Feb. 11, 2012 - FIRST VISIT TO LOURDES

February 11, 2012 - FIRST VISIT TO LOURDES


Today, February 11, 2012, is the 154th anniversary of the our Blessed Mother's apparition to St. Bernadette at Lourdes, France in 1858. Since then many healings of the body have been documented and followed through in the annals of the Lourdes Medical Bureau. But a greater majority of physcal healings as well as emotional and spiritual renewals remain recorded only in the hearts and minds of those who have had the opportunity of visiting there. One of the most, if not the most beloved pilgrim sites of Catholic Christians, Lourdes is visited by almost seven million people every year.

The Grotto of Lourdes has had a distinct place in my repertoire of dreams since my childhood days. It was sown by the stories my mother told us about our Blessed Virgin Mary to whom she had a very special devotion. She instilled in her children a strong veneration and love for our Lady through the Bible account of her role in the salvific history of the Church. In addition, she often related anecdotes in the life of our Blessed Mother which were handed down through generations of her Catholic heritage.

One of such stories which captivated me so much since it illustrated the extent of Mother Mary's love was about a cat. It was said that Mary was sitting on the floor doing some sewing. In the course of her patching some of Jesus' old clothes, their cat slept on the train of her long loose dress. After a long while, she needed to stand to do other chores. She was puzzled, " What should I do? " Do you know what she did? She got a pair of scissors and cut her dress so as not to disturb the cat in its sleep!

It was on November 1973 when I had the opportunity to visit Europe for the first time. As Director, Overseas Shipping, of the Maritime Industry Authority of the Philippines, I was asked to represent the country in the UNCTAD (United Nations Commission on Trade and Development) Conference in Geneva, Switzerland. It offered me the unique privilege of realizing my lifelong dream - Lourdes! However, financial concerns presented a problem. Because total trust in God had been ingrained in the fabric of my being, I lifted the problem up to the Almighty, as Psalm 55 says, "Cast your care upon the Lord and He will support you." I also asked the Blessed Mother to help me. On my part, I promised to be as frugal as possible in Geneva even deciding on staying in a budget hotel instead of the five-star one usually assigned for delegates. I vowed to take public transportation to and from the conference site which I did despite some days when snow would be ankle-deep in the sidewalks.

Upon arrival in the Geneva Airport, I was pleased to see among the reception group which met me, the Philippine Commercial Attache and his wife who were former co-employees at the Department of Trade. They invited me to stay with them during the conference weeks. I could not refuse the offer! I bought the bed for their extra, unused room and gave them some money for my board and lodging which was a huge savings from my per diem compared to the hotel bills I would have incurred. God answered my prayer! I prayed Psalm 108, "I will give thanks to you among the peoples, O Lord, for your kindness towers to the heavens and your faithfulness to the skies."

The farewell ceremonies of the conference ended at high noon. I immediately dashed to the airport for Paris and then to my epoch-making flight to Lourdes. The realization that after all the years I was finally setting foot on the place where our Mother Mary appeared to Bernadette made my heart beat with wild excitement and my stomach churn with "flitting butterflies." My prayer of praise and thanksgiving was as endless as the blue sky through which the plane soared. By the time the plane landed in Tarbes (there is no airport at Lourdes) dark cumulus clouds covered the late afternoon hours. I took a shuttle bus for the hour's drive to my destination with only another passenger, an Irishman, I learned later.

I ventured to travel to Lourdes in such haste without any hotel reservations believing that since November was out-of-season time, tourists would be a lot fewer and lodging readily available. Isn't it reported that there are around 400 hotels in that tiny village? But when we arrived at Lourdes, the crowd of people I was expecting to find in the streets were not there. Many stores were locked up and there were few shoppers in those that were open.What surprised me was that many of the hotels were closed. Even their neon signs were not at all illuminated. The prospect of not finding a room for the night and for the rest of my three-day stay completely filled me with anxiety. I called on Psalm 91 as I always did! The bus driver informed us that most hotels operate during spring and summer only because owners reside in Paris. He added that only small owner-operated hotels were open. With his help, he brought us, since the Irishman was also in the same predicament as I was, to the Hotel Aquitaine which was walking distance to the Grotto. It was funny because the concierge mistook us as a couple until I vehemently denied it and claimed a room only for myself. As soon as I deposited my luggage inside the room, I rushed down to the lobby for instructions to reach the sacred place of the apparition.

