It's 4.00 a.m.Myself and she who must be obeyed are sitting in a queue of cars in Navan Hospital awaiting a bus that hopefully will bring us on the first leg of our journey to Lourdes.I haven't slept a wink all night afraid we might sleep it out and miss the bus and am in a daze.
It's funny the thoughts that slip in and out of the tired mind at that time of the morning.One irreverend thought I have is that Leo's enforcers of the latest tax on sickness,that is the clamping of cars of the sick and indigent in Navan Hospital for the release bounty of E.90.00 ,will swoop and steal our vehicles.From what I hear I wouldn't put it past them.
To go back a bit and explain how I came to be on this journey I must revert to July 1 2009,when I was stricken with a stroke and made the uninformed and life changing mistake to go to Navan HOSPITAL ,AN INSTITUTION singularly ill equiped to handle stroke patients.in that it had neither the MRI SCANNERS to determine the type of stroke suffered nor the medication to dissolve the clot responsible for my particular stroke..a situatuion subsequently rectified when I ran for office and shamed the authorities into treating the people of Meath with A modicum of respect and rectifying these shameful and life destroying omissions.
Since then I have serious issues with the left side of my body.But I am grateful for the good bits left to me and can live alife of some normality unlike many destroyed or dead from the official neglect caused by the apalling lack of the amenities outlined above.I sometimes wonder whether those responsible ought be charged with manslaughter at a minimum.
When I eventually emerged from Hospital a brother of mine offered to run a few functions and send me to Lourdes but not being in the best of form at the time I declined.Since then I have become involved in a prayer group and one member of that group,Deirdre Clinch,who herself went to Lourdes ,has been encouraging me to give it a twist. This year I decided that I might as well and made contact with Jennifer Reilly from BOHERMEEN ,who is the nearest thing to an earthly Angel you could hope to meet and she set the whole thing up via the Meath Diocesan Pilgrimage.I subsequently learned that she is also a volunteer at the female bathing area of Lourdes ,no small job for such a slight girl.
.I had ,among other tasks, to get a Passport ,this being my first time out of theses ISLANDS and also attempt to conquer my fear of flying.
I have recently had cause to severely question my judgement of character when activities of the most unsavoury type came to my attention and again was gobsmacked when discreet assistance towards our pilgrimage came from a most unlikely source.Those involved will know of what I speak and to the latter a most sincere thanks.
A few night before our departure Mass was celebrated in St.Oliver's Church in Navan and afterwards tay and light refreshments were provided.It was there when I met such a preponderance of GAA people that I knew I was among friends.There were Bennets and Boylans and King Administrator for Navan and former Chair of Senchaelstown GAA club and Ardbraccan native Tom Mulvaney and family.The essence of decency.
Soon the coach arrived and suitcases were deposited at the entrance to the hold of the bus.And a clatter of people dressed in blue coats proceeded to load the cases onto the bus.
I subsequently learned that these blue coated men and women are volunteers from all walks of life who take a week off work ,pay the cost of the flight and accommodation and help out the sick and ill pilgrims free gratis for the week.Unheralded heroes from hidden Catholic Ireland and ,as I subsequently observed, the essence of kindness.
We were loaded onto the bus in the kindest way possible,a mixture of pilgrims with the whole range of physically apparent and not so obvious illnesses ,a corp of voluntary nurses and a troop of voluntary doctors ,the most dedicated contingent of blue coats and a group of Priests and nuns and headed for Dublin Airport.
We stopped on the way at Garlow Cross ,at Ross Cross and at Dunshaughlin to pick up more pilgrims .
Ger.Gordon,wife of Jack the referee and daughter of Tom Mulvaney, head nurse on our bus, recited the Rosary and sang a Hymn,All joined in with gusto.My people .Unashamedly Catholic AND PROUD OF IT .
And sandwiches and sweets were passed around and we were advised to whet our hunger,free snacks not being available on the plane.
