Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 8.
Route: Grottes de Bettharam -- Lourdes -- Fabreges (sleep for the night)
Must-Incur Costs :
1) None incurred
The Story
080915: After Grottes de Bettharam, we were off to Lourdes which was just a 30 minute drive away. It was Prof Sweet Tooth who suggested to stop in Lourdes because he read of a 14-year old girl who saw the apparition of Mother Mary 18 times. I agreed immediately to the suggestion. I just was not aware on how huge the church was and the place was filled with so many faithful Catholic followers.
Lourdes is a small market town lying in the foothills of the Pyrenees. In 1858, Lourdes rose to prominence in France and abroad due to the Marian apparitions seen by the peasant girl Bernadette Soubirous, who was later canonized. The Virgin Mary appeared to Marie-Bernadette Soubirous on a total of eighteen occasions at Lourdes. Shortly thereafter the city became one of the world's most important sites of pilgrimage and religious tourism. Today Lourdes hosts around six million visitors every year from all corners of the world. This constant stream of pilgrims transformed quiet Lourdes into the third most important site of international Catholic pilgrimage after Rome and the Holy Land. (Source from Wikipedia)
We walked into the huge park where the pathway leads us to the church. The word is actually a Rosary Basilica.
The Basilica of our Lady of the Rosary is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica within the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in France. Its main theme is a celebration and depiction of the Rosary. (Source from Wikipedia)
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes or the Domain (as it is most commonly known) is an area of ground surrounding the Catholic shrine (Grotto) to Our Lady of Lourdes in the town of Lourdes, France. The Sanctuary is a destination for pilgrimage; sick pilgrims are reputed to be miraculously healed by Lourdes water. This ground is owned and administrated by the Roman Catholic Church, and has several functions, including devotional activities, offices, and accommodation for sick pilgrims and their helpers. The Domain includes the Grotto itself, the nearby taps which dispense the Lourdes water, and the offices of the Lourdes Medical Bureau, as well as several churches and basilicas. It comprises an area of 51 hectares, and includes 22 separate places of worship. There are six official languages of the Sanctuary: French, English, Italian, Spanish, Dutch and German. (Source from Wikipedia)
As we walked further into the park, we saw the Rosary Basilica. The structure was beautiful. From here, I could hear soft voices singing 'Ava Maria'. There was a prayer session going on and the voices were melodious.
Anyone can light up candles for prayers. I was very surprised to see the size of these candles. The candles can be purchased in the church or in Lourdes town. The town is not very far. Everything is within walking distance.
This is the Grotto where 14-year-old peasant girl named Bernadette Soubirous claimed to have experienced a series of apparitions of a girl dressed in white and with a blue belt around her waist, who eventually introduced herself as the Immaculate Conception, a name by which the Virgin Mary was known. (Source from Wikipedia)
Everyone was queuing to touch the stone where Mother Mary appeared.
This is the place where spring water can be drank from and prohibited from being collected but not many people understand the large display of signboard that forbids collecting the water.
The proper place to collect the spring water was about a 100metres away from where everyone was wrongly collecting from. We collected some spring water here because our 10 liter water storage was finished.
Some of the candles that are for sale. The candles sold in the church ground are more expensive (EUR2.50 for thin candles, EUR5.50 for thick candles of the same length) than the ones sold in town, but it is much nearer buying in the church ground. For one to leave the church grounds, you will have to walk about 500 metres.
And behold, Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes. The grounds is huge, and I could not take a proper panaromic view of one end of the church till the other. Let me tell you, the architectural was incredible. Maybe incredible is an understatement. Can you give me a word that is powerful enough to describe stunning + amazing + splendid + superb + beautiful + jaw dropping in awe? It is just wow. Also, the art on the wall is made of mosaic! It is so in detail. And oh, there is WiFi too. That surprised me.
This is at the top of the church. There are stairs and also an ascending slope for those in wheelchairs.
