Catholic Pilgrimage to Lourdes, France in 2016 - Part 1/2

 Catholic Pilgrimage to Lourdes, France in 2016 - Part 1/2 

(Travel Story Series @ Hon Too Fang 2021) 

(This story is relevant for Catholics only as the description on religious matter overshadows everything else. Not a normal travel story. Non-Catholics might find the contents irrelevant and uninteresting. You may leave now!)

Preface

My friends, in early September 2016 my big family (10 adults, 3 kids) together with 2 friends, made a pilgrimage trip to Lourdes, France. We spent 4 nights in Lourdes, and another 3 nights in the city of Toulouse for sight-seeing. This is the travel story.

First some info on this famous pilgrimage site. 

Part A : Catholic Devotion: Our Lady of Lourdes 

Our Lady of Lourdes

Our Lady of Lourdes is a venerated title of the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus, in honour of her apparitions to Bernadette Soubirous on 18 occasions in 1858 in the vicinity of Lourdes, a small town in southern France.  

The apparitions

On 11 February 1858, Bernadette, then aged 14, a simple village girl without much education, was out gathering firewood with her sister and a friend near the grotto of Massabielle, Lourdes, where she had her first vision of The Virgin, the mother of Jesus. Her description: from the dark alcove of the grotto "came a dazzling light, and a white figure." She described the figure as wearing a white veil, a blue girdle, holds a rosary and with a yellow rose on each foot. 

This was the first of 18 visions of what she referred to as "a small young lady". Her sister and her friend said they did not see anything.

On her 3rd visit, 18 February, she said the young lady asked her to return to the grotto every day for a fortnight.

Bernadette's story caused a sensation with the local folks. Her later visits to the grotto were followed by hundreds of people. She was closely monitored. The local physician found nothing wrong with her physically though she was trance-like when she was having the vision. She was examined by 3 other physicians and found to be of a sound mind.

On 25 February on the 9th apparition of the lady, to the horror of the witnesses, Bernadette dug into the ground and drank the muddy water at the grotto and washed the face with it. She said these were the instructions of the young lady. The next day the grotto was no more muddy and a clear spring has formed. 

On 2 March on the 13th apparition, Bernadette told her family that the lady said that "a chapel should be built at the grotto”. Bernadette and her 2 aunties went to see the parish priest who told Bernadette that the young lady must identify herself first. 

Her 16th vision was on 25 March. During this vision Bernadette was holding a lit candle. It burned down and the flame was said to be in direct contact with her skin for over 15 minutes but she apparently showed no sign of experiencing any pain or injury. This was witnessed by many people present, including the town physician, who timed and documented it.

Bernadette repeatedly asked the lady for her name and finally heard the lady said, in the French dialect, "I am the Immaculate Conception”.

Four years earlier, Pope Pius IX had defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Her parents, teachers and priests later testified that Bernadette had never previously been told the expression “immaculate conception” from them. Due to the poor level of communication during that time, it was most unlikely such a concept would have been widely known and became public knowledge in such a remote village and to an uneducated girl.

(Note: in Christian doctrine, everybody is born with original sin, due to Adam and Eve’s disobedience to God. The doctrine of Immaculate Conception says the Blessed Virgin Mary is the exception; she was born without original sin.) 

On 16 July, Bernadette went for the last time to the Grotto. “I have never seen her so beautiful before.” she reported. 

The position of the Church

The Catholic Church started a commission on 17 November 1858 to investigate the reported visions. On 18, January, 1860, the local bishop declared that the apparitions were "worthy of belief". “We remain convinced that the apparitions are supernatural and divine, and that by consequence, what Bernadette saw was the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

Our convictions are based on the testimony of Bernadette, but above all on the things that have happened, things which can be nothing other than divine intervention.”

Because the apparitions are private, and not public revelations, Catholics are not "required" to believe them. Nonetheless all recent popes approved the veneration and made pilgrimages to the shrine.

Bernadette Soubirous or Saint Bernadette of Lourdes

Bernadette Soubirous was born on 7 January 1844 in Lourdes, the eldest of nine children. Her father was a miller and the family lived in extreme poverty. Bernadette was a sickly child. She contracted cholera as a toddler and suffered severe asthma throughout her life. She was extremely diminutive, said to be only 1.40 m (4 ft 7 in) tall. 

