Modernism's Full Impact

Lent 2010

May we all take the time this Lent to realize that there's nothing we can "DO" in fasting, penance, prayer, alms giving or anything else that will help us to "DESERVE" God's Love. We do these things to express the love we have for God that burns deep within us pushing us ever forward to know Him better, love Him more and trust and serve Him always! So often we feel there's a hole, something missing or lost deep within our hearts that beckons to be filled. Many try to fill this inherent void with worldly pleasures when in fact, the ONLY way it can begin to be filled is by the grace of God and WITH the Glorious Triune God of grace!

Take this lent, make it yours ... your offerings united to the Perfect and Holy Passion of our dear Lord can be given back to Him as a beautiful and pleasing gift. Strive to get closer to Him ... listen to the Still Small Voice in prayer with a pure heart as you say "Here I am Lord" .. and be open to the leanings of the Holy Spirit. If we are pure and humble in heart seeking to make Jesus a more Real Presence in our lives, trusting with the faith of a child, being obedient in love as Our Blessed Mother was and IS, how pleasing it will be do our dear Lord! Let us offer Him some small compassion, consolation and solace in His Passion as we unite with His most Sacred Heart in a way that only He can help us achieve. Let us love our Lord more fully with a lively faith asking for an increase and steadfastness in that same faith that we might always be ready to answer, help and strengthen our brothers and sisters in all ways that give God the honor and glory!

May you all have a truly spectacular Lent and be drawn deeply into His Passion that your joy at Easter will overflow your hearts with the peace, comfort, love joy and MERCY that only HE can give!

Prayer Honoring the Shoulder Wound of Jesus
Oh Most Loving Jesus, meek Lamb of God, I a miserable sinner, salute and worship the most Sacred Wound of Thy Shoulder on which Thou didst bear Thy heavy Cross, which so tore Thy Flesh and laid bare Thy Bones as to inflict on Thee an anguish greater than any other Wound of Thy Most Blessed Body. I adore Thee, O Jesus most sorrowful; I praise and glorify Thee and give Thee thanks for this most sacred and painful Wound, beseeching Thee by that exceeding pain and by the crushing burden of Thy heavy Cross to be merciful to me, a sinner, to forgive me all my mortal and venial sins, and to lead me on towards Heaven along the Way of Thy Cross. Amen.

Our Lady of Lourdes

by John Horvat II

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February 11th, is the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes.

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As I sat down in the train for my trip’s final leg to Lourdes, I could not help but reflect that this was a trip repeated many times by tens of millions of pilgrims from all over the world over the last 150 years. They have embarked with similar expectations. Upon writing down my impressions, I was tempted to think that my account would be of little value, since my story has already been told so many times before. However, though it is the same story, I have no doubt each trip is different. Part of the allure of Lourdes lies exactly in that each pilgrim’s experiences it differently. Lourdes draws each one to go on the pilgrim’s route. Everyone takes different problems and miseries, and is filled with different expectations.
Mine was a simple four-day pilgrimage, a retreat without Internet, cell phone, camera or even air-conditioning. My expectations were simple. I sought peace of soul in a world that aggressively disrupts that peace. I sought time to reflect and recollect. I expected to be cleansed of so much. I just wanted time to pray to Our Lady and ask her for all that I needed.

A Place of Violent Contrast

My first impression of Lourdes was that it is a place of dramatic contrast, born of violence and extremes. I found it unexpectedly dramatic. The rocky foothills of the Pyrenees are filled with abrupt cliffs, mysterious caves and scraggly brush. The Gave River rapidly flows with violent intensity. While praying at the Grotto, it was not uncommon to feel sudden gusts of strong winds that added to the sense something different and important was happening there. The intensely hot sun of the July day contrasted with the chilly night mountain air.
This contrast is above all present at the Grotto. The Grotto lies inside a huge rocky hill near the river. I had always thought the Grotto was separate from the basilica. However, the huge Gothic sanctuary sits right on top of this massive rock and its stone foundations dig like roots into the rock, dominating and forcing itself upon the wild landscape. However, the Grotto still retains that exuberant wildness that it must have had at the time of the apparitions. The outside of the Grotto is covered with that untamed scrub brush and wild grass that tenaciously cling to fissures in the rock.
Almost as dramatic as the landscape is the violent contrast of the pilgrims. They come from all over the world and speak in many languages. But the most notable contrast is the extreme cultural clashes one sees between genuine signs of devotion and faith and the most glaring signs of our fragmented postmodernity found in the modern fashions and icons that are found on the pilgrims’ Che Guevara shirts and caps. You cannot help but feel it is the affliction caused by this internal cultural war inside souls that brings many of the pilgrims to Lourdes.
All of this is a fitting stage for the drama that takes place inside souls at Lourdes. You pray in the context of this dramatic setting.

