Day 6

Tuesday

This morning is the same as yesterday...our gym workout and into work by 7:30. Dishes and swiffering. But today, we meet a new friend. This one from Italy. Her name is Sandra, and she speaks no English. We speak no Italian, and neither do Martine or Celine, the French ladies who are responsible for us. Somehow we communicate, though-barely. It is Sandra's 5th year to volunteer here.

Here we are in the dishwashing room. Me, Sandra, Celine, Martine, and Angela. Angela washes the dishes while Sandra and I dry them.

 

There are 116 Irish pilgrims on the St Clare floor, and that's a lot of dishes! 

That's not including drinking glasses, serving dishes, or silverware. It's pretty hot in the dish room, but we work well together. It's a place full of "The Joy of Mission". Once the dishes are washed, dried and stacked back in their cupboards, ther is swiffering to do. There is ALWAYS swiffering to do. 116 pilgrims and all their helpers kick up a lot of dust!

When we finish for the day, Angela and I decide to spend some time in the adoration chapel. First we stop by the grotto to let George know our lunch schedule. The chapel is just beautiful, and warm. There is steady rain as we make our way through the Sanctuary, and we are glad to spend some time sitting in the presence of Jesus. It is very crowded with pilgrims, and as always one of the sisters whose order is responsible for 24 hour adoration of the Blessed Sacrament here at Lourdes.

 (Photo to come) 

When we finally leave we discover we have spent over an hour. Where did the time go? It's definitely time for a little snack! We head to a favorite cafe-The New Orleans. We have hot drinks, because it is still cold and rainy, and Angela has a waffle with chocolate and whipped cream. I have a Basque gateau, which is a local favorite, and mine too, while I am in Lourdes. It's not chocolate, but is warm and yummy. I must learn to make this at home! We stroll through the town shopping and find a familiar chocolatier from our last time in Lourdes and pay her a visit. Orange peel covered in dark 

chocolate! We pass by the North American Volunteers' house in Lourdes! Guadeloupe  House. It needs a lot of work, but we both want to come back to volunteer in this house to make it a place of welcome for English speaking pilgrims in Lourdes. 

Soon it's back to work,  off to lunch, and then afternoon naptime!

After our evening shift and a quick dinner we head to the St. Patrick Chapel for a Mass just for English-speaking volunteers. It is a simple chapel, but I love the artwork. And Father Paul is 

celebrating Mass for us. Bonus! A beautiful Mass: great singing, all our friends, and Fr. Paul.

Then guess what? Back to Casa Italia. We discuss our day with the group and talk about the changes coming for the Sanctuary at Lourdes, and what it will mean for pilgrims. They throw us out at 10:00 when they close. It's still raining as we head up the hill to our rooms. It is a very cold night, and it hardly seems possible we were in short sleeves just a day ago. It seems like we've been here forever, and we are getting into our routines, so we can't believe we only started our work 2 days ago on Sunday.  We talk about how good it is to be here, and just how blessed we are. Only a few more days of service left. How can we be so happy when it is cold and rainy,  and we are tired and sore? It's hard to explain, but it's this place, it's the pilgrims: we just love it here. That's why we keep coming back!