A journey of faith
When at school while learning about the many times that the Blessed Virgin Mary made appearances here on earth, I found myself wishing often that I was one of those chosen children in Fatima. Why they occupied such a space in my thoughts more than with other apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I will, perhaps, never know.
A determination took root: when opportunity and circumstances presented themselves, this was the hallowed ground I had to visit.
The Superior of St. Philip Neri’s Church in the Pettah, Father Justin Chawkan SSS, with remarkable foresight was planning a Marian year pilgrimage to Fatima and Lourdes in October 2013, so here then after so many years, was my opportunity.
So it was that we were soon winging our way to Milan in Italy on the first leg of our journey. A homely albeit delicious dinner arranged for us a short walk away from our hotel in Padua, gave us just the foretaste we needed of what Italian cuisine could do to our palates. It was an early night for us all since the following day was to see us rise with the lark and board the bus, for the Basilica of St. Anthony. Since St. Anthony is so revered in Sri Lanka, this stop was of immense significance to all of us.
Although born in Lisbon in 1195,St Anthony had stayed in Padua for short periods, a number of times in the last years of his brief existence. The Basilica of the Saint, a magnificent structure, dominates the piazza and we had the better part of a morning to attend Mass, place our written petitions, and pray at the Saint’s tomb. Awe-inspiring indeed was the Chapel of the Treasures which housed among other relics the tongue of the Saint, and his jaw-bone. Here too, we saw the habit and the first two coffins in which the remains of the Saint had lain.
Rosa Mystica was for most of us an apparition which was lesser known that took place in Montichiari, Italy, to a humble Italian woman named Pierina Gilli. It is believed that the original purpose of these appearances of Our Blessed Mother was to reform the clergy and religious houses of the time. Pierina Gilli, worked as a nurse in the hospital in Montichiari when the Mother of Christ appeared to her in the spring of 1947. Our Lady had tear-filled eyes and her breast was pierced by three big swords. Our Lady said “Prayer, Penitence, Expiation” and was silent.
The statue of Our Blessed Lady of Fatima
A few months later in the same year, Our Lady appeared again, this time carrying three roses; a white one, a red one and a golden one. Our Lady explained to Pierina the significance of the three swords (each relating to some aspect of sorrow concerning the clergy of the time). Each rose related respectively to the spirit of prayer, the spirit of expiation and sacrifice and the spirit of penitence. Reiterating these words, “I am the Mother of Jesus and the mother of all of you” the Blessed Mother urged continued prayer and penitence. A very significant visit here, was to a chapel which gave us the opportunity to express penitence physically such as by walking barefoot in ice-cold water and climbing stone steps on our knees.
A flight then took us to Lisbon, Portugal and to Fatima, which is in the very heart of Portugal and about 30 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. The place- name Fatima, like so many others in Portugal, goes back to Moorish times. Fatima was the name of the daughter of Mahomet , the great prophet of Islam.
On our drive to the hotel, it was impossible to lose our bearings: there at a prominent roundabout were huge sculptures of the three shepherd children to whom I had felt so drawn in my childhood, Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta.
Our anticipation of the next morning, was immense. The tour operators had arranged for a special Mass to be concelebrated by the Religious who accompanied us; Father Justin Chawkan, Father Marcus Codipilly and Bro. Michael Abelpillai, all of the Blessed Sacrament Community. The Mass was celebrated at the actual spot where Our Lady had appeared with her message. Members of our group were chosen for the Readings in all three of our languages and the Altar servers were also youngsters of our group.
To the left of this chapel was a very large holmoak tree encircled by a retaining wall. The original holmoak, over which the Blessed Mother appeared, had been destroyed we were told by aerial bombing during the war.
That night we found ourselves among hundreds of thousands of pilgrims carrying a candle-lit lantern singing hymns of praise and reciting the rosary. In an awe-inspiring vision of millions of twinkling lights, the statue of Our Blessed Lady of Fatima, encircled in a profusion of flowers was carried in procession from the Chapel of the Apparitions and along the centre of the Square and up the steps of the Basilica. Here, our Fathers Justin and Marcus alongside the Bishop of Portugal and three hundred other priests concelebrated the Holy Eucharist and helped distribute communion to the throngs of devotees.
Our pilgrimage had been timed so that we would be on this hallowed ground on October 13, the day when, in 1917, Our Lady kept her promise to the three little shepherd children that a miracle which had been requested by Lucia, would be performed . Here we were in 2013, over 400,000 people gathered in the square, to remember that day.