During the apparitions, despite being rigorously interviewed by officials of both the Catholic Church and the French government, she stuck consistently to her story and maintained her attitude.

After the apparitions, and disliking the attention she was attracting, Bernadette went to a hospice school run by the Sisters of Charity of Nevers where she finally learned to read and write. She then joined the Sisters at the age of 22 and was given the name Marie-Bernarde. She spent the rest of her brief life there.   

She eventually died of her long-term illness at the age of 35 on 16 April 1879. Her body was exhumed in 1909 and found to be mostly incorrupt. She was canonized to be a saint by Pope Pius XI on 8 December 1933. The remains of her body were placed in a reliquary in the Chapel of Saint Bernadette in Nevers. 

Lourdes water

Since the “discovery” of the spring at the grotto, numerous pilgrims to Lourdes have followed the instruction of Our Lady of Lourdes to "drink at the spring and wash in it". Although never formally encouraged by the Church, Lourdes water has become a focus of devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary at Lourdes. Many people have claimed to have been cured of all kind of illness by drinking or bathing in it.

The water was first chemically analysed in 1858 and found no different from other sources of spring water. Shown pilgrims queuing to collect the water.

Lourdes Medical Bureau

To ensure claims of cures were examined properly and to protect the town from fraudulent claims of miracles, the Lourdes Medical Bureau was established at the request of Pope Pius X in 1905. Any claim would be investigated by the internal people at the Bureau.

For cases deemed qualified for further investigation they are referred to a body called International Lourdes Medical Committee. It is an independent international body completely under medical supervision. It currently has some 20+ doctors from 11 countries made up of specialists in various fields and people of different beliefs. Any case to be declared as “scientifically inexplicable” needs a two-third majority vote by the doctors.

Each case is rigorously investigated. On the average about 35 cases are submitted to the Bureau each year and only a few qualified for further investigation. Most take up more than 10 years. Since 1905, approximately 7000 people have sought to have their cases confirmed as a miracle, of which 69 have been declared as "scientifically inexplicable" by the Bureau and subsequently declared as miracles by the Catholic Church. The Bureau would not use the word "miracle". 

The 69th and latest case involved one Danila Castelli. Born in 1946, wife and mother, she has lived a normal life until the age of 34 when she started having spontaneous and severe blood pressure hypertensive crisis. Soon she was diagnosed to have a tumour in her adrenal gland which triggers life-threatening hypertension. From then to 1988 she went through several surgical interventions in the attempt to stop the triggers but with no effect at all. 

In May 1989, during a pilgrimage to Lourdes, Danila got out of the baths where she had been immersed and she felt an extraordinary feeling of well-being. Shortly after she reported her case of her instantaneous cure to the Bureau. After five meetings (1989, 1992, 1994, 1997 and 2010) the Bureau certified the cure with a unanimous vote. The statement of the Bureau in 2011 says, “Mrs Castelli was cured, in a complete and lasting way, from the date of her pilgrimage to Lourdes -- 21 years ago -- of the syndrome she had suffered and with no relation with the treatments and the surgeries she received”. The local bishop of Pavia (where Danila lives) declared the case as a miracle in 2013.

(Note in 2021: the 70th case was certified in 2018. A French nun with spinal complications has undergone 4 surgical operations but to no cure. She has been wheelchair bound for 28 years when she went to Lourdes in 2008, aged 69. After attending a session of healing for the sick, she felt extraordinary relaxed and warm. She heard a voice telling her to stand up and walk. And that she did. The sudden, instantaneous, complete and durable change was declared a miracle.) 

The Domain or Sanctuary

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes (also called the Domain) is an area surrounding the grotto where Our Lady appeared. The Domain includes the grotto itself, the nearby taps which dispense the Lourdes water, several churches and basilicas, as well as offices and accommodation for sick pilgrims and their helpers. 

Development of the Domain

At the time of the apparitions, the grotto lay well outside town, on common ground which was used by the villagers for pasturing animals, collecting firewood, and as a garbage dump. Public interest in the apparitions grew, with pilgrims from increasingly far-away places, drawn by compelling stories of apparitions and miracles. 

