Welcome!

Welcome to all who have come to read my blog from this year's journey to Lourdes, France. This blog was originally written as a way to communicate with my 2nd graders while I was away. I brought my good friend and colleague, Susan Murphy, with me as a malade this year so all reference to her is as Miss Murphy. Please start at the beginning (which is actually the blog at the very end) to read about the entire journey from start to finish. I hope you enjoy! ~Mary Lowzinski

Final Thoughts

Our trip has come and gone in what seems like a blink of an eye. Many pilgrims come to Lourdes for the first time wondering what they are doing there. It is by the end of the week that we realize the trip is not about us. The trip is about the special boys, girls, men, and women that we bring as our beloved malades to experience the joy of Lourdes and the love of the Blessed Mother. The strength, courage, and hope that our malades show are the true gift that each of us as prilgrims receive.

I have been thanked many times by Miss Murphy and her wonderful mother, Pat, for bringing them on this journey. Try and try again, I tell them that it is nothing to do with me. I am the lucky one that the Lord and Blessed Mother used as an instrument in helping to make this journey for them possible. If I can, I would like to thank you, Susan and Pat, for allowing me to care for you, push and pull you, spend time with you, and pray with you. I am so blessed that I was able to spend this time with the two beautiful Murphy women, as well as our other fabulous malades. The hard work, the laughter, the tears, the prayers, the love will remain forever in my heart.

Tuesday - Mass indoors and Talent Show

We woke up Tuesday morning to snow!!! It was very, very cold so they decided to have our Mass in the hotel instead of taking the carts out to the church. They set up our dining room area so that the priests were at the front at a table and we sat in chairs in front of them. It was nice to be able to stay inside where it was warm. They had to get creative about some of the supplies they used since they didn't have all the objects for Mass.

Bishop Curlin said the Mass and gave an excellent homily. I got it on video and will try to figure out how to post it. It is too long to fit on the blog. After Mass, Bishop Curlin gave a special blessing to all the malades. He used the holy water and said a special prayer that Mother Theresa taught him. Miss Murphy said that it was very special for her. While the malades were getting their blessings, we were all saying the rosary and offering our prayers up for their healing. Many malades have already felt spiritual healing this week, including Miss Murphy!

The last night was a special dinner when we got to wear real clothes, not uniforms! We wore our tiaras since we are lovingly known as the "Princesses". After dinner we had a Talent Show and anyone who wanted to could participate. We got on stage to help Kennedy perform. It was great! See below for some video of the talents!

Kennedy's performance in the Talent Show!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7Un_ghCjaA

The kids skit in the Talent Show!

Monday - Mass, Cachot, Trip to Pau, Atlanta dinner

Howdy from Lourdes!!! It's Monday!!! We had a great Mass this morning and Miss Murphy got to do the reading at Mass. She was awesome! She was especially asked by Monsignor Dillon to read and she did a great job. The church had the baptismal font in it that Saint Bernadette was baptized in. It was so cool to see it, it's over 150 years old!




After Mass we got to see the house where Bernadette lived, they call it the Cachot. It is much smaller than our classroom, maybe about half the size of our classroom. Bernadette had 6 people in her family and they all lived in the one room house. It used to be a jail cell before it was their house. They sacrificed a lot to all be together. It really made us realize how lucky we are to have all the things that we have at home.

In the afternoon we had a bus ride out to a town called Pau. It was very beautiful despite the rain. There was a castle that was built for Henry IV, gardens that were in the lawn of the castle, little shops, a train, and a lovely village. Most of the shops were closed because they have a holiday called May Day. It is celebrated on May 1st and they get a day off work. Since it was on Saturday this year they had a day off Monday. We finally found a restaurant that was open. It was really fun, we took turns playing the piano and drank some yummy hot chocolate!

When we got back to Lourdes we got the group together from Atlanta. We have about 30 people here from Atlanta including Knights, Dames, Doctors, Auxiliary, malades, and companions. We all went out to dinner together and had a great time!

Sunday - Pontifical Mass and Eucharistic Procession

Sunday was such an amazing day! We started the day with the major Mass of the weekend. Members of Malta from all over the world gathered for Mass in the underground basilica. There were over 25,000 people at the mass, it was amazing! Miss Murphy sat next to another malade from New York named Danielle. She was 11 years old and in the 5th grade, and she is the youngest of 11 brothers and sisters. She loved looking at the rosary that Kirklen made and so Miss Murphy gave it to her. She couldn't have been happier! Miss Murphy passed on the gift that she was given to someone else. That is the greatest gift of giving! We also saw little girls from France who were passing out Lourdes water to people sitting in Mass. It was so crowded that when they passed out communion, someone went with each priest to hold a white flag so that everyone would know where to go for communion. You can see some video of Miss Murphy's mom recieving communion!