It was made more significant to us, by our Tour Guide par excellence having ensured that our group had a front row view of the steps of the Basilica. What we had witnessed the previous night was now being re-enacted in broad daylight. The statue of Our Lady, was borne in procession to hymns of praise and recitation of the Rosary up the steps of the Basilica. A moving tradition which we had been prepared for by the Tour organizers was the waving of thousands upon thousands of white handkerchiefs as the statue of Our Lady of Fatima, was returned in procession to the Chapel of the Apparitions.
However we cannot leave Fatima without mention of some of the other high-points of our visit there. The guided tour of the Museum with special reference to the Crown of Our Lady of Fatima seen in a photograph that day since the original was on its way back from a special veneration at the Vatican. In the middle of the crown, has been inserted the bullet offered by the recently canonized Pope John Paul ll to prove that Our Lady of Fatima had protected him in the attempt on his life on May 13th 1981, in Rome.
Then, there was our visit to Aljustrel, one of the places which make up the parish of Fatima and where the three little shepherds were born. A peaceful village where two of the houses of the era still stand, restored. A visit to the room in which Francisco died at the age of eleven, evoked a deep sadness.
It was in the wee hours of October 14 when we boarded our bus for the long journey to Lourdes, via Spain. We arrived very late that evening at our hotel, which we found to be even closer to the Shrine than we had experienced in Fatima. Mass the next morning, was followed by a brief walking tour.
Bernadette Soubirous’ parents were poor millers who were generally known in Lourdes as the millers of Boly. Our first stop then, was at the Boly Mill where her parents lived when Bernadette was born in 1844. A walk inside this humble home and the actual room where Bernadette was born, gave us an insight into the simplicity of their lifestyle.
Following lunch at the hotel, we visited the famous Baths. This was an amazing experience which necessitated stripping ourselves, being wrapped in a large sheet and lowered into a ‘bath’ of healing water. There are about 16 baths made of stone, where hundreds of able-bodied and sick people ‘bathe’ every day helped by qualified personnel and volunteers. The water is changed twice every 24 hours.Those who lowered each pilgrim into the bath, kept reciting the Lord’s Prayer together with the pilgrim.
An unbelievable sensation followed, as we hurriedly donned our clothes again -our bodies which had not been towel-dried, were perfectly dry and warm, and there was no trace of ‘wetness’ on our clothes. It was a definite topic of conversation for all who had experienced this bath for the first time, and the words of the Virgin Mary kept returning “Go and drink at the Spring and wash yourself there.”
In the early evening of the same day, we gathered in the magnificent underground Basilica for a procession of the Blessed Sacrament and the blessing of the sick.
Dinner at the hotel was followed by the Tour operators distributing lanterns and candles for the candle-lit procession which is held every day from Easter to October. The Virgin Mary had asked Bernadette for processions. These represent the Pilgrims’ communal path towards God and our salvation. The Rosary was being recited as the procession of thousands wound its way along the square in front of the Rosary Basilica.
We awoke October 16th, to a cold downpour. Nevertheless, we had to find our way out of the hotel, for our group was to join in a Sinhala and Tamil celebration of the Eucharist in the very Grotto of Massabielle where the Blessed Virgin had appeared to Bernadette no less than 18 times.
The name Massabielle, we learned, comes from ‘Massevielle’ which in the dialect Bigourdan means ‘old rock’. It is a mass of rock about 27 metres high, covered in ivy and blackened by smoke from the candles which burn day and night. Above and to the right, is an oval-shaped niche where the Immaculate Conception appeared to Bernadette. The floor of the Grotto is now covered with slabs of marble. An altar has been built in the centre. In front of the Grotto is a large candelabrum on which candles burn unceasingly, a symbol of the devotion of the pilgrims who come to Lourdes. Inside the Grotto, on the left, is the source which springs from the rock. It is covered by a transparent glass plate and is illuminated
Early the following day, it was time to start heading for home, but not before we had visited Nevers to see the incorrupt body of Bernadette which we have read, is an absolute must for anyone visiting Lourdes. It was in October 1867 that Bernadette took the veil and was given the name of Sister Marie-Bernard of the Congregation of the Sisters of Nevers. She was to stay for about 12 years in the convent, plagued with bouts of asthma. It was asthma which finally caused her death on April 16 1879, at the age of 35.
St. Gildard’s Convent is an imposing building and following the celebration of Mass within view of the incorrupt body of Bernadette, we visited the room where Bernadette had died. A walk around the extensive and well-manicured gardens, showed us Bernadette’s own private grotto where she spent time frequently in prayer.
The end of our tour, was the simple, wholesome meal which the Sisters of that Convent had arranged for us.
In retrospect, our gratitude again to Father Justin and the Blessed Sacrament Congregation for their initiative to make this a precursor to the start of the Marian year and for their spiritual guidance.
The Tour was organized by a “National and International award- winning travel agent” . whose slogan “We don’t promise memories – we make them”, is so true.