Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Cast of Characters
Here we are after receiving our job assignments. From left: Theresa Kearney, George Kearney, Angela McGinlay, Denis DeWinter, Linda DeWinter.
Monday, May 18, 2015
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!
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!
Sunday, May 17, 2015
Day 3
Day 3
Today we arrive in Lourdes!!! But I get ahead of myself. Linda and Denis oversleep, and just as Angela, George and I head into breakfast, the fire alarm sounds! We are tempted to ignore it until a cook hurries from the kitchen telling us to hurry out by the wave of her hands and the concerned look on her face. Once in the street, we decide to find a shop and have a cold breakfast. While Angela and I share a Jesuite and a twisted pastry filled with chocolate, George enjoys a ham, egg, and cheese baguette. There's a market in the square, so I buy some delicious strawberries to enjoy on the train. Later the taxi man managed to shoehorn the 5 of us, 4 large bags, a medium bag, and 6 small bags into one taxi for the trip to the train station. Luckily, it was a short journey. Once at the station, during the unloading of taxi, I tripped on a baggage strap and ended up on the pavement. More embarrassed than injured, we carried on, and soon were loading all our bags on the fast train to Bayonne. One hour and forty a minutes later, after a journey through the lovely French countryside, we arrived at Lourdes,station. It was a scramble to get all the bags off the train before it pulled away and left us on the platform. Soon another taxi man was duped into helping us load the bags into his taxi. Soon we were once again packed tightly in the cars,and heading to our accommodations. After dropping our bags we went to register and get our job assignments at the bureau. but on our way, a surprise!! We meet our Italian friend Luciano as we walk toward the offices-a little reunion and introductions and we go our separate ways to meet up again later. The check-in process goes amazingly smoothly thanks to Angela's impressive French skills (It is always helpful if you know someone who speaks a little French when you come to Lourdes.) Assignment time!!! George receives a longed for assignment at the Grotto with Luciano. Angela and I are working in the Accueil, doing dishes and sweeping up. Linda is again a sacristan and Denis is in the baths for the 2nd time. There are so many different places to work! We are staying at the Villa Marie Bernadette, a beautiful old villa just outside the sanctuary on a hill overlooking the River Gave. Our window opens to the river, so we can hear the water, and see the life of the sanctuary without leaving about room. Angela and I find out we need to report to work tomorrow morning at 8:00 am to the St Clare floor of the Accueil Notre Dame- the 4th floor. We all meet up for dinner in the cafeteria and make a our way back to the rooms. It has been an eventful day, and even though it's only 9:30, I drop exhausted into my bed and fall asleep to the sound of the candlelight procession outside my window. Later I hear the military bands playing into the night. It is the week of the Worldwide Military Pilgrimage for Peace, which began after WWII. It is something to witness, with regiments from around the world in uniform, and bands playing in the streets.
