Day 4

Lourdes is the same yet different every time. Much like the Mass, it holds something new each time yet remains timeless. In Lourdes, the constants are the pilgrim (me), the people, the service. Even the everyday things of life: weather, food, communication suddenly take on new aspects in Lourdes. It's as if here nothing is commonplace. Perhaps it is the absence of distraction which makes everything more focussed and pure and holy.

Being here now at 5:00 - with the birds singing to welcome the coming dawn - it's still dark and I can hear the rushing of the River Gave outside my window. Sending my husband out to be at the Grotto for 5:30 mass, I feel so blessed in my life. To be here, in this place and time is such a gift and a privilege.
I am reminded this is not a trip or a visit or a vacation. We are on pilgrimage. The penance, the prayers, the service, the community, all are part of our journey, our growing. Lourdes is different for me each time I come mainly because I am different and partly because it is different. Each time, I bring new hopes, prayers, worries and concerns. Each year, each life event changes me. I'm older now than on my first visit and the 12 years is evident with each day's walk and work. I knew I wasn't fit when I embarked on this pilgrimage but I didn't realize how unfit I was.

Yesterday Angela and I had our first day on the St Clare floor. It began at 8:00 after a typical Lourdes breakfast of bread and jam and hot chocolate ( for me) and tea for Angela. At St Clare we helped with breakfast dishes and met our new German friends Ruth and Margaret who spoke English and another lady who spoke passionate German of which I understood nothing. I smiled and nodded. I'm reminded of my original pilgrimage again when I was told that a smile is the international language of Lourdes. It works every time. The French pilgrims left today, the Irish are arriving and that means we need to get the rooms ready: lots of swiffering to be done. This is the same job I had on my very first pilgrimage- not what I wanted to do! But I've learned that each job here is about the pilgrims.
Even though I may not know who will be in the rooms, it is important that they are clean and ready to welcome their new inhabitants.
Somewhere in our day we manage a trip to the Grotto, finally, to say a quick hello to Our Lady and offer a prayer of thanks for safe journeys and the chance to be in this holy place again.
After dinner with George, he's off to bed and we are off to a GREAT concert by the German Military Band!