Lourdes in a Day – an Outline from Fr. Robert Dunn Father Bob Has Provided the Following Information and Helpful Suggestions
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Lourdes in a Day – an outline from Fr. Robert Dunn Father Bob has provided the following information and helpful suggestions: Here is a way to make it happen… The pilgrimage to Lourdes is a dramatic and often life-changing experience. It is something that is emotional, psychological, and spiritual. Having said that, it is not exactly easily accessible. For Americans, it involves a transatlantic plane ride – possibly more than one – and can be pricey. That is especially true for those who need a caregiver or two to travel with them. But the blessing of the pilgrimage is not restricted to a single town in southern France. In fact, the Medical Bureau of Lourdes acknowledges claims of healing that have possibly occurred outside of the Shrine itself – including people who have never been there. In 2011, at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, the pilgrimage to France was held in one day in the University Basilica and its well-loved Grotto. The idea was to take the main elements of the pilgrimage and celebrate them in a single event. This first "Day of Grace and Healing" began the simple outline of what the "Lourdes in a Day" has become. The outline is based on two things: – The words of Mary to Saint Bernadette – The Sacraments and devotions of the church. Essentially, we work with what we traditionally have already. We creatively use in these as needed while doing what is prescribed by the ritual of the Church. The outline is fairly simple: – A rosary procession involving 4 or 5 "stations" based on the Footsteps of Bernadette - a standard devotion in Lourdes contextualizing her experience of the apparitions. – Washing with Lourdes water prior to Mass. – Mass with the Anointing of the Sick – Benediction of the sick with the Eucharist. The placing of these as permitted within the liturgical norms is practically applied as needed. For example, one part could be the washing with Lourdes water and the blessing of the sick with the Eucharist. That can be followed by a rosary procession into the Mass with the Anointing of the Sick. This would also allow a break for lunch and perhaps a talk. Having everything needed for the Day in one or two dedicated containers is tremendously helpful. This would include… - Consult with Celebrant A complete Mass kit with sufficient hosts and ciboria for distribution, including large hosts (at least one extra host to be consecrated for the monstrance - N. B. – Make sure it fits first!), sacramental wine, Roman Missale, Rite of Anointing book, chalice, linens, candles, cross, finger washing bowl, monstrance, and possibly vestments with extra stoles for concelebrating clergy if any. - Consult with Celebrant Scripture readings to be used – secondary copies for lectors. - Consult with Celebrant – prayer of the faithful from the Rite of Anointing or composed based on it. - large (possibly framed) pictures of the "stations" of the Baptismal Font (where Saint Bernadette was baptized), the Bolly Mill (where Saint Bernadette was born), the Cachot (the small room where she lived when the Apparitions began), the Grotto (and the Hospital where she made her First Communion) – Large plastic bowls for the washing with Lourdes water. – hand towels – Small bowls or "oil stocks" for the priest(s)or bishop(s) to use during the Anointing of the Sick. – Small index cards with the words of anointing according to the Roman ritual for the priest(s)or bishop(s). – Small finger towels and moistened towelettes for the priest(s)or bishop(s) after the anointing – Several liters of Lourdes water - NOT DILUTED. Lourdes water is not holy water (unless blast as such) and should not be "added" to more water to make more. - Rosary beads (Especially to bless and give prior to the rosary procession) you may also want to send the sick home with an additional pair. – Small empty one or 2 ounce bottles to fill with Lourdes water and send home with the sick – Holy cards – Medals (Such as the Miraculous Medal) – Small Ziploc plastic bags to send home with Lourdes water, holy cards, and anything else you may want to give them. Sample meditation for Footsteps - Nursing Home Perspective Footsteps of Saint Bernadette 2016 1. The Bolly Mill Look at this house. It's not a palace but it certainly is not a shanty. It's a pretty decent place for someone who worked hard. Two stories, multiple rooms, and close to work is not a bad place to call home. But things changed. The father's job was outsourced to a steam engine and things went downhill for them. They couldn't live in the house anymore. They couldn't handle it on their own or stay there. And so they moved into a one-room residence. Things do change. Many of us have moved into one