We reached the Airport in due course and made our way to the plane.I overestimated my capacity for walking and had to seek wheelchair assistance to finalise the journey.It's a fair step.And having long hair and a beard I got a fair shake up by security who relented somewhat when I was unable to raise my left arm for frisking because of my stroke.
We had to descend two floors to get to the departure gate and with many people being wheelchair dependent and unable to walk the presence of a working lift was essential.And wouldn't you know it,the lift packed up and stayed that way.With fierce grunting and groaning and huge and kind handling by carers and the blue coats and nurses and docs ,everybody was transferred down the two flights of stairs and we made it onto the plane.
I don't like flying and my sense of insecurity was heightened when I saw that the name of the Airline was Titan.Just add an "ic" and the omens are catastrophic.
Up ,up and away as the plane climbs higher and higher until we reach 37,000 feet and I chance looking out the window.We are above the clouds and they look like a bed of cotton wool below us into which you imagine you could jump and be softly embraced.But that is an optical illusion.You would plummet like a stone to 37,000 deaths.
In no time at all we land in Lourdes Airport.And wouldn't you know it,there are Dublin volunteers working there to make you feel welcome and assist in every way possible and help load you on a bus for forward transportation to the Resort.
We are loaded onto single decker buses and each seat has a seat belt which must be belted before we set off.As we pass through the countryside I am anxious to compare and contrast France to Ireland .The countryside is just the same as in Ireland,the grass is the same colour but there are no cattle or sheep to be seen anywhere,just field after field of tillage ,predominately maize as far as I could see.And the roof tiles are different than ours,seem to be mostly orange clay based. And they drive on the other side of the road.
In no time at all we are in the Hospital where we will be based for the week.Agnes is my carer and we are assigned a double room with two beds,a wet room and a separate bathroom ,where I notice a hose beside the toilet bowl which emits water and am told it is not for washing your feet.First class set up thank GOD.
I am bushed and take to the bed and miss the dinner ,which is cooked by the French staff but served up by the Irish volunteers who are kindness itself.
Not only do they ensure that we are watered and fed but they assist many patients, who are immobile through sickness, from the rooms to the dining room and to table and so on.There are volunteer nurses and doctors on hand to help the distressed and as you would expect there are many seriously ill people around.
The first discovery I make is when my wife goes for a smoke is that there is a designated smoking area for smokers at the base of the building and that she and others are not mentally whipped and humiliated by the authorities into dragging themselves outside the confines of the hospital to light up.There is much talk about bullying in this country but by far the most despicable form of it is that of the anti tobacco lobby and the way they humiliate sick and dying people in denying them a smoke which is indicative of the derision the medical and political classes feel for ordinary people.The French have a much more civilised approach.
The second thing that becomes obvious is that there area substantial number of pilgrims with us from Weastmeath and Offaly.This is because the MEATH Diocese covers Meath,Westmeath and a large chunk of Offaly,We forge strong friendships with two cats who suffer from M,S.one from Meath and the other from Biffo Country , whose bravery in the face of this disease is awesome and inspiring.
It seems to me that the most common illness are cancer and M.S. followed by Autism in the very young.But the list is endless.
Over the week it becomes clear that the Faith displayed by these sick pilgrims and their belief in the Mother of God and the solace the Lourdes experience gives them is only awesome and totally uplifting.
There are about 30 priests from the Diocese on the Pilgrimage and the Bishop of Meath Michael Smith heads up the Delegation.Two Franciscan Nuns from a USA based Order ,temporarily based in Drogheda are vivacious,devout and bursting with the joys of Catholicism,
An English born nun informs me that there is no major tradition of Catholicism in England but that those who practise the Faith do so because they really want to,the Church there being small but united.On the issue of Catholic schooling there admission to Catholic Schools is way oversubscribed and uniquely Muslims are by far the biggest non Catholic applicants.
