| Product: |
Other locations... |
| Date: |
07/11/01 (453 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Refreshes the Spirit, Cleans the Soul, possibility of a miracle
Disadvantages: too many plastic icons, can be very busy, the one way system
In writing this personal account of my experiences in Lourdes, I must point out that this my personal perspective, and I do not go to any particular church, however, I do believe in a God, but I am not a Roman Catholic and therefore have no common religious affinity with the Town of Lourdes which is mostly associated with Roman Catholicism ....
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I also would like to say that this personal acount is of the general feeling and ambience of Lourdes, I am not trying to put forward an argument or an authoritative travel guide, merely a piece to give an honest overall flavour of the Town...which apart from the normal shops you would expect to see, there is an abundance of religious icon shops ( mostly selling plastic crucifixes and the likes etc...) theres an abundance of hotels of all grades and classes, various eating establishments and watering holes, and an abundance of Hospitals, hospices, nursing homes etc...Lourdes should be on the itinery of all tourists visiting that area...and there is a railway station which has direct trains to Paris and the ports of Calais and Bolougne....
anyway my acount is this...
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My first time in Lourdes was a confusing experience, even before arriving at the hotel, you see in Lourdes they have this wonderful one way system which changes on a weekly basis, and depending on what day you arrive largely depends on whether you will negotiate the Town on a clockwise or anticlockwise direction in your vehicle ( assuming of course you are driving....!!) and the next time you drive out of the Town you could be driving the opposite direction, which of course adds to the entertainment for the locals, who must get many laughs out of this embarrassing predicament of the thousands of visitors each year..
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Having settled in I was invited to join a group of English folk who were also visiting Lourdes with their Roman Catholic Priest, I gladly accepted and foll
owed them in the evening to the Basilica for the torch light procession.....
This is one of the sadest sights and yet at the same time one of the most uplifting sights I have ever witnessed, thousands of terminally ill and disabled folk from all over the World lined up in rows in front of the Basilica waiting for the Bishops blessing of the sick, hundreds of more people singing Ave Maria, carrying special candles processing around a pathway , which comes into the Basilica Square and eventually they stop in front of the Basilica but behind the lines of the sick and wait to be addressed by the Bishop before he gave a blessing, it was truly a beautiul and awe inspiring sight..
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Meanwhile behind the Basilica are the Holy Spring Water Taps (lots of them), where many hundreds of people fill up the little plastic bottles that the local vendors will sell you, and further around the corner on the same side of the river is St Bernadettes Grotto, which is lit up by thousands of candles, with the Statue of St Bernadette slightly higher up into a cut in the hill side above the spring water stream...people from all over the world come to this holy spot to pray for a miracle, people who's hopes have already died, people who have no hope, people praying for their loved ones, for a thousand reasons, this is one of the most peaceful and serene places on earth, people come here, alone or in groups 24 hours a day, I went there alone at 0300 Hrs in the morning and just sat and contemplated, there is no doubt that whatever your beliefs, you cannot help but be moved by this place..
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There is a presence in Lourdes that cannot be scientifically explained, a presence of hopefulness, anticipation and love, it is pitiful and mentally debilitating to see thousands of fellow human beings praying for the miracle that will change their lives and release them from the illness or condition that is making their existance a misery, th
e loved ones who come with the sick to support and comfort, the young volunteers who accompany the sick on coaches and trains, who also help in the hospices, the number of young kids I ' counselled' in the local watering holes who were mentally exhausted and physically tired through their 12 hour shifts, young lads and lasses 16, 17 and 18 yrs old crying their hearts out, in tears or just inconsolable because of what they have had to deal with, and yet still talking about going back to the hospice the next day because so and so was looking forward to being taken out for some fesh air in their bath chairs ( special beds that can be wheeled about in the streets)....
Perhaps there is a miracle in Lourdes, perhaps it takes place every day...there is no doubt it is a special place, a holy place, a place of pilgrimage, a place of hope, love, sickness and death...but in all that there is something that affects everyone who has been there, if you have been to Lourdes before then you will know what I am talking about, if you haven't been before, you really should go just the once, for everyday is special for someone in Lourdes..
To conclude... I suppose for a host of different reasons, Miracles can and most probably do happen in Lourdes, I know that this is a place associated with the Roman Catholic faith, but in essence, it is where your own personal religion doesn't matter, for it is here that the mircales know no denominational boundaries and touch everyone....
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