Today we arrive in Lourdes!!! But I get ahead of myself. Linda and Denis oversleep, and just as Angela, George and I head into breakfast, the fire alarm sounds! We are tempted to ignore it until a cook hurries from the kitchen telling us to hurry out by the wave of her hands and the concerned look on her face. Once in the street, we decide to find a shop and have a cold breakfast. While Angela and I share a Jesuite and a twisted pastry filled with chocolate, George enjoys a ham, egg, and cheese baguette. There's a market in the square, so I buy some delicious strawberries to enjoy on the train. Later the taxi man managed to shoehorn the 5 of us, 4 large bags, a medium bag, and 6 small bags into one taxi for the trip to the train station. Luckily, it was a short journey. Once at the station, during the unloading of taxi, I tripped on a baggage strap and ended up on the pavement. More embarrassed than injured, we carried on, and soon were loading all our bags on the fast train to Bayonne. One hour and forty a minutes later, after a journey through the lovely French countryside, we arrived at Lourdes,station. It was a scramble to get all the bags off the train before it pulled away and left us on the platform. Soon another taxi man was duped into helping us load the bags into his taxi. Soon we were once again packed tightly in the cars,and heading to our accommodations. After dropping our bags we went to register and get our job assignments at the bureau. but on our way, a surprise!! We meet our Italian friend Luciano as we walk toward the offices-a little reunion and introductions and we go our separate ways to meet up again later. The check-in process goes amazingly smoothly thanks to Angela's impressive French skills (It is always helpful if you know someone who speaks a little French when you come to Lourdes.) Assignment time!!! George receives a longed for assignment at the Grotto with Luciano. Angela and I are working in the Accueil, doing dishes and sweeping up. Linda is again a sacristan and Denis is in the baths for the 2nd time. There are so many different places to work! We are staying at the Villa Marie Bernadette, a beautiful old villa just outside the sanctuary on a hill overlooking the River Gave. Our window opens to the river, so we can hear the water, and see the life of the sanctuary without leaving about room. Angela and I find out we need to report to work tomorrow morning at 8:00 am to the St Clare floor of the Accueil Notre Dame- the 4th floor. We all meet up for dinner in the cafeteria and make a our way back to the rooms. It has been an eventful day, and even though it's only 9:30, I drop exhausted into my bed and fall asleep to the sound of the candlelight procession outside my window. Later I hear the military bands playing into the night. It is the week of the Worldwide Military Pilgrimage for Peace, which began after WWII. It is something to witness, with regiments from around the world in uniform, and bands playing in the streets.
Friday, May 15, 2015
Day 1 and 2
Day 1 has completely passed us by! We arrive at the Dayton airport in plenty of time, with only one glitch: our driver, Emma, has come down with tonsillitis! Several texts and phone calls later, our niece Samantha steps into the breech and delivers us. We are now in our 3rd airport, with one more to go before we reach our destination. In Brussels Airport I get my first Belgian stamp in my passport! Although the clock tells me it's 8:35 am Friday, my body is telling me it's 3:35 am and it wants to sleep. But we will be meeting up with Angela soon,and there will be so much to catch up on that I know I won't be able to sleep until much later. Our flight toToulouse leaves in about an hour, and should take about an hour and a half. Then a bus will hopefully take the 3 of us right to the hotel. So far no complications-a very smooth trip. It is cloudy and drizzly here...about what we expected. As tired as we are, the excitement is building, wondering what assignment we will receive. But that is still a few days in the future.
We are now in Toulouse, France. We do indeed meet up with Angela, and talk non-stop for the entire flight. Hard to believe, I know! A taxi delivers us to our hotel in a quaint but central section of the city, and after lunch in the pizzeria next door, a 4 hour nap and a shower, we are ready to welcome our friends from England and head to dinner.
We meet Denis and Linda in the lobby, and have a lovely stroll around the city before deciding on a French restaurant, just round the corner from the hotel. It has taken us about an hour to get there and about 3 minutes to get home. Delicious food and even more delicious conversations shared with a few friend make a perfect end to two very long days.
Tomorrow we head into Lourdes on the fast train.
We are now in Toulouse, France. We do indeed meet up with Angela, and talk non-stop for the entire flight. Hard to believe, I know! A taxi delivers us to our hotel in a quaint but central section of the city, and after lunch in the pizzeria next door, a 4 hour nap and a shower, we are ready to welcome our friends from England and head to dinner.
We meet Denis and Linda in the lobby, and have a lovely stroll around the city before deciding on a French restaurant, just round the corner from the hotel. It has taken us about an hour to get there and about 3 minutes to get home. Delicious food and even more delicious conversations shared with a few friend make a perfect end to two very long days.
Tomorrow we head into Lourdes on the fast train.
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Day0
Only one day left before we fly back to Lourdes. My husband and I are so looking forward to returning after 2 years away. Finishing packing tonight, then our niece Emma will be delivering us to the airport in the morning. This time tomorrow we will be in the air!
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