My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I take this opportunity to report on the recent diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes and Paris. All I can say is that it met my expectations and even more. Together with almost 160 pilgrims, including Bishop Octavio Cisneros, Monsignor Robert Romano and Father Gerard Sauer, director of diocesan pilgrimages, and including Deacon Jaime Varela and Deacon Dante Colandrea, we truly had a prayerful experience at one of the greatest Marian shrines in the world. This year, we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady to Bernadette Soubirous.

As I mentioned in a previous column, to me it was a personal privilege to return to Lourdes to mark the sesquicentennial after I was present for the centennial when I was only 14 and on a Boy Scout pilgrimage. As I promised, three Eagle Scouts accompanied us with their leader couple, and they brought back memories to me about that faithful pilgrimage that assisted me in discerning my vocation to the priesthood.

Lourdes, when all is said and done, is a unique place where the faith is so tangible that you can almost touch it. You see the faith of those who are sick and come seeking physical and spiritual healing. You see the faith in so many pilgrims who humbly pray and bathe themselves in the waters of Lourdes, but most of all give a witness to faith, which is extraordinary. The international atmosphere at Lourdes shows the Church universal at its best, and in whatever language a person prays, we find the same result, praise of God through the intercession of Mary Immaculate.

This year, the pilgrimage agenda for Lourdes consisted of following the life of St. Bernadette by visiting the places important to her life as a requirement for gaining the sesquicentennial indulgence. In a more than five-mile walk, all 160 pilgrims, some of whom were in wheelchairs, made the pilgrimage route.

There are tremendous crowds in Lourdes at this time of year and yet there is never any congestion, shoving or dangerous events that result from large crowds. Lourdes has a calming effect on all. This was particularly the case that week when 10,000 French young people from the Paris area came on the annual pilgrimage called the “Frat ’08.” Each year, now for over 20 years, the dioceses surrounding Paris have organized this type of spring-break pilgrimage. The young people were truly an inspiration and a sign that the Church is alive and well in France.

Our pilgrimage, however, did not end in Lourdes. We continued on to Paris and made a special trip to celebrate Mass at the Shrine of the Miraculous Medal. Several years before Mary’s apparition in Lourdes, Our Lady appeared to St. Catherine of Laboure, again emphasizing the message that she was the Immaculate Conception and describing the medal that she wished those to wear as they called upon her intercession. The Miraculous Medal Shrine at Rue du Bac is perhaps one of the most peaceful places in the midst of the hustle and bustle of urban Paris. We also took the opportunity to visit a church where St. Vincent de Paul is venerated, just around the corner from Rue du Bac.

Some pilgrims were able, under the direction of Monsignor Romano, the present pastor of St. Bernadette Church, to take another long pilgrimage to Nevers, where the incorrupt body of St. Bernadette Soubirous is kept. Bernadette left Lourdes to pursue her religious vocation as a nursing sister and died at age 35. When her body was exhumed in the process of canonization, it was miraculously found incorrupt and the present beauty of the body perhaps is a testament that Bernadette’s innocence was never lost and preserved from corruption by Our Lady, who is the Immaculate Conception and never underwent corruption herself.

It is heartwarming to recognize the special power of pilgrimage since, as I said in the past, it forces us to “put out into the deep,” to leave the familiar for what is not known, always seeking God’s presence, in this case, the intercession of Our Lady. During this month of May, each one of us can make real and virtual pilgrimages. For those that can travel to a special shrine or church dedicated to Mary, it is always a good custom. For those who cannot travel, a virtual pilgrimage of prayer is always a good substitute.

I take this opportunity to thank Father Sauer for all his hard work in organizing the pilgrimage. As I mentioned two weeks ago, the opportunity to participate in the pilgrimage to the Eucharistic Congress in Quebec is still a possibility for those who are interested.