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BY ERIKA ANDERSON
Staff Writer
LOURDES, France--The soft glow from candles held by thousands in honor of
the Blessed Mother accompanied the prayers of the rosary recited in dozens of
languages.
Volunteers in red shirts helped to push the wheelchairs of those who were
too sick or crippled to walk, but whose faith brought them to the small French
town where Mary appeared to St. Bernadette 141 years ago.
It was the sixth day of a 12-day pilgrimage led by Archbishop John F.
Donoghue to Marian shrines in Portugal and France. Forty-eight pilgrims
representing several parishes and over 18 cities in North Georgia joined the
archbishop. Father John Murphy, pastor of the Shrine of the Immaculate
Conception, Atlanta, and Father Darragh Griffith, parochial vicar at Holy Cross
Church in Atlanta, were among those on the pilgrimage.
The candlelight procession in Lourdes reminded Father Murphy of another
important event in church history.
“Though we were all speaking in different languages, we were all
understanding the Spirit of God,” he said, recalling the Lourdes
procession.
“As it got darker, the candles became like one big mass of light, much
like the tongues of fire of Pentecost.”
In a Mass celebrated at Lourdes, the archbishop spoke of the spiritual value
of a pilgrimage.
“When we are pilgrims, we confront directly a fundamental question in
our lives--whether we are in charge of our own destinies, our own fates, our
own futures--however you want to say it--or whether we place ourselves entirely
on the hands of God,” he said.
“When we are pilgrims, we practice to become completely trusting in God
-- by going to places where we are not at home and where our comfort to a great
degree depends upon the charity of strangers -- by confronting our own
weaknesses in comparison to the strong virtues of the hero saints … and by
consciously attempting in our hearts, to make our own, the sentiments, the
dispositions, the feelings of these holy men and women.”
The pilgrimage from July 18-29 gave people an opportunity to grow in
relationship with Mary and to walk in the footsteps of saints.
As they boarded a plane in Atlanta, people spoke of their desire to grow in
their spiritual life.
Catherine McNeill, a parishioner of Queen of Angels Church, Thomson, felt
that, as a convert to Catholicism almost two years ago, the pilgrimage was a
special opportunity for her.
“As a relatively new Catholic, I just saw this as such a gift,”
she said. “It was a desire of mine to develop a relationship with Mary,
which was an opportunity that I had not had as a Protestant.”
On the first day, the pilgrims, accompanied by a local guide, toured Lisbon,
Portugal, visiting the cathedral and the birthplace of St. Anthony of Padua.
En route to Fatima, the group stopped at the Church of the Holy Miracle in
Santarem, where a miracle of the Eucharist took place.
In the 1200s, a woman who was convinced her husband was unfaithful sought
advice from a sorceress who promised her husband would change his ways if she
brought her a consecrated host. Though the woman knew this was wrong, she went
to Communion at the church, but did not consume the Eucharist. As she left
Mass, the host began to bleed. Overcome by fear, the woman went home and put
the Eucharist in a trunk.
That night, the couple awakened to see a bright light shining from the
trunk, illuminating the room. The wife told her husband of the incident and
both spent the night kneeling in adoration. A priest was called, who took the
Eucharist back to the church in a wax container in a solemn procession.
The next time the priest opened the tabernacle, he noticed the wax container
had broken into many pieces and in its place was a crystal container with the
blood inside. The miraculous host is kept in a tabernacle high above the altar
at the church, where the archbishop celebrated the first Mass of the
pilgrimage. Following Mass, pilgrims climbed up the stairs behind the altar to
view the miraculous host.
From Santarem, the pilgrims continued on to Fatima, where they spent two
days at the site of this important Marian visitation that occurred early in
this century.
In 1917 Mary appeared six times to three young children, Jacinta and
Francisco Marto and their cousin, Lucia dos Santos, who was to become a
Carmelite nun. Jacinta died in 1919 and Francisco in 1920. During these
apparitions in a field called Cova da Iria, Mary encouraged people to pray the
rosary often and to offer works of mortification for the conversion of sinners.
She also asked that the people of Russia be consecrated to her Immaculate Heart
and that the faithful make a Communion of reparation on the first Saturday of
each month.
Pilgrims frequent the basilica of Fatima, often walking the path around the
site of the apparitions on their knees in thanksgiving or in reparation for
their sins or the sins of others.
Participating in the first candlelight vigil in Fatima, which he called
“peaceful and prayerful,” Father Murphy said gave him the opportunity
to feel the unity among fellow Catholics of other nations.
“There was a sense of connection with the history of the church and the
universal church,” he said. “All of those different languages really
hit home the universality of our church and that we are a part of a bigger
thing.”
During the two days in Fatima, the archbishop celebrated Mass at the Chapel
of Apparitions, where Mary appeared to the three children, and at the basilica.