Since I came home I listened aghast as a female member of the INTO tried to justify the introduction of non Catholic concepts on transgender ,homosexuality and alternative lifestyles as the norm for Catholic families to children as young as 5 years in Catholic Schools on the instruction of Jan Sullivan a Labour Party Minister ,whose Party is aggressively hostile to Catholicism .
I am not surprised at this, as I remember of one of the homosexual pressure groups boasting shortly after the results of the Referendum that the schools would be used precisely in this way and for this purpose ,
The man who lectured the Pope and shut down the Irish Embassy in the Vatican guaranteed that this State interference in the Catholic ethos of Catholic Schools would not happen.As in the area of eviction ,where he promised it would not happen on his watch Enda's words were valueless.
French cook the food and meals are at 7.00 a.m.,noon and 6.00 p.m.There is no such thing as a fry for the breakfast ,which consists of either porridge or cornflakes and a bread roll with either coffee or tea.It's hard to bate Irish brown bread and it becomes a firm favourite when it appears.
Likewise the French spuds just don't compare to the ours.You would actually kill for floury Irish spud after a few days and by far the best meat served was Irish cooked ham when you could get it.And what made every meal was the good humour of the Irish serving staff which was par excellence ,even the lady whose face cracked when she rarely smiled.
Now this is not to denigrate the French cooking ,but to a guy reared on floury spuds and marrow bone soup,home cooked brown bread and fresh eggs its too late in the day to change tack and I fully admit that I am a gastronomic pleb.
A river flows through the site.On one side of it are a number of hospitals like the one we inhabited and a number of Churches and this area can be cut off from the opposite side by closing off the bridges.On the other riverbank is the Grotto itself ,the baths ,the Basicilla ,another underground Church ,another Church and above them the town of Lourdes,which has many shops and hotels and restaurants and the usual service enterprises you would see in any other town .
The volunteers stayed in a Hotel in the town and this was the place for the craic,singsongs and a few jars if you were so inclined and I was for one night only, but Agnes and the two ladies made it a for two nights.
There was a schedule of services and religious events for each day and if you were able you could attend.Now many Pilgrims from Ireland who were not on the Meath Diocese Pilgrimage booked into the Hotels in the town for the week and would join the rest of us early in the day.
High Mass was celebrated every day in one or other of the Churches,the chief celebrant being Bishop Smith whose stamina for a man of his age is amazing.And upwards of 25 priests from the Diocese con celebrated with the Bishop.Now the wheelchair users were pushed each day from the hospital by the volunteers to whatever service was being played out and chariots ,which are a cross between a tricycle and a rickshaw were also pulled along for people like me whose mobility is limited.
Now I would have to say that I strongly suspect that some people who took to the chariots were no more disabled than Sonia O Sullivan and all they were short of was a corgi to hold on their laps as they waved to one and all.
The wheelchair users and the charioteers were placed at the front of the Churches and the able bodied to their rear and the ceremonies were highly impressive and emotive.
They were hugely enhanced by the Dunboyne Choir.whose singing was out of this world.Such was the atmosphere generated that if you closed your eyes during the Hymns you could easily imagine that this is what Heaven must be like.
The Grotto where Mary appeared to Bernadette is a stone cave and the very spot where Mary appeared is marked with a life sized statue of Her.Beneath the statue is a recess where I guess water over the ages has hollowed out the rock and above the recess is a massive column of rock which forms the foundations of one side of the Basicilla which towers above the Grotto.
There is a continuous queue of pilgrims who file past the Grotto and touch the rock or kiss it and much of the rock is black from human contact.Beside this again are holders for candles and you can light as many as you like and voluntarily pay for them.Adjacent to this also are containers for petitions and donations.
Now the baths are beside these and I bathed twice in them.
Before I travelled out there I discussed the impending trip with a tinker friend of mine ,who had visited Lourdes several times.He had informed me that the water there did not wet him.I found this incredible and was inclined not to believe him.
So I tried it for myself.
