Login 
Sometimes the best treats in life are those which are not planned. Several months ago we asked Our Lady in prayer whether we should go and visit her in Lourdes and receive the Indulgence for the anniversary year; and if so, for her to make it all possible.In the middle of last week we discovered that two people had just dropped out of a Mancunia pilgrimage to Lourdes for the closing celebrations of the anniversary and the Immaculate Conception feast day!
And so we've had a wonderful, unexpected trip to Lourdes. We had just enough time to fulfill the necessary requirements to gain the indulgence with just hours to spare before the feast day ended!
After a very early start last Sunday, we drove to Liverpool and then flew to Carcassonne, in southern France, before taking a three hour bus ride to Lourdes. That last leg provided some moving and spectacular views of the snow-clad Pyrennees. As St. Augustine said when contemplating the sun, the moon, rivers and mountains;'Heaven and earth tell me to love Thee, Oh Lord.'
And he said that they spoke further to his heart;
'Augustine, love your God; for He has created us for you, that you might love Him.'
On the first night we joined our little Torch of The Faith to the many thousands of lanterns on the Torchlight Procession, in celebration of the vigil of the great feast of the Immaculate Conception.
We lit candles and included all the readers of our blog in our prayer intentions. 
A large crowd from all over the world had gathered in spite of the bitter cold winter night.
Here Angeline lights 5 candles for some friends who had requested prayers.
On the feast day itself we began with Holy Mass in the Grotto before sunrise and then spent many blessed hours in the domain and following the Jubilee Way to gain the indulgence; including visits to the font where St. Bernadette was baptised in the local parish Church, the cachot where she first lived; the Hospice chapel wherein she made her first Holy Communion; and the Grotto via St. Michael's Gate and the Arches of the main Basilicas.
This was my fourth trip to Lourdes and Angeline's second. In 1998 I was blessed to work the whole summer in Lourdes as a pilgrim guide which really opened my eyes and heart to the universal nature of God's Holy Church! This week it felt like being home again... Neither of us had been for a l-o-n-g time.
We then sat before the Grotto through the late afternoon into the early evening as darkness fell; before heading back to the hotel for a much needed warm and a tasty French meal!
The next day we did the high Stations of the Cross up the hillside and again included you - our blog readers in our prayers.
We were frozen to the bone when we got down and so spent a long time in silent prayer in the beautiful Rosary basilica. Each of the first 15 Rosary Mysteries has an exquisite side chapel dedicated to it; complete with ornate mosaics, majestic altars, splendid tabernalces and marble altar rails. Compare and contrast this remarkable chapel dedicated to the Nativity with the one below... 
This is one of the latest additions in Lourdes; a side chapel in the Hospice. It must be said that in comparison to the one above its starkness is almost nihilistic... 
The pilgrimage received its spiritual leadership from a good old friend of ours; Fr. Mattie O'Callaghan.Fr. Mattie loves Jesus, Our Lady, St. Joseph, the Catholic Faith and people. In short he's our kind of guy! During the week, Fr. Matt celebrated the Holy Mass and led the Rosary. We were surprised to be blessed with a seat next to him on the return flight and had a good chat on the plane home.
Above Angie and Fr. Matt wait for their luggage at the carousel in Liverpool Airport.
Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Bernadette - Pray for us!