room. Like her family, we've downsized. Yes, what we live in has changed and still where we are is home. 2. The Baptismal Font The original church where St. Bernadette was baptized burned down. One thing that remained was this large baptismal font. Terence Cardinal Cooke, originally from the next parish over at Saint Benedict's, was baptized at Corpus Christi Church on 121st and Broadway in Manhattan. But the one thing that remained when they built the new church in the 1950s was his baptismal font. And I think many of us have seen changes in our Church universal as well as our own parishes and family over the years. Buildings are changed or gone. People we once knew have left or moved. For what remains is the faith of our baptism. 3. The Cachot Imagine this entire family living in a room half the size of the one we are in now. This is where they ate, slept, and lived literally on top of each other. It was miserable and small, damp and dirty. And from that miserable place, on February 11, 1858, St. Bernadette put on her shawl and walked out the door. She went down the mountain to look for firewood. And she met the Mother of the One who carried the wood of the Cross up the mountain. God is good even when things are not great. We can be sad when our hopes are disappointed. But God is never disappointed with us and lets our sadness point to His hope. 4.the Grotto There she is. Light in the darkness of a dirty rock. Softness among the decay of a garbage dump. Purity in a pig sty. Mary, the reflecting smile of God's grace, shines in the most unlovely parts of life. To a place few would visit, she asked for processions. Where wood was rotting, she had called for a chapel. From the brackish waters of a mountain stream, a clear fountain of healing would spring up. In a gloomy place, penance would lead to praise. "I am the Immaculate Conception." 'Our tainted nature's solitary boast' points to the peace of her divine Son who makes all things new. Footsteps of Saint Bernadette – additional information In 1062, by means of an official act, Count Bernard the First of Bigorre had given the county as a donation to the Virgin and, by so doing, enjoined his successors to honor this “suzerain state.” The text of this act, in Latin, is preserved at the Bigorre chartulary, in the Pau archives. The legend concerning the founding of Lourdes states that Charlemagne, around the year 778, when he was returning from Spain, mounted a siege on the Mirambel castle which was held by Mirat, the Muslim chief. The Saracen (Muslim) finally gave himself to our Lady, represented by the bishop of Puy, who baptized him and gave him the name “Lores,” from which the name “Lourdes” originates. Whatever happened, we are able to accept the idea that the Virgin had seen Lourdes as her home for a long time. The “suzerain” had come to a territory which had been entrusted to her. She had heard the prayers of Bernard the First and his wife, Clémence! From the time of Bernard the First to Bernadette, Bigorre, a Marian land, had, therefore, been destined to welcome the message of the Virgin. Let us be aware that our prayers of dedication, our offertory acts to his benevolent love, and all our requests are taken seriously by God! Sunday, January 7th —the feast of the Epiphany. On the 9th of January, the wedding anniversary of her parents, she was baptized 1855: Cholera attacked the small village of a little more than 3000 where the family lived, causing the deaths of about 40 people. Bernadette was affected, but not afflicted, by the disease. This would leave her weak and asthmatic for the rest of her life. 1856: Famine came to Bernadette’s region. 1858: On the 20th of January, Bernadette, who felt left out, returned to the “Cachot,” because she wanted to learn to read and prepare for her first Communion. 1862: Official recognition of the apparitions, through a pastoral letter from Msgr. Laurence (bishop of Tarbes), came on the 18th of January. This “miracle of the candle” happened on Easter Wednesday. Bernadette’s death, some twenty-one years later, would also occur on an Easter Wednesday. And in death, her body would be left untouched in the same way as the flame of the lit candle had left her hands unburned. In effect, Bernadette’s body remains, today, incorrupt, as if awaiting the great morning of the Resurrection…. The only “apparition” celebrated annually, on February 11th, in the universal church calendar. Bernadette wrote to her sisters in Lourdes when she arrived in Nevers, in July of 1866: “I beg you to be so good as to offer some prayers when you go to the grotto: you will find me there, in spirit, attached to the foot of the rock I love so much….” “Love without measure, devotion without restrictions.” this advice from Bernadette She had a difficult novitiate, which was marked by the death of her mother, Louise, on December 8th of the same year.