From the top, I could see many people walking towards the Sanctuary. Most of them were elderly and in wheelchairs. There are volunteers assisting them. There are lots of volunteers in the Sanctuary.
The above photo is outside the grounds of the Sanctuary. Can you see how far away the Church is? Now we walk inside the town of Lourdes, and saw so many shops selling bottles to take spring water from the Sanctuary, candles, rosaries, crosses, and everything religious. There was a shop in every corner I turn, to cater to so many tourists. It is best to buy your stuff in the larger shops where they sell in bigger quantities, because it is cheaper. I did the price comparison for plastic bottles to collect spring water and the candles. Hotels were abundance and I don't think there is enough.
The biggest candle is taller than me and it costs EUR290. I am 166cm (5ft 4inches).
There is also a tram to bring you around Lourdes town. For a fee, of course.
We had our lunch at a random restaurant, Brasserie Grill. I had Cassoulet and Prof Sweet Tooth had Magret. Both were actually duck cooked in different forms. Mine came with salad, pork sausages and lots of peas which got me really full. I could not taste much of my duck. It was a skinny duck EUR9.80. For Prof Sweet Tooth, his came with french fries and salad. EUR11.
After lunch, we walked further inside the town to look for the local grocery mall. Along the way, as Prof Sweet Tooth was trying to tune his sense of direction without consulting the locals (men are so stubborn!), I saw a lane where there were lots of visitors. It turned out to be the local prison, Le Cachot where Bernadette Soubirous family stayed when the father was unemployed. There is no entrance fee and we queued to enter. There were displays of the house key, the shoes that she wore and the small basic room where the family stayed.
The Soubirous family falls into misery. During the winter of 1857,
François (Soubirous' father) has to face unemployment. The family is obliged to move to the
Dungeon (ancient prison until 1824), one unique dark and cold room of
16m² where the family will live until the fall of 1858. From that place, on the 11th of February of 1858, Bernadette goes to the
“Massabielle” Cave to collect bones and dry wood and she will
experience a unique adventure: she will see 18 times the Virgin Mary. (Source from Lourdes Info Tourism)
If you ask the question on why Bernadette Soubirous was the chosen one, I had the same question too. I found the answer in Le Cachot. In Bernadette Soubirous words : It is because I was the poorest and the most ignorant that the Blessed Virgin chose me. She could not read or write at the age of 14 because she was obliged to work. Upon the exit, the caretaker told us that the body of Bernadette Soubirous still lies perfect in a church in Nevers, about 20km away from Paris. I went - WHAT? Prof Sweet Tooth and I were so fortunate to visit the church on our drive back from Pyrenees. I will write more on that later.
We found the local grocery store in Lourdes town and bought our provisions. Then, we continued our drive to Fabreges where we will take the Yellow Train and step inside the nature of Pyrenees.
2 comments:
One surely got to stand humble when visiting Lourdes. I sure had my objection to the concept of this Place when I arrived there, observing thousands and thousands people in strong need, due to illness or bad age. All of them entering the temple, in hope of a miracle to them or the loved one. And the miracles rarely happens, so all people will leave the area without being cured from any illness (although the water was so nice to my tired eyes that day; a blessing but not a miracle!).
Some of the people we saw there may have been in such bad shape that they perhaps are no longer alive today, although this was less than two months ago. But at the same time, they did not left Lourdes with empty hands. Even though they were not able to stand up by themselves, or in some case not even able to communicate with spoken words, the will anyway leave Lourdes with the memory of meeting other also very humble and hopeful people. Although the church and the shops make big business, everyone was touched by the spirit of the place.
Event hough no body damage was cured, I am sure most people returned back home with a stronger soul, knowing that no-one is alone to suffer on this Earth. The first miracle of life is to be born; the last miracle is to still be able to smile to everyone that provides a helping hand when ones destiny is evident. I saw a lot of that last miracle in Lourdes.
Beautifully written. :)
Post a Comment