Earlier this past summer, Ioannes Reginarum and I made a pilgrimage to Lourdes. Both of us participated in the 2006 Pilgrimage to Chartres and since then wanted to come back to France. This year being the 150th anniversary of the apparitions gave us enough incentive to make room in our hectic schedules to travel back to the land of tradition. The Holy Father’s pilgrimage to Lourdes and Paris this past weekend brought back memories of our trip, which I would like to share in this brief account:

The best way to get to Lourdes is a direct TGV from Montparnasse. It takes about six hours, with maybe 3 other stops. It is very comfortable and quiet, conducive for reading. In addition, there are some very nice, panoramic views of the French countryside.

We arrived in Lourdes around 8:30 P.M. and our first gaze upon the great Church at the grotto would be at nightfall.

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An issue that has been raised on this blog is the merit of post-secondary school education. Central to the issue is how the Faith is affected and influenced in the college environment. Evaluating something like this is not easy. Is it possible to effectively and accurately evaluate the academic and social environment as consistent with Catholic teaching and ideals? One possible solution is to attend a Catholic college.

Unfortunately, even a college or university with a Catholic name attached does not guarantee that Catholic ideals and values are upheld and defended.

This disappointing fact has led most of us to agree with Fr. Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R., that parents should “send their children to secular colleges and universities that have an active and involved campus ministry loyal to the Catholic faith rather than use what I call a phony Catholic school.”

Not all is lost, however, in the pursuit of higher education. In the same essay from Fr. Groeschel in the Foreword to “Choosing a Catholic College” (pdf link) where this quote is taken from, he says encouragingly: “There is, however, cause for hope, and it is manifested in those oases of Catholicism profiled in this publication.”

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This past Saturday, August 18th, I woke up early enough here in Ithaca, NY to make it to Doylestown, PA and participate in the 3rd Annual Traditional Latin Mass pilgrimage to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa. The weather was perfect and the drive through Pennsylvania was very picturesque. I wasn’t sure what to expect, except for a great homily from Fr. Miara, but any day devoted to “prayer and reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Our Lady of Fatima” has to be a great day.

The grounds of the Shrine consist of a large hill where the church stands looking out over a small valley. In front of it is an outdoor Stations of the Cross, which all of us would pray later in the day. Having noticed that parts of the signs on the grounds were in Polish, I suspected that a monument of some sort to the late Pope John Paul II had to be near. Sure enough, there is a statue of the late Pontiff next to the church. At the base of the statue was his papal emblem with its characteristic blue “M” showing devotion to Our Lady as well as his personal motto in Latin, “Totus Tuus (Everything Thine)”. In addition, the words “Open the doors to Christ (Otworzcie szeroko drzwi Chrystusowi)” were also part of the monument.

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