Perhaps you are wondering what we’ve been doing during these weeks of pilgrimage, weeks “wasted for God” as our fearless leader Fr. Anthony has stressed.
After a few days of service and adjustment in Nouan, France, we spent a day in Paris, taking in the city and ascending to Sacred Heart Basilica. (Paris was the first time some of our group had been on subways, so that was fun to witness!). From there, we went to the motherhouse of the Community of the Beatitudes in Blagnac, outside Toulouse. The house itself was amazing, having started as a Trappistine house, then serving as a Dominican cloister before coming to the Community of the Beatitudes.
Finally, we had the better part of a week in Lourdes, where Mary appeared to St. Bernadette in 1858. Wow! After the lean pandemic years, Lourdes is back in action, with nightly Eucharistic and Marian processions attended by thousands of pilgrims speaking every language imaginable.
Sr. Eliana had a beautiful insight about the atmosphere of peace at Lourdes: it is like a reversal of the Tower of Babel. Then, man sought his own glory and suffered the division of language and the human family in consequence. At Lourdes, pilgrims come together in love of Jesus and confidence in God’s goodness and though they speak many languages, they are nonetheless united.
Now we are going to another major Marian shrine: Fatima. From there, we begin our walk to Coombes. Suddenly, World Youth Day is feeling close!
Union de prieres!
- Sr. Agnes Therese Davis, T.O.R.