Night had fallen. It had started raining and the kind owner lent me an umbrella. So after carefully noting directions to the Grotto, I sauntered off the hotel door as fast as my legs could carry me. I was enveloped with feverish excitement! As soon as I entered the iron gates of the St. Michel entrance, I was almost running as I crossed infront of the Basilica of the Holy Rosary and under the Esplanade on to the Grotto. I made a slight left turn and immediately stopped in my tracks. There was the Grotto with the beautiful image of our Lady with the huge circular, multi-tiered candelabra holding more than a hundred big candles aflame! It was a magnificent, electrifying sight! I knelt down right at that spot about a hundred or more feet away and said a litany of thanks to our Lord and Blessed Mother. I knelt there in the rain totally mesmerized! After a long while, I joined a few others right infront of the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes where my prayer of praise and thanksgiving thundered in the silence of my heart. I prayed for all my loved ones - family, relations and friends including their needs and aspirations. Right at that sacred space, I was oblivious of time! I was enveloped with an inexplicable feeling of peace I never felt before! I savored the joy of being "in the palm of His hand." With some regrets, I joined the last couple when they left the place but happy in the realization of a dream and on a significant day- November 27th, the Feast of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal.

It was my wish to have the well-known "bath" of Lourdes. I wanted to experience it and verify the truth of the widely -spread story that after the bath no towel is ever used to dry oneself. But I learned bath sessions were only done during spring and summer usually till the middle of October when more sick people visit and volunteers come to help. It did not bother me a bit because I had already planned, even then, for my next visit in my heart. My trust in God was and still so great! I knew I would come to Lourdes again! And do you know that God and the Blessed Mother made it so that my pilgrimage to Lourdes has been eighteen times to date?

On a crispy morning but with the sun shining brightly, I walked up the hill for the Stations of the Cross for the first time It was also an awe-inspiring event in my life!Unlike Geneva where winter was already on the way, Lourdes was still aglow with autumn leaves in almost every tree in the lower grounds and most especially in those that covered the hills. I remembered the beautiful painting of "An Autumn Morn" with several streams of sunlight "cascading" through the forest trees with the lovely display of autumn leaves adorned with the combination of yellow-gold-red-amber colors in varying shades. When I saw the painting then, I admired the perfect scenery produced by gifted hands. It was uplifting! But when I saw the same scene in living color, I somehow felt that the artist failed to do justice to it. Then I recalled the Arbor Day song with lyrics, "...poems are made by fools like me but only God can make a tree..." True, only Divine Hands can make golden-amber leaves and let them frolick in the soft breeze. I was enraptured by the moment!

When I started the first station which required going up the steps, there were two women ahead of me. but since I prayed so slowly at each stop, I was alone, yes, alone on the hill from the fourth station until the Ressurrection scene. I relished the thought that God made that day especial for His walk with me! My meditations and prayers achieved an aura of height and depth of unimaginable ecstasy! Mother Nature orchestrated everything to make it, so especially at the 14th Station when Jesus was buried in the sepulchre. At the hill of Lourdes, the sepulchre was in the cleft of two great rock formations with water dripping from its sides and the bronze life-sized figure of Jesus being carried in right at its opening. And to top it all, I could hear the drip-drip-drip of the water inside the cleft of the cave. It was awesome! It was breathtaking, in the real sense of the word!

The Basilica of the Holy Rosary was almost empty during my visit. I remembered praying the beads in the Crypt which served as the Adoration Chapel. There were two nuns as "guardians" at that hour. During that visit I missed seeing the Church of the Immaculate Conception which is part of the gigantic basilica. To think that there are actually three places of worship in the basilica at Lourdes!

I assure you, the memory of my first visit to Lourdes on November 27, 1973 will remain indelible in my heart and mind forever!