It works like this.There are separate individual baths for each pilgrim.The operation is managed by mainly French guys ,for the men anyhow,who help you disrobe in a cubicle for six men ,down to underpants level .When your turn comes you are escorted through a curtained doorway into another cubicle where a sunken bath accessed by three steps is located.There you discard your underpants and these guys place a rubber sheet around your waist to preserve your modesty ans escort you down the steps into the coldest water I have ever felt.In my case a man held me each side and helped me down the steps and holding each arm told me to sit down into I guess three and a half feet of water ,whilst praying.
This I did and I was well dunked up to chin level whilst being firmly held backwards and well immersed in the water.
I exited the water with their help ,soaking wet and immediately dressed without drying myself in any form or fashion.Within three minutes BOTH I AND MY CLOTHES WERE AS DRY AS A BONE.I SWEAR TO GOD.
And it happened two days trotting.
I am unaware of any scientific explanation for this and consider this a miracle.I am not unique in this experience I am told.It happens millions.
As you can imagine all sorts of diseased bodies are immersed in these baths and I am told that there is no contagion either .
By far the most impressive and moving aspect o the Pilgrimage for me was the nightly Processions in which tens of thousands of Pilgrims worldwide participated and during which many languages were used,including I am proud to say,Irish, on the night the Meath Dioceses led the procession.
Many of the Continental languages ,including Irish are far easier on the ear and much more maleficent than English ,which is sterile by comparison.
The sight of unlimited thousands of people ,including the sick and disabled,cared for as they are by able bodied carers ,as they file past with lighted candles protected from the wind by cardboard surrounds and raised to the Heavens as the Hymns praise the Mother of God ,on their journey to the front of the Basilica,is extremely emotive and awesome and reduced this Pilgrim to tears of joy.
An experience not to be missed.
There were several connections to this Parish on the Pilgrimage--Paudge Dalton and his wife,Davy Gilkinsons ma and sister and her child,Paddy Kavanagh and Mary,Phil Smith and his wife,Shamus Boylan and his wife,Father Macken from Bohermeen,Father Casey who was in this Parish in the 1970's and who is,as far as I know the sole surviving selector of the Intermediate winning Football Team of 1970,the others being Tommy Mac Cormack,Jimmy Coogan and the Major Cregan all of whom have gone to their eternal rewards.
Father Casey is 85 years young and still very active and is 60 years a Priest this year.I would hope that the GAA Club and the Parish he so gracefully served see fit to honour his achievements.
Also there were many people I had met through the years through the GAA including Harry Connors from Trim,Joe Murphy from the Hill of Ward ,Sean Bennett from Bohermeen and a lovely Stalwart Volunteer from Drumconrath whose name escapes me and a Kells chap who works in Mullagh.
Interestingly.a Priest I met who once hurled with Ratoath is from Rosemount in Westmeath and was greatly influenced by Father Malachy LYNAM in his vocation And wouldn't you know it Megan Garry,a grand daughter of DOT and Vincie Rattigan was there as a youth volunteer .
Damian Englishe's brother was there as a most enthusiastic Priest and it is a terrible pity that this blatantly anti Christian Coalition don't take a leaf from his book and give due respect to the Church and its adherents
I met several people who have been there multiple times and asked why they kept returning when no miracle was worked for them.
To a man and woman they said that the ability to cope with their particular burden for a while longer was their personal Miracle.One jolly lady put it best perhaps when she explained that she went for a top up in Faith to lessen the pain she experienced daily as a result of losing three of her children to bizarre accidents within a three year period.
I will return D.V.
On the issue of numbers of Pilgrims per annum it is generally accepted by those I spoke to that c.6 million visit yearly but that the recession resulted in a decrease .
There is also a firm view THAT THE iTALIANS IN PARTICULAR HAVE DECIDED TO BOYCOTT lOURDES IN THEIR MILLIONS BECAUSE OF THE ANTI RELIGIOUS STANCE OF THE FRENCH ON THE JE SUIS CHARLIE ISSUE.
No comments:
Post a Comment