Lying in the foothills of the Pyrénées in south-western France, Lourdes is famous for the apparitions of Our Lady to Bernadette Soubirous in 1858. The location is spectacular: you have the contrast of rough stone church spires, eggshell colored houses and dark tiled roofs. The valley is punctuated with very tall poplar trees and embroidered by pretty winding rivers.
The point of the visit of course is ground zero: the scene of Bernadette’s religious vision. Since Lourdes has this weird suddenly one way street traffic plan, it is better to walk. In fact Lourdes is a pedestrian town meant to encourage walks and strolls.
The path to the sanctuary is an amusing display of honky tonk religious shops lining Boulevard de la Grotte where you must pass in order to get to the sanctuary. The shops are quite tacky and display Virgin Mary night light statuettes, a bijouterie of rosaries in wood, plastic and porcelain, Lourdes water bottles in every shape possible: cross shaped, Mary shaped, round, square, octagonal, made of plastic, glass, vinyl.
But suddenly you are the end of the boulevard, at St. Michael’s Gate. The gate is topped by three archangels and you get the feeling you are now free of the tourist trap. At the end of the lane is the 120,000 foot Rosary Square with two ramps framing the Basilica of the Our Lady of the Rosary, and beyond and atop that, the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (Basilique de l’Immaculée Conception), also known as the Upper Basilica.
The church bells peal to the tune of the hymn Ave Maria , calling the faithful to prayer, mesmerizing you to respond so you follow the throng forming a line for the rosary. The continuous mass praying of the Ave Maria, the Hail Mary is somewhat hypnotic and by the time you get to the Grotto, you are calm and prayerful and are truly moved. The prayers at night are magical as thousands of candles flicker like fireflies around the Marian square. The pilgrims, led by malades in wheelchairs chant Ave, Ave, Ave Mariam in supplication.
Right around the Prayer Path is the Grotto, its rocks smoothened by more than a century of touching and rubbing and on the floor of the Grotto is a port hole where the original miraculous spring itself continues to gurgle forth the holy spring. Long troughs with spigots provide water from this spring for the faithful to drink or collect. There is holiness to this drinking or collecting as pilgrims chant quiet prayers around the spigots.
The Original miraculous spring
Pilgrims continually light candles in the metal prayer stalls, representing prayers and offerings for special people or causes.
When I was there sharp needles of rain poured on everyone but the candles did not die out and the pilgrims, caught up in the trance of the prayer were impervious to the cold wind and the freezing rain.
The real miracle at Lourdes today is being able to go past the Las Vegas atmosphere of the pilgrim trap outside, to enter a sanctuary of prayer and discover that the abstract power of the spirit is still there, somewhere within you.
Honestly Chona, from teacher to fish farmer to world wanderer. Where to next?
Philip
Hello dear P – honestly writing on the fly is what keeps the sanity . . . C
where will you go next? and who are you with?
and now i discovere P on your blog… P where are you? It’s been years!
Would love a day where we could all be together once again!