LOURDES: Pilgrimage to a sacred place

Jan 19 2008 by Kevin Pilley, Liverpool Daily Post

Kevin Pilley joins the devout on a pilgrimage to Lourdes

THE giant candles kept on arriving. Wheelchairs stacked up along the banks of the Gave river. Nuns and nurses kissed the ground. The queues for the baths lengthened.

A hunched-up old lady in a black shawl whispered to the wall, petitioning the rockface. "In your heart I place all my anguish and it is there that I gain strength and courage."

Pushed towards the famous Massabielle grotto, a frail hollow-cheeked man in a bath-chair, a rug over his knees and reading from a small book, muttered: "Mary, you showed yourself to Bernadette in the crevice of the rock in the cold and grey of winter. You are the Immaculate Conception. Come to aid the sinners that we are. Guide us to the source of true life. Teach us to pray for all people."

Some of the faithful walked the steep, wooded "Way of the Cross" up on the hill of Esplugues above the Sanctuaries. Others held their hands under the stainless steel taps and sluiced their faces with holy water.

Some were at prayer in the underground basilica. Some fed the ducks from the Bridge of Baths. Others sat in deep contemplation on benches and chairs, their eyes closed, listening to the outside Mass.

Welcome to Lourdes in the Hautes-Pyrenees in south west France, home to 15,000 residents and 25,000 visitors every day.

They come as pilgrims to see a marble statue of the Virgin Mary in a rock ledge in a cave, and to be welcomed by the outstretched arms of the Basilica Rosarie.

Sixty-six masses are said each day in 40 places of worship within the 51-hectare sacred complex. In France, only Paris has more hotels than Lourdes.

Charter flights and trains bring in six million visitors each year.

But they're not all Roman Catholics, the site is popular with everyone. Mary is venerated in the Koran and Muslims mix with Christians and other faiths.

"Everyone is welcome and expected here," said a young Irish priest. He was holding a 2m-high vigil candle.

Around 750 tonnes of candles are burnt every year at Lourdes and there is a torchlight procession every night at 9pm from April to October in which thousands take part.

"The candles represent God's presence," the priest added. "The flickering flame His illuminating light. The white candles signify a divine pillar of cloud. They are a test of faith as they are very heavy!"

"The disabled and diseased and marginalised are in the majority here," said an English pilgrim. He carried a two-litre plastic jerry can of complimentary cave water.

"Pope John Paul II said Lourdes is the place where heaven and earth pursue a dialogue.

"Lourdes is very special. It has been blessed. Some come for adoration. Or consolation. Or confession. To call for intercession or to renew their baptismal vows. Or to remember the Beatitudes. Others just to observe. Hope and fraternity are palpable here. Kindness too. You find yourself in a sea of people devoted to the service of others."

This year sees the 150th anniversary of the first apparition, when, on February 11, 1858, the Virgin Mary appeared to 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous while she was collecting firewood. Seventeen apparitions of "Aquero" (the Lady) followed until July 16 of that year.

On the new Jubilee Walk you see Bernadette's birthplace and "le cachot" (or dungeon) in the Rue Petits-Fosses where she lived in poverty after her father lost his mill business, and cholera struck the town. You can also visit the church where she received her first Communion and the nearby village of Bartres where she tended sheep.

To mark the anniversary, events will be held throughout the year. Until March 28 there will be 12 missions including a Mission for Peace, for Inter-Religious Dialogue and For Young People.