but had never seen the emotions on a first hand scale. We are both grateful and overwhelmed that we got to participate in such a defining aspect of Lourdes. Overall it was a really great experience, even if the French and Italian women who were working alongside us always seemed to think that we were doing everything wrong.

Roses grow on a wall in the Poor Clares convent.

Monday, August 10.

“To people the world over, pilgrimage is a spiritual exercise and it is always a journey of risk and renewal. For a journey without a challenge has no meaning and one without purpose has no soul. With a deepening of focus, keen preparation, attention to the path below your feet, and respect for the destination at hand, it is possible to transform this trip from tourism into a sacred journey, a pilgrimage. What legendary travelers have taught us since Marco Polo is that the art of travel is the art of seeing what is sacred.” –Phil Cousineau, The Art of Pilgrimage

Today was our first full day of working in Lourdes. This morning, after our prayer service and breakfast, many of us headed over to the baths to volunteer. Some worked inside the baths while others worked outside with crowd control and helping with the more seriously ill madades who need to be lifted from wheelchair to stretcher. My Italian friend Marco, who is one of the head honchos at the baths, made sure that we Americans got work this morning and this afternoon. He waved us to the front of the line, and we signed in, donned our aprons, and got ready to work. Bathing in the morning starts at 9 a.m. and goes until everybody is done. That meant that each session of the men’s bath (morning and afternoon) went for three hours.

Working inside the baths is very special work and not for everyone. Today six men and six women worked inside and about that many worked outside. When the men left this afternoon at 5 p.m., the women’s side still had plenty of people to process.

Doug Bergner and I worked in the “handicapped” room of the baths this afternoon. That means that the real tough cases are wheeled into Room 1 , where a specially trained team takes care of their needs. I was particularly stuck this afternoon by several father/son, and, in one case, grandson/grandfather combo. It’s quite a beautiful thing to see a father attending to the needs of his young  “malade” son  and very inspirational to see the members of the team being so gentle and supportive. There was a father and son from what I think was somewhere in Asia, but they spoke perfect Italian. The 10-year old boy arrived in his special wheelchair. He sported an upper-body brace, and had no control of his limbs, but he had the most wonderful spirit, projected through his shining brown eyes and high-pitched voice. Using the little English he knew (just to let us know he knew a little), he instructed us to move his legs “carefully.” He even sang a verse of “I Believe I Can Fly.” This from a kid who will never walk.

No less touching, but at the other end of the cognitive spectrum, was a son who couldn’t communicate using language. In short, he could’t communicate in any recognizable form. He had a trach and a feeding tube, which his father disconnected shortly before be bathed him.

At the end of the session, just when we thought the work had come to an end, a group of about 12 boys, age 8-10, showed up. They were clearly friends (two were brothers) and their infectious humor and innocence made it a great way to conclude my day of work in Lourdes.

Whether young or old (one 91-year-old man was VERY spry and mentally alert), everyone who comes to the baths seeking a special experience. For some, like Jean, an old Frenchman on a stretcher this afternoon, it is a very emotional moment. He wept as we all said a Hail Mary around him. He almost got me going too. The water of the baths may be cold, but the spirit in the bathing rooms is always warm.

After the baths, it was time for Mass, then dinner, and the evening candlelight procession, where some of us will process while others sing in the choir.

And tonight we celebrated, as we do every year, Viv Simonelli’s birthday (actually tomorrow), with a delicious cake.

I wanted to post a couple of additional photos, but the cord to connect my camera to my laptop is in my room and I’m just to tired (or lazy) to upstairs to get it. I’ll add them tomorrow.

So I am cutting this a bit short, because it’s time to head over to the procession. Until tomorrow.

We leave for Lourdes in a week and two days. Maybe some of you are thinking about the trip, maybe some of you are not. Either way, August 8 (our departure date) will sneak up on you faster than you think. Don’t pack at the last minute – you’re bound to forget something. Give yourself plenty of time. Open a suitcase soon and start throwing things into it – a few at a time. You can start with your PASSPORT. It’s also a good idea to make a list.

Remember to leave room in your suitcase for 4 tee shirts, a poncho, and a bulky sweatshirt.

If you need transportation from Canterbury to JFK and back to Canterbury, please let Mr. Simonelli or me know by email as soon as possible.

If you or your parents have any questions about the trip, please contact me or Mr. Simonelli.