SO MUCH!

I honestly cannot think of a title for this blog, because there is not just ONE place or event that describes the last ten days--or two weeks, or however long it has been since I posted last--because simply so much has happened, and it's all blending together in my memory.

So, after Florence came . . . gosh, lots of school. Midterms, papers  . . . meh. :-/

But then somewhere in there we had lunch with Cardinal Arinze and tours of St. Peter's Basilica with Dr. O'Donnell, which was fantastic. He's so passionate about the Church and the faith, he helped reignite our fervor and appreciation for the things we pass by every day here in Roma.

 

Left: group shot with Arinze.
Right:
my p.o.v. during the lunch.









Then two Sundays ago was the Canonization of six new saints, among them Kateri Tekakwitha and Mother Marianne Cope! We got to the canonization at 7 am, an hour before they opened the gates, and squeezed into the crowd of people flooding through the opening, and managed to get really good seats. The Canonization itself took all of 10 minutes, but the Mass afterwards was really lovely. And cold, at first!

St. Peter's was packed to the brim!!

 Jordan's pastor, Fr. Mosimann, stopped by Rome for the canonization, and while he was here we got to visit with him, which was very nice. One morning he said Mass at a side altar of St. Peter's Basilica in the 7 o'clock hour, and Jordan got to serve. Father came out of the sacristy:
"I got the second to last vestment."
"Ok, Father, should I just serve in my civvies?"
"Yeah . . . we'd better find an altar before they're all gone!"



















 Then, this past weekend was our second free weekend, so Friday morning we started off on a 10 hour journey to the shrine of Lourdes, France! Jordan, Mary, and I took a metro, three trains, a bus, and a plane to get there, but it was so worth it.

Left: Arriving at the airport in Toulouse, Mary demonstrates it was raining. 

Right: Waiting for a train in le Gare Routiere  train Station in Toulouse.










 If I were to really describe our experiences in Lourdes, it would take pages and pages, because it really was that wonderful. We deliberately made it a pilgrimage, and the three of us went with an attitude of spiritual intention and prayer that made it so much more meaningful than just a weekend vacation.

But of course, a pilgrimage means suffering! We didn't have any major delays, and no mishaps, which was good, but we were certainly very, very, cold and wet Friday and Saturday! Lourdes is in the mountains, and it was bitterly cold with pouring rain most of the time that we were there. We hadn't packed heavy coats, but would have been okay if we didn't get soaked through every day we were there. "Well," I said, "Our Lady of Lourdes was fond of water, after all."

 Lourdes was still beautiful, in spite of the inclement weather. The first night we arrived, we went our separate ways and did a little exploring through the tiny town (which was quite safe, like Assisi). It's very French, and very pretty.

But Friday night was particularly amazing for me because I visited the grotto and basilicas in the rain, and attended the torchlight rosary procession in front of the Basilica de Notre Dame du Rosaire.

Left: the Grotto at night. Right: The torchlight Rosary procession in the rain. I shared an umbrella with an elderly frenchman, trying to keep my candle alight, and then simply trying to keep myself from being soaked (I know he was French because he responded to the French version of the Hail Mary when they read it over the speakers). Below: The lower Basilica lit up for the Rosary at night.

B

The next morning was cold and cloudy and wet.

 Right: the Basilica from a distance.












I was very blessed to make it to the mid-morning Mass in French in the lower Basilica, which was very, very moving, because it was such a beautiful place, and Mass was done well. (It also was so exciting for me to be able to participate in a French liturgy and hear the beautiful French language. After four years of studying it, I can't help relishing actually experiencing it.)

 Je vous salue Marie, 
pleine de grace,
le Seigneur et avec vous. 
Vous etes benie entre toutes le femmes,
et Jesus, le fruit de vos entrailles, et beni. 
Sainte Marie, mere de Dieu, 
priez pour nous, 
pauvres pecheurs,
maintenant, 
et a l'heure de notre mort. 
Amen. 








Saturday we took advantage of the confession and adoration constantly available at Lourdes, and did a little exploring around the Basilicas. 

 Left: the view from the steps of the Upper Basilica, La Conception Immaculee. Right: A shot of the rainy autumnal hillside and the entrance to the Basilica.










Even though it was raining steadily and very cold, Jordan and I were determined to make it up the mountainside to the Stations of the Cross, and I'm so glad we did! They were life-size sculptures, very powerfully executed. Since all I had packed were my little black flats, and I was wearing my skirt since my jeans were soaked from the day before, my feet were quite numb by the time we finished. Right: The Sixth Station, Veronica wipes the Face of Jesus.

 Afterwards, we were hoping to make it to the Cachot, the little one-room former prison were Bernadette Soubirous and her impoverished family lived at the time of the apparitions. It was so bitterly cold on the way there, we stopped in a random antique shop just to warm up a little.




But THEN: the sun came out!!!







Lourdes is a totally different town in the sun, and it is very, very beautiful. 




 We finally made it over to the Cachot, which was very tiny.















And then . . . the sun disappeared again. :-/

















We went to the Eucharistic Procession that evening, and then the Vigil Mass that night in one of the random chapels near the basilicas, because we were going to be traveling the next day.







Sunday, however, was GLORIOUSLY clear and bright and beautiful. It felt like Easter after Lent: the sun came out and the sky was the brightest, most vivid blue I'd ever seen.

 That morning we passed by and visited Bernadette's original parish church, below.



















 The Basilica Sunday Morning was so, so beautiful in the sunlight: the stone Gothic architecture against the fall colors on the hillside, and the stunning blue of the sky . . .

Lourdes had just recently had major flooding: this was the river Gave, that overflowed 5 ft high into the Grotto. Unfortunately, as a result, the baths were closed, but that was ok, because we could still get the water from the Grotto, which we did that Sunday.

 The best part of Sunday was that we got to go to Adoration again, in the special adoration chapel nearby, for a long time, and pray our Rosary.

Right: me and the river.

 Left: the adoration chapel. 










 The outdoor Sunday Mass crowd, as viewed from the steps of the Upper Basilica.

 Mary! (Wearing many, many layers, because it was so cold!) Since it was our last day there, we attempted some self-portraits, below, but it was hard to get all three of us AND the scenery in the background.

Then Mary very kindly took a picture of Jordan and I with Lourdes in the background, and it came out quite nicely, if I do say so myself. :) 

 The train station in Lourdes, left, and the Pyrenees mountains, below, in the background from the train on the 10 hour journey back to Rome.


















It was an incredibly busy and wonderful last few weeks, but now I must run, because we are knee-deep in midterms at the moment. I love and miss you all!

xo Lauren