A local priest together with his bishop bought the grotto and the land around it from the commune in 1861, 3 years after the apparitions. Immediately they set about modifying the area to make it more accessible to visitors, and started work to build the first of the churches, which is now known as the Crypt.

In 1864, the sculptor Joseph-Hugues Fabisch was commissioned to create a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes based on Bernadette's descriptions. Although it has become an iconic symbol of Our Lady of Lourdes, it depicts a figure which is said to be older and taller than Bernadette's description, more in keeping with orthodox and traditional representation of The Virgin. The statue rests in the niche where The Virgin appeared to Bernadette. 

Administration of the Domain

The Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes is responsible for the spiritual governance of the Domain, run independently of the parish of Lourdes. As of 2010 there were about 300 full-time lay employees and a further 100+ seasonal employees, with an annual running budget of 18 million Euro, 90% from donations.

The Domain is open all year round. In winter there are much fewer visitors, so it is run with a reduced timetable of services and devotional activity, and no processions.

About 6 million pilgrims visit the Sanctuary annually. There are more hotels in Lourdes than any other city in France except Paris. 

Part B : Paying homage at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes

This is a travel story to a holy site, not a reflection on a spiritual pilgrimage. We would not be sharing any personal feelings or thoughts on the pilgrimage. We would just introduce the sanctuary and the activities matter-of-fact-ly. 

The Grotto
The Grotto is simple and stark. The recess of the Grotto itself is not decorated, although a plain stone altar and lectern have been placed there so that mass could be said. Above the main recess is the niche where the apparitions took place and Fabisch's statue of Our Lady of Lourdes now stands.

The spring Bernadette is said to have dug could be seen at the rear of the Grotto, shielded by a glass cover. Also at the rear of the Grotto is a metal box into which written prayers or petitions may be deposited; they are collected daily and burnt. There is always a long queue of pilgrims to go inside the Grotto and touch the surface of the rock. Of course when a mass is on the visiting stops.

There are rows of benches in front of the Grotto to allow pilgrims to sit and pray or contemplate. And there are always full because of the limited seats.

We attended a morning mass in English on the 8th of September, Feast of the Birthday of the Virgin, said by the Most Rev Diarmuid Martin, the Archbishop of Dublin, Ireland.

Annual Pilgrimage by the contingent from the Archdiocese of Dublin, Ireland

Our visit coincides with the annual pilgrimage of the Dublin archdiocese to the shrine. A big contingent with near to 2,000 pilgrims, including 180 sick pilgrims, 550 volunteer helpers like nurses and doctors, and 200 young people in assistance. The homily of the archbishop stresses on Mercy, aptly so in this Jubilee year of Mercy celebrated by the Catholic Church.

"We celebrate Mercy because we have received Mercy. We celebrated Mercy here in Lourdes because we hope to experience God's Mercy and loving kindness in a special way. Lourdes is a place of Mercy, where we learned Mercy through seeing Mercy." 

And his concluding words:

"As we begin our pilgrimage let us turn to Mary and ask her to intercede for us so that in these we will experience Mercy in abundance and will then go away from this pilgrimage freed and healed, faith-filled, hope-filled and driven by the charity of Jesus Christ to serve him and our neighbour.  Our Lady of Lourdes: pray for us.  Saint Bernadette: pray for us." 

Devotional candles and bath

Away from the Grotto to the western side are self-service candle cabinets and candle-burning stands. The smallest candle cost 2.5 Euro, money collected for the maintenance of the Domain. You can bring your own candles of course. About 800 tonnes of devotional candles are burnt annually.

Further away are the baths, 6 pools for men and 11 for women and children. The women in our group had to queue more than 2 and a half hours to dip in the bath pool. The men less than an hour. About 350,000 pilgrims take to the pools annually. Shown a poster on bath dipping, the pilgrim helped by volunteers.

The Massabielle and the 3 churches
The rock mass containing the Grotto is named Massabielle. Immediately above the Grotto now stand the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception shown in the 1st photo. Within the Basilica is another small church, the Crypt. Further to the left in the 2nd photo is the Rosary Basilica, the 3rd church.

