Lourdes, Je t'aime

This weekend I visited Lourdes, France, where Our Lady appeared in 1858. I arrived to fulfill a promise I made at another Grotto, at a college several thousand miles and an ocean away. As always, notre Dame met our efforts to seek her Son with an outpouring of grace. Despite a train strike in southeast France, our weekend was perfect.

Lourdes is a place to refresh the soul, I realized. It is a small and scenic town, dwarfed by the surrounding Pyrenees mountains and an ancient castle that defines the skyline. Like all the best towns (my theory), Lourdes features a wending river. Better than most towns, its river borders the Grotto and exquisite Basilica.

We visited the Grotto and attended an (English!) Mass within it. We drank from its waters and touched the rock walls. I stared up at a statue with words underneath, "I am the Immaculate Conception". We prayed Morning and Evening Prayer from across the river, close to the spot where Bernadette saw Our Lady for the last time. We visited the Museum of Bernadette and read about the history of the apparitions. We attended an unforgettable night-time Vigil Procession and International Rosary. Candles held aloft in a glowing living stream, the pilgrims saluted our Mother with "Ave Maria" in a moment that transcended tongues and captured the spirit of the universal Church.

Of course, this is me. So, we sang Flight of the Conchords songs about croissants ("Foux da fa fa", anyone?). We ate delightful French food, like crepes and gelato. We met a 10-year-old French boy who serenaded us with Michael Jackson songs- Sarah and I joined in. We impersonated French accents and hoped the people around us didn't speak English. We sipped rosé and laughed and talked. I made delightful new friends Emily and Kristin (I hope I spelled that right), and re-connected with the wonderful Christopher Gautsch and my beloved Sarah Ruszkowski.

And finally, a fortuitous stop-over in Toulouse allowed me to pay homage at the tomb of one of the world's greatest minds, Saint Thomas Aquinas. Here as at Lourdes, I knelt to ask intercession for my friends and family. I thought especially of those who, like me, appreciate beauty and truth- and literature. You know who you are. Sarah commented on the contrast between the two saints of the weekend: Bernadette's illiterate humility and Thomas' brilliant scholastic gifts. Both reveal the universality of God's call to holiness.

We returned to Toledo with peace in our souls, and so many memories... Lourdes, je vraiment t'aime.