Lourdes

Hi everyone,

I know I just posted an update, but I had to get you all caught up on the haps in Lourdes. It's a windy, twisty little town that houses a beautiful cathedral dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The story goes that St. Bernadette had a vision of Mary and was told that the people of the town must turn to her son and they must build a church where Bernadette saw her. That's all I got, but by tomorrow I should have the full scoop.

We participated in a beautiful procession with hundreds if not thousands of other pilgrims. I believe they were mostly Italian since the first language spoken during the ceremony was indeed Italian. In fact, there were seven languages (at least) spoken during the ceremony - along with Italian there was French, Spanish, German, English, Portugese (from what I could tell) and Tagalog. What a treasure it was to stand among a community supporting and believing in the same idea. At the end of the ceremony, we were all asked to spread a wish of peace and goodnight to our neighbors. That was awesome! It was wonderful to hear peace in so many different languages. What a gift, indeed. Pictures will be coming soon. I know I keep saying that but seriously! Tomorrow you shall find the delightful treasure of pictures.

I prayed for you all...well, I asked that Mary listen to the prayers, thoughts and needs in my heart. I asked her to send her grace, strength and bravery upon you all. I hope you felt it reach you. I love you all.