Father Murphy said it was the celebration of the Eucharist that brought the
pilgrims together.
“We started off and we didn’t know each other, but once we
celebrated the Eucharist, we immediately had a sense of community,” he
said. “We were our own small little church, representing the church of
Atlanta.”
The pilgrims traveled from Fatima into Spain, along the way taking in the
sights of the beautiful countryside dotted with fields of bright yellow
sunflowers. As they traveled on the bus and throughout the day, the pilgrims
prayed the rosary frequently.
Joe Nault, a parishioner at Holy Trinity Church in Peachtree City, belongs
to a rosary group. He has been on several pilgrimages and said that he felt
especially grateful for the opportunity for prayer.
“I just feel more fulfilled,” he said. “Having the Masses
said and praying the rosary on the bus every day just made it a spiritually
fulfilling trip. It was probably the best trip of my life.”
The group stopped in Burgos, the birthplace of the Spanish national hero,
“El Cid,” before continuing their journey to Loyola, home of St.
Ignatius, founder of the Jesuit order. As a young man, Ignatius was destined
for great military fame and fortune until a cannon ball shattered his leg.
While recovering, he read books on the life of Christ and the saints and began
a long, painful turning to Christ. Following his conversion, he went on to
become a priest and to found the Jesuits in 1534 at the age of 33.
Fred Mohr, a parishioner of Christ Our King and Savior Church in Greensboro,
said he was especially touched by the life of St. Ignatius. He said it brought
him comfort that though many of the saints were poor, the wealthy, such as St.
Ignatius, also were invited to follow Christ to sanctity.
“God called the ordinary people, those in poverty and the wealthier
class as well,” he said. “It shows that the calling that God puts out
covers all strata.”
From Loyola, the pilgrims made their way to Lourdes, France, the site of
perhaps the most celebrated Marian apparition in Europe. Here Our Lady appeared
to 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous, a peasant girl who suffered from severe
asthma, in 1858 and proclaimed, “I am the Immaculate Conception.”
When Mary appeared to Bernadette in a rocky grotto, she asked that a chapel
be built on the site and told her, “Go and drink from the spring and wash
yourself in it.”
No spring was to be seen, but when Bernadette dug in the place where Mary
showed her, a spring began to flow. The water still flows and has been
harnessed and channeled into 17 baths and 34 fountains, where visitors fill
bottles to carry home.
Many who are sick come to Lourdes hoping to experience a purification of
body and soul. There have been 2,000 unexplained and recorded healings at
Lourdes, although only 65 of these have been officially recognized as miracles
by the church.
Over 400,000 people bathe in the Lourdes waters each year. Assisted by
volunteers, pilgrims are submerged into the waters in private bathing areas
that each hold a statue of Mary.
Mohr and his wife, Velma, had a unique experience in Lourdes that they
believe was a blessing from God.
When she arrived at the hotel, Mrs. Mohr slipped on the stairs, badly
twisting her ankle. Wanting to accept God’s will and facing the
possibility that she might have to return home, Mrs. Mohr decided to be
submerged in the baths, something she said she would not have done otherwise.
“It was a wonderful experience,” she said. “I have always had
a great devotion to our Blessed Mother, but I just felt so very close to her in
the baths.”
Though she still had to nurse her ankle throughout the trip, she felt strong
enough to continue on the pilgrimage. She believes that God had a reason for
her injury and wanted her to experience the baths. Her husband agrees.
“I feel as Velma does that that accident happened for a reason,”
he said. “The good Lord works in strange and wondrous ways.”
The rest of the pilgrims, following the celebration of Mass, went on a
walking tour, visiting the place where Bernadette lived during the time of the
apparitions.
McNeill said that being in the places where the saints lived is an
experience that has showered her with many “blessings and graces.”
“There is just something very precious and very sacred to me about
being in the places where they lived and where they prayed,” she said.
The pilgrims left Lourdes after a day and a half and proceeded to
Paray-Le-Monial, where in 1647 Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary, a Sister of
the Visitation, an order represented in the Archdiocese of Atlanta, and
revealed to her his Sacred Heart. After celebrating Sunday Mass, the pilgrims
spent time in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
This experience was especially meaningful for Chris Paciorek, coordinator of
the perpetual adoration chapel at Corpus Christi Church, Stone Mountain.
“He gave St. Margaret Mary his Heart and asked her to love him, the
same way he’s calling us to love him in the Blessed Sacrament,” she
said. “His giving her his Heart reminds me of how he’s given that to
us in the Eucharist.”
The pilgrims then continued to the town that holds St. Gildard, the
motherhouse of the Sisters of Charity of Nevers. Bernadette spent the end of
her life in this Nevers convent after leaving Lourdes, fulfilling her dream of
becoming a Religious, until she died at the age of 35 following a painful
illness. In the chapel, the pilgrims were able to view Bernadette’s
incorrupt body.