The Heart of Lourdes

The heart of Lourdes is the Grotto. All over the city, the signs point to the Grotto. In front of the Grotto, I spent hours praying before a life-size statue of Our Lady that stands some 15 feet above in a large cavity inside the Grotto.
The activities around the Grotto are impressive. It is the site of Masses, adorations and recitations of the Rosary. There are times when you can kneel very close to the statue of Our Lady. There are other times when you must stand back because of the crowds. At night, a tree of large candles illuminates the area and creates an atmosphere of recollection and devotion.

Miraculous spring at the Grotto.

There is a constant flow of people who enter the Grotto and pass by its walls. Deep inside there is the spring of water from which so many cures and benefits have flowed. All enter the Grotto touching the walls of the cavern, now worn smooth by so much touching. Pilgrims touch the walls, bless themselves with the small streamlets of water that flow from little fissures. They put their foreheads on the rock walls. They leave prayer requests, candles and flowers. They ask, pray and beseech for Our Lady’s help. Some leave emotional; others merely curious. However, I noticed that everyone leaves the Grotto serious—no one is laughing.

Broken Humanity

Lourdes belongs to a broken humanity, full of the sick and troubled who go there with their impossible cases. It is especially the physically sick and handicapped that can be seen everywhere in an unfortunate display of human ailments of all kinds. The most impossible cases are especially represented and they are cared for with touching solicitude. Tens of thousands of volunteers look after their every need and one sees legions of volunteer ladies who assume temporary white habits or other garb to help these “least of our brothers.”
Here, the handicapped are given charity wholeheartedly. Here, they accept this charity with all humility and gratitude. They are sick and they show no shame in their weak condition that will, in the final analysis, be that of all men. Parades of antique three-wheeled wheelchairs can be seen at all events—Rosary processions, Eucharistic adorations and Grotto visits. Many have received cures at Lourdes; others have simply received the means to deal with their sufferings. All receive special care.
There are, of course, the others who go with maladies of a different kind. These are those with spiritual sufferings. All bring their own crosses and miseries, and I count myself as one of these pilgrims. One is not necessarily relieved of one’s miseries, but you feel as if a balm has been applied that makes it so much more bearable. You leave less broken.

The Nightly Rosary Procession

The Rosary procession is the climax of the day. Every night at 9 p.m., the faithful gather around the basilica for the simple ceremony of praying the Rosary. However, this is no ordinary procession. I witnessed an estimated 90,000 pilgrims on the central plaza at the Saturday night procession I attended.
Every night as you proceed to the shrine, you notice the shopkeepers have put out the procession candles with their paper lantern shades. For a pittance, you buy a candle and head for the procession. There is an atmosphere of exaltation and even triumph that I think comes from a joy in being Catholic—a true unity amid diversity. Although the Hail Marys are said in various languages, all the other prayers are said or sung in Latin without any problem or confusion.
A large life-size statue of Our Lady of Lourdes is carried majestically on a litter down the central plaza and the procession begins. Thousands of Catholics join in. Hundreds of sick in wheelchairs are pushed and pulled by volunteers along the procession route—the special guests of the affair. As night descends, the candlelight lanterns create a marvelous and prayerful ambience.
The procession covers the length of the entire central avenue of the sanctuary. After each decade, a Marian hymn is sung. “Immaculate Mary” is a favorite hymn since it is sung in so many languages. During the refrain, all in the crowd raise their candle lanterns in triumph and praise of the Blessed Mother, a practice that they repeat in the final “Salve Regina.” The basilica has two large esplanades that are like arms enclosing the grand plaza. During the procession these arms are also full of people praying and singing creating the impression of a huge amphitheater of unity. Finally the procession is over, and gradually the huge crowd disperses into the night.

Aerial view of Lourdes

A Lady of Passionate Solicitude

And what is to be said of the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes? How does she express and communicate herself to the faithful? Such opinions by necessity are subjective since Our Lady speaks to souls