Birthday wishes from earth

It was your birthday yesterday.

You have been travelling with me these last weeks,

Alive in my thoughts, my emotions

Especially in Lourdes

Where we were supposed to visit together

Sadness and gratitude shrouded me in a fine mist

Tears for all you have been in my life

Much beloved and deeply missed

 Never forgotten ever.

Led by light

Grace upon grace is how I would describe my last two weeks during a Marian pilgrimage spanning France, Spain and Portugal. When one is determined to seek the Lord’s face, He will be found. What’s more His protective hand is always upon those He loves, whether we realize it or not. 

I somehow knew that all the difficulties we encountered, personally and collectively whether before or during the trip, were an indication of great blessings to come. 

Despite the severe allergy reaction that P suffered so much that he thought he would have to forgo the trip_

 

Despite the flight cancellation that left us trawling a very busy Frankfurt airport for over 12 hours due to cancelled flights because of bad weather_ 

Despite the missed day in Rue de Bac, one of my favourite streets in Paris due to its concentration of my favourite saints_ 

Despite the gruelling road trips that have left me and others exhausted and in some level of physical discomfort_

P made the trip thanks to the collective prayer of fellow pilgrims and friends. I am extremely grateful for all who prayed - thank you all again!

We were blessed with great weather. In this statement I would include the rainy day in Lourdes that cooled down the subsequent days considerably and made them pleasantly cool. The day the weather turned unbearably hot was the day we returned home to Singapore on 12 June. 

A forgotten phone in Lourdes, a forgotten bag in a toilet, a forgotten wallet in a pit stop - all were retrieved intact, and returned to their respective owners. 

Travel on the roads was smooth. Our lovely bus captain Anderson ensured we got safely from place to place, and he even drove a couple of hours from Porto to bid us goodbye in Fatima on his off day. Despite the inability to communicate with him, we felt his love and hopefully he felt ours. 

Ivan, our passionate and unflappable tour leader ensured we celebrated mass in special locations. I believe our group experienced things that many other groups of pilgrims would not have, such as the privilege of bearing the cross and canopy during the Eucharistic candlelight procession in Fatima. Plus, his wealth of stories, of faith-filled miracles, inspired greatly, and made me think a little deeper about my faith. 

We celebrated feast days such as the Sacred Heart of Jesus (fittingly at Santa Rem where a Eucharistic miracle resides), that reminded us of how Mother Mary always leads us to Jesus, her Son. 

We celebrated the lives of many saints - Bernadette, Jean Vianney, Maximilian Kolbe, James, John Paul II,  Francisco, Jacinta and soon-to-be Lucia - who show us all the way to Jesus with their humility and holiness. 

Saints, present and future

One couple celebrated 37 years of marriage during our trip, while another will celebrate 50 next month. Both couples are witnesses of God-centred marriages in their mutual love of each other and I felt blessed to celebrate their milestones with them.

We each took a break from our daily lives, laden with problems and personal sorrows, to seek the One who is with us in the peaks as well as the darkest valleys of our lives. This pilgrimage gives each of us special graces to strengthen our faith, aiding us in running our own respective races before we reach eternal life.

 

Father Francis reminded us to guard our graces when we return home for it is easy to forget all we have received in these two weeks, and fall back into negative patterns of behaviour, to stop loving as Christians should.

Personally, it has been a time of renewed surrender and transformation, of deeper conversion, a time of metanoia. I have also enjoyed and been inspired by fellow pilgrims, new acquaintances and old, my brothers and sisters in the blood of Christ. 

Last but by no means least, I give thanks for Father Francis, who was available to be our Spiritual Director on this trip. He brought with him the ICPE Mission charisms of worship and evangelization that made the love of Christ a very real and living thing to each person present. 

My biggest takeaway this pilgrimage is that we all bear

crosses that may be heavy, but nothing we cannot handle if we surrender it all to Him. Moreover, we must not forget that our crosses are often beacons of light that lead others, especially those who are lost, back to Christ. 

 I was reminded to serve with more willingness and cheerfulness so that many will come to know and love Him as much as I do, if not more; and to walk the way of the Cross in His light alone, in fidelity, daily.

Finding faith

Many emotions flooded through me when we visited Lourdes again after nine years. It was our honeymoon then and the one thing that hasn’t changed in that time is our deep love for our Lady and her Son. Yet, we have come so far, as individuals, and as a couple. Immensely grateful and still amazed at the multiple blessings we have experienced. By grace, our faith has grown because of our marriage, and in spite of it. 😜  

Lourdes felt familiar and dear to us, much like an old friend. I felt a sense of homecoming and I was heartened to note the number of young pilgrims to the shrine. Their brightly coloured hats brought a vibrancy to the place which was uplifting. 

P and I are on a Marian pilgrimage that covers France, Spain and Portugal. From its inception, this trip has been fraught with many obstacles and challenges, too many to enumerate. But, by His grace, we are here, and we seek His strength through our surrender, inspired very much so by Mother Mary herself, the immaculate Conception.  

Thus far, the word that keeps coming up repeatedly is humility and our great need of it, if we are to make His will ours.

The humility of Saint Bernadette who does not forget anyone, and that of Saint Jean Vianney who won over his parishioners and radically transformed not just them, but scores of people who travelled from afar, just to make their confession with him. 

We have now finished our France leg and have crossed over to Spain where we will visit the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona after our eight-hour bus ride. I look forward to the surfeit of beauty that owes its form to the imagination of Antoni Gaudi. 

I thank God for His journey mercies, for thanks to intermittent rain, it has been cool with no sign of the heat wave that visited Europe a week ago. His love never ceases to amaze.