WE shall remember 2008 for many things, but what made it particularly memorable was that we were among the tens of thousands of pilgrims who flocked to Lourdes, France, to mark the 150th anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Mother to St. Bernadette Soubirous.

Lourdes is a small town in the foothills of the Pyrenees, the mountain range that divides France and Spain. In fact, it was quite an unremarkable town with a small population that was transformed into one of the most popular pilgrimage destinations of Catholics all over the world with the 1858 apparitions.

The grotto of Massabielle, where the Virgin Mary appeared to St. Bernadette, is a shallow cave where the spring that the young saint dug up has continued to flow, a source of healing, physical and spiritual, for many pilgrims. It is the holiest site in Lourdes where prayers are unceasing and hope binds pilgrims.

We were 24 Filipinos under the guidance of Fr. Melvin Castro, founder of the Confraternity of Mary Mediatrix of all Graces, on a Marian pilgrimage that began in Spain and ended in Italy. Traveling as a group made the trip easy and pleasant, as we all became friends after 16 days of travel, hotel transfers and Masses celebrated together in beautiful churches with so much history.

With its narrow streets, Lourdes still retains the feeling of a small town. But it is filled with pilgrims, hotels and souvenir shops selling mostly religious items. It is reported that only Paris has more hotels than Lourdes in all of France. In the evenings, bars and restaurants are full in Lourdes.

There were many Filipinos who were also on pilgrimage, coming mainly from the US and other parts of Europe. They were excited to meet us because we were ?Filipinos from the Philippines.?

During the candlelight Rosary procession, we carried a Philippine flag to mark our group and other Filipinos always came to join us and ask about home. The Rosary was said in several languages, and we were fortunate that on our second night, our guide Millard Villaverde managed to get us a slot to lead a part of the Rosary in Filipino. In between the Rosary decades, we sang the ?Ave Maria,? also in Filipino.

Universality

The universality of the faith was evident in all the different tongues praying together. We were at the main steps of the Rosary Basilica leading the prayer, taking turns with the Czechs, French, Germans, English, Italians, Indonesians and Korean women who were all dressed in their national costume, all of us praying in our own languages.

We wished we had had the foresight to bring Filipiniana, but it was autumn and the chill had us shivering in our thick sweaters. Since the Rosary procession would begin at around 8 p.m., we ate dinner quickly and skipped dessert so that we could be on the main steps one hour before to present ourselves to lead part of the Rosary.

Many groups had come earlier than us and two groups (languages) per decade had already been assigned, but the lady in charge squeezed us in for two Tagalog Hail Mary?s. The English-speaking group consisted of only two ladies from England, so Fr. Melvin was asked to join them for the English part of the prayer.

The grotto is never empty of pilgrims and the murmur of prayer is always present. Dipping in the water in enclosed baths has become some kind of tradition these days, although it is not necessary. The lines are long.

Longer still is the queue to the grotto where one can see the spot where St. Bernadette dug up the spring. It is covered with glass and bouquets of roses are given by visitors. Nearby is a tall box where petitions can be dropped.

We lined up for almost an hour to enter the grotto and drop our petitions and those of family and friends. During the day, there is another line of pilgrims in wheelchairs and occasionally, in stretchers. They are assisted by volunteers and the whole process is very orderly.

St. Bernadette
The town is dominated by images of St. Bernadette Soubirous, the eldest daughter of a poor miller whose family was so destitute that they had to settle in a former jailhouse called le cachot, which means the dungeon, as it was dark and damp and cramped. This family home is now a museum.

Despite their suffering, the teenage Bernadette appealed to take catechism with the young children in the ?paupers? class? so that she could make her first communion.

Thus the authorities found it so unlikely that the Blessed Mother would appear to one like her, but the simple faith of Bernadette made her a worthy messenger of heaven for the message of penance and prayers for conversion.

One hundred fifty years after Our Lady?s apparitions, there remains an unending stream of people attending the torchlight and the Eucharistic processions daily. In the basilica, there is a large mosaic image of a young Virgin Mary on the ceiling, smiling with her arms outstretched in welcome.

Indeed, Lourdes leaves one with a sense of calm and at the same time communicates the great need for prayer, which the world in 2009 will be in great need of.