We had lunch with the kids today, yay!!! They are so awesome. We all had pizza and french fries. They were very excited to have lunch with some of the big kids. :) They bring such life to our trip.

After lunch we went to the Eucharistic Procession. I was so amazing. Again there were about 20 to 30,000 people there. The host in the monstrance was about the size of a basketball! We began outside and then processed in to the underground basilica. The bishop took time to take the monstrance towards every malade and pilgrim in the crowd. It was such a beautiful and special time to spend with Jesus.

Saturday - Grotto Mass, Malade medals

It was easier to wake up Saturday morning. I think we are finally getting used to the time change over here. After a breakfast of crossants, meat, and cheese, we were headed to the Grotto for a Mass with the other U.S. Associations. One problem - heavy rain! So we all bundled up and headed down with blankets and umbrellas. Despite the rain and cold weather the Mass was beautiful. At the end, one of our members brought forward all of our prayer intentions. There were so many that he had to put them in a suitcase. You can probably tell from the picture that the suitcase is almost too full! All the prayers were put in the Grotto at the end of Mass.

After Mass, we went to the underground basilica so that the malades could be presented medals to remember their trip. The medals were presented by the Grand Master of the Order of Malta. It was an honor for all of us to see him and for him to present the medals. Miss Murphy got to sit near some of the children malades. We have a lot of children on our trip this year. It is both saddening but also joyful. These young ones all have a different illness they are battling, but you can tell from their faces that they still have a love of life, a joy in being around others, and a faithful spirit. Everyone here is touched by the life they bring to our trip.

The afternoon and evening were spent in different retreats. I had an auxiliary retreat where we all talked about our role on the trip and how we could best help all that were here. Miss Murphy and her mom each had separate retreats where they heard talks from different priests and then got to go to confession. I was so excited that Miss Murphy got to go to confession and she said she had a wonderful priest that spoke with her. We are all so lucky to be surrounded with so many priests who bring us the gifts of Jesus' forgiveness, the Eucharist, and all the other blessings. We continue to pray for everyone back home!

Friday - Baths and Healing Mass

Friday we woke up after a great and much needed night's sleep. After breakfast we got ready to go to the baths! It was a rainy day so we had to bundle up and go out in the wet. When we got down there it was very quiet because they ask you to keep quiet while others are praying. I walked in to the baths and went to the front of the line with Miss Murphy and her mom because malades are allowed to go to the front of the line. I waited with them until they went in and then I waited back outside in the rain for them. When Miss Murphy came out I could tell that something great happened. She had a distant and amazed but incredibly peaceful look on her face. First of all, anyone that goes in the bath will tell you that it is verrrrry cold! She said that when she went it is was a little chilly, but then the ladies working in baths starting praying with her to Mary and she felt an incredible warmness throughout her body. In fact, we spoke later to a girl that was working in the baths and helping Miss Murphy. Before Miss Murphy could even tell her about feeling warm, the girl said she felt body getting hot in the bath. Words cannot even describe how amazing this is! I know that it was the spirit of Mary filling Miss Murphy's body and spirit. This is only one of the many miracles happening here in Lourdes.

After lunch we had a team orientation. A member of our team gave eveyone a history of the Order of Malta, Lourdes, and our involvement in bringing malades here. We also took some team pictures.

In the afternoon we had the Healing Mass, my favorite mass of the week. I was asked to hold the Bishop's crozier (his staff) during Mass. One of our malades, Michelle, held the mitre (his hat). So we both got to sit on the altar for the entire Mass, it was awesome!!! During the anointing of the sick, the fragrance of roses filled the church. It was such a beautiful experience. After receiving communion I felt such an intense feeling. I was sitting at my seat with my head down and eyes closed. I had just received Jesus into my body and soul. I could still smell the beautiful fragrance of roses in the church. Music was playing and people were singing. I felt the immense love from everyone in the congregation. I imagined that this is what heaven would feel like. It wouldn't be cloud pillows and candy, but instead the feeling of love like your heart is going to burst. It's probably the closest feeling to God's love that I've ever felt.

Before dinner, we Skyped with our 2nd graders about our trip. We invited some of the children malades to get on and talk with the students. They talked about who they were, what we were doing in Lourdes, and what they liked about the trip. We even had a special pilgrim come on to talk to the classes - Vince Dooley! He promised to come in and visit the 2nd graders at NDA very soon!

After dinner, we had a candle lit procession. We gathered at dusk with over 500 other people from other countries near the church. We all lit candles and they said the rosary over the loud speaker. The prayers were said in all different languages - English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, and more! My class has been practicing the Hail Mary in French so I video taped one of the Hail Marys so we could see how well we are doing! It was so beautiful especially when everyone lifted up their candles high during the Ave Maria. It was such a wonderful end to a spiritually moving day!