The Crypt
The Crypt, consecrated in 1866, is the 1st church completed in the Domain, and is the smallest. St Bernadette witnessed the consecration. It has seats for 120. The space of the crypt was blasted out from the rock of Massabielle. The Crypt has high Gothic ceilings and 15 chapels. The 2nd photo shows the main altar. The Chapel of St Michael keeps a relic of St Bernadette, last photo.

The Basilica of the Immaculate Conception

The Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, also known as the Upper Basilica, was the 2nd of the churches to be completed. It was built over the Crypt. Consecrated in 1876, it has 550 seats. It is 51 m in length and 21 m in width.

The 1st photo shows the side view of the Basilica, over a high platform on the rock of Massabielle above the Grotto. The Gothic exterior is dominated by a 70 m bell tower. The 2 towers to the left of the photo are not part of it. The 2nd photo shows the view of the Domain taken from the base level of the Basilica. The 3rd photo shows the entrances, the lower door to the Crypt while the upper one to the Upper Basilica.

Above the entrance to the Basilica is a mosaic image of Pope Pius IX, who defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854, last photo.

Inside the church the walls are lined with votive plaques, and banners from pilgrim groups all over the World. It has a series of stained-glass windows depicting various events in the story of Our Lady's apparitions at Lourdes, as well as other Bible scenes.

The Rosary Basilica
Immediately in front of the Upper Basilica and at a lower level is the Rosary Basilica, the 3rd church completed, consecrated in 1901. It has seats for 1,500 and 50 wheel chairs. It is essentially of Romanesque architecture with heavy Byzantine influence. The nave is open and circular, surmounted by a dome, topped with a gilded crown and cross, a gift of the people of Ireland in 1924. Shown the dome and the crown and cross.

The emphasis of this church is the Rosary. When Our Lady of Lourdes appeared to St Bernadette she was said to be holding the rosary in her hand. The Rosary Basilica is based on this theme. The 3 main arches depict the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries. There are 15 Chapels of the 3 Mysteries with mosaics depicting the details of the Mysteries. The mosaics were from the Venetian masters, and the details are based on the paintings from famous artists of the 19th century. Shown 2 chapels.

The 1st photo shows part of the main façade, the decorated tympanum of the main entrance, showing The Virgin handing the Rosary to St Dominic. The façade was modified in 2007 to include a depiction of the Luminous Mysteries, introduced only in 2002. The 2nd photo shows the mosaic image related to the 5th Luminous Mystery: the Institution of the Eucharist.

The ramp and terrace
The Crypt and the Upper Basilica are on a higher level to the Rosary Basilica and the big square, Rosary Square, fronting them. Hence two big gentle ramps were constructed from the upper terrace (space immediately in front of the 2 churches) to curve down on either side of the Rosary Basilica. There are also 2 series of staircases leading from the upper terrace to the Rosary Square. The first 2 photos show the gentle north ramp and the steep staircase, the last 2 show the views at the upper terrace.

Below the ramp on the southern side are several chapels, including that of Our Lady of Guadalupe, 2nd photo.

The iconic facade

The image of the facade of the Rosary Basilica, flanked by the 2 giant ramps and topped by the spire of the Upper Basilica is symbolic to the Domain. In fact the icon of the Sanctuary is a modern-art adoption of the image just described.

Our group photos were taken here. First our big family of 10 adults and 3 kids, and our friends Joe/Lena. The next is the small family group of KC/YL.

The Rosary Square

The open space in front of the Rosary Basilica is known as the Rosary Square, about 130 m long and 85 m wide, which could hold over 50,000. The fringes are dotted with statues and the most famous is the Statue of the Crowned Virgin, erected in 1877, right at the centre of the square. It is a familiar landmark and a traditional meeting point. The statue is 2.5 m high and cast in bronze, painted white and blue in the traditional colours. Her rosary is of the Birgittine style which incorporates six decades. The land beyond the statue shown in the 3rd photo is called the Esplanade.

The Basilica of St Pius X

The Basilica of St. Pius X, also known as the Underground Basilica, is the largest of the churches. It was consecrated in 1958. A modern concrete building, about 191 m by 61 m. It is almost entirely underground. It can accommodate 25,000 people. The nave is oval, and slope gently towards the centre where the sanctuary is located on a raised platform. 36 images of saints and martyrs are placed along the V-columns on the outer fringe of the nave, each accompanied by a short biography, 3rd photo.

