J
johnstown_johnn
Guest
I went to parochial school and it was there that we learned of Lourdes. I had Sisters of Notre Dame.
I was particularly intrigued with the one-on-one encounter between Our Lady and Bernadette…to me it was so intimate. That Heaven would touch down and converse with one of us in this life just had me “numbed.”
I always wanted to visit Lourdes and hoped that when I grew up I would. I read the book “Song of Bernadette” and how it came to be. The author was Jewish (Franz Werfel) and was trekking his way out of Nazi occupation and took refuge in Lourdes. He remained there for awhile as it were.
The most awesome event at Lourdes is the Procession of the Blessed Sacrament. This event instills in us of Jesus’ Presence in that little place. There is much emotion that centers on the Monstrance near the conclusion at the Basilica steps.
The blind, with their white canes, line up in front of the Sacrament and on cue repeat the entreaty of the blind man in the Gospel. He shouted, “Jesus of Nazareth, help me…” Jesus approached him and asked, “What will you have Me do for you?”
The blind man replied, “Lord, that I may see!”
Well, those are the very words the blind enunciate in front of the Sacrament at the steps of the basilica at Lourdes. Very powerful.
I guess if there was just one word to describe Lourdes, it would be, “personal.” Lourdes touches each and every one of us on a “personal” level.
I was particularly intrigued with the one-on-one encounter between Our Lady and Bernadette…to me it was so intimate. That Heaven would touch down and converse with one of us in this life just had me “numbed.”
I always wanted to visit Lourdes and hoped that when I grew up I would. I read the book “Song of Bernadette” and how it came to be. The author was Jewish (Franz Werfel) and was trekking his way out of Nazi occupation and took refuge in Lourdes. He remained there for awhile as it were.
The most awesome event at Lourdes is the Procession of the Blessed Sacrament. This event instills in us of Jesus’ Presence in that little place. There is much emotion that centers on the Monstrance near the conclusion at the Basilica steps.
The blind, with their white canes, line up in front of the Sacrament and on cue repeat the entreaty of the blind man in the Gospel. He shouted, “Jesus of Nazareth, help me…” Jesus approached him and asked, “What will you have Me do for you?”
The blind man replied, “Lord, that I may see!”
Well, those are the very words the blind enunciate in front of the Sacrament at the steps of the basilica at Lourdes. Very powerful.
I guess if there was just one word to describe Lourdes, it would be, “personal.” Lourdes touches each and every one of us on a “personal” level.
Well, that doesn’t sound too Catholic to me. But I am one of them Eastern folk.