After attending Mass in the chapel, the pilgrims were led on a
“Footsteps of Bernadette” tour by a sister. The nun gave the pilgrims
the opportunity to pray and experience the life of Bernadette. Katie Paciorek,
a parishioner at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Atlanta, said that walking in
Bernadette’s footsteps was a moving experience.
“I just felt a total peace there,” she said. “There was
something about it that really got to me. There was an aura of holiness. The
nun was just a total witness of faith and of God.”
The pilgrims then traveled from Nevers to Paris, where they would spend the
last days of the trip. They also visited Lisieux, the home of St. Therese of
the Child Jesus, a Carmelite nun whose exemplary life was made famous by her
diary “Story of a Soul.” St. Therese served for a short time as the
mistress of novices in her order, but was stricken with tuberculosis, which
took her life. By order of her superior, who was also her sister, St. Therese
wrote of her experiences and the book is now one of the most widely read
autobiographies.
The huge basilica was consecrated in 1954 in honor of St. Therese, who was
canonized in 1925. Also known as “The Little Flower,” St. Therese was
named a Doctor of the Church in 1997 by Pope John Paul II.
The Atlanta pilgrims attended Mass in the Carmel Chapel of the basilica and
visited her crypt.
In Paris, the pilgrims were allowed free time to sightsee and many pilgrims
visited the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre museum. They toured Notre Dame
Cathedral and attended their final Mass at the Chapel of the Miraculous Medal
at Rue de Bac. It was at this chapel where Mary appeared to St. Catherine
Laboure in 1830 and presented her with the Miraculous Medal. St.
Catherine’s body, which, like St. Bernadette’s, is incorrupt, lies in
the chapel.
During this final Mass, the archbishop expressed his gratitude for the
saints and the examples of holiness that they have shown. He encouraged the
pilgrims to desire to live their lives as the saints they learned about on the
pilgrimage.
“Let us thank God for all the saints, for the beacons who reflect the
light of Truth is such dramatic and moving ways, and who lead us by their
extraordinary virtues,” he said. “But let us also beseech His Holy
Spirit, if it is the will of the Father, to lead us down safer, less vivid
paths, paths of quiet miracles, of humble hopes, and of steady, ever-ready
faith.”
As the pilgrims boarded the plane home for Atlanta on July 29, many of them
were tired, but refreshed spiritually.
“It was just a beautiful experience,” said Chris Paciorek.
“You got to experience all the places you read about and you just felt the
presence of the Lord and of Mary.”
For Paciorek, who made the pilgrimage with her 22-year-old daughter, the
trip was a chance for them to grow closer.
“We were able to pray together as mother and daughter and we grew in
our love for each other through prayer,” she said.
Katie said that she went on the pilgrimage to deepen her own spiritual life
but also feels she grew in relationship with her mother as a result of the
trip.
“I really think I was able to get closer to my mom, not only as mother
and daughter but as friends. It was nice too, being able to share spirituality
with her,” she said.
Katie said that her mother has been the primary teacher of her Catholic
faith and that it made the trip special to experience it with her.
“Just watching her and being with her, she has a real holiness and
being on the trip with her even intensified that holiness,” she said.
“It was a true honor to be there with my mother.”
The special bond between husbands and wives who celebrate their faith
together was also evident on the trip.
Velma Mohr, who has been married for 41 years, has gone on six or seven
pilgrimages. This was the first time her husband was able to accompany her and
she feels that it has strengthened their marriage.
“The fact that he was just so willing to go on this pilgrimage was a
grace that God gave him,” she said. “It has definitely strengthened
our marriage. We look at each other and we know that we’re thinking the
same thing without saying it.”
Mohr also feels that he was able to grow closer to his wife.
“I have a deeper perspective on her feelings on many things in our
religion and the reasons she goes on these pilgrimages,” he said.
“Sometimes ladies see a little deeper into their religion than men do and
I truly feel that I have a deeper appreciation of our faith.”
Many of the pilgrims also said that getting to know Archbishop Donoghue was
an added benefit of the pilgrimage.
“The archbishop is just such a wonderful leader,” Nault said.
“It was really an honor to experience the trip with him.”
Pilgrims who did not know each other before the trip said they developed
friendships that would last a lifetime.
“The camaraderie and pleasantness of traveling with other people was a
great experience,” said Fred Mohr. “The trip was not only beneficial
in the religious sense, but just the fellowship and the camaraderie made it
very worthwhile for me.”
Katie Paciorek said she learned a lot about herself and her faith because of
the trip.
“This is definitely not a vacation, though you do have time to
relax,” she said. “But it’s so worth it because you really do
grow in your faith.”
“I learned that you really have to focus on what you’re there
for,” she said. “You’re not there to shop or to eat different
foods, but to increase your spirituality, and I learned that it doesn’t
matter what country you’re in or where you are, Jesus is present.”
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