The Basilica is decorated with 52 “Gemmail” stained glass images representing scenes in the Apparitions in Lourdes, Stations of the Cross, Mysteries of the Rosary, etc.  “Gemmail” stained glass is a form of stained glass using fused layers of glass fragments developed by the French painter Jean Crotti in the 1930s. Shown also a tiled wall decoration at a chapel. The images and decorations are very modern and “bold”, uncharacteristic for a church.

The Door of Mercy
At the eastern end of the Rosary Square is St Michael's Gate. On this Jubilee Year of Mercy the gate is also the Holy Door of Mercy.

The Chapel of St Joseph
Near St Michael's Gate is this small chapel consecrated in 1968. It has 450 seats and space for 80 wheel chairs. Shown an image of one of the Stations of the Cross.

The St Bernadette Museum

The museum is also located near St Michael's Gate. The exhibits include beautiful stained glass images of all the apparitions and later events. And a shot of the photograph showing the house of St Bernadette’s family.

The hillside Stations of the Cross

Depending on mobility, one can choose to perform the Way of the Cross along 3 different routes. The hillside route has the stations on a track in a wooded hill near to the Rosary Basilica. The length of the track is about 1.6 km. Located along the route are 115 figures of painted iron erected between 1898 and 1911. Each figure is near to 2.0 m in height. The 2nd route is mostly on level ground in the Prairie, a piece of grassland by the Gave River. The 3rd one is suitable for those on wheel-chairs. It is within the Underground Basilica.

The Blessed Sacrament Procession

The Blessed Sacrament procession is held daily at 5.00 pm. The procession begins at the open-air altar in the Prairie, makes its way across the Gave River, passes the Crowned Statue, through the Esplanade to the Cross at the far end, around it, and ends at the Underground Basilica. 

The exact order of the procession varies from time to time. The Blessed Sacrament is usually followed by a group of priests who co-celebrate the rite. Pilgrims in wheelchairs are brought to the front of each group.

The Candlelight Marian Procession

The Candlelight Marian Procession takes place daily at 9.00 pm. It begins outside the Grotto and follows the same route as the Blessed Sacrament Procession. The procession is led by pilgrims bearing a replica of the Cabuchet Statue of the Virgin Mary. Groups usually proceed together under their group banner. Most participants carry a candle with a paper shade.

The focus of this procession is the rosary. All five decades are recited, in a variety of languages. The one we attended had a decade recited in Mandarin. It ends in front of the Rosary Basilica. There is a final blessing and an exchange of the Sign of Peace with fellow pilgrims.

The wheel-chair bound pilgrims and the volunteers
There are many pilgrims on wheel-chairs. The Domain has special vehicles for them, shown parked near the Grotto. And there are many volunteers, young and old, man and women. A great show of Humanity and Love. The young volunteers in the last photo are part of the pilgrimage contingent from the Archdiocese of Dublin.

Hotel du Calvaire

In Lourdes, we stayed 4 nights in Hotel du Calvaire operated by Laura Tan and Peter Hassler. Laura is a Malaysian from Sabah. A small but clean hotel with about 30 rooms. It is less than 5 minutes' walk to the entrance of the Domain. The hotel provides good food and Laura would cook oriental dishes if you prefer them. We have 2 young kids and a baby on this trip and everyday Laura would cook special porridge for the kids. If you are thinking of going to Lourdes, I would recommend you consider staying there. Laura could be reached via WhatsApp at +41 79 133 37 12.

Lourdes

Lourdes is a small market town lying on the foothills of the Pyrenees. Shortly after the claimed apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Bernadette Soubirous it started to grow as a pilgrimage town. Today it receives some 6 million pilgrims a year, making it one of the most important sites of pilgrimage and religious tourism in the World. The population is about 15,000. It has 270 hotels, more hotels than any other city in France except Paris.

The main river is the Gave River separating the Domain from the city centre. Many of the shops are selling pilgrimage souvenirs and bottles for the pilgrims to fill the Lourdes water to take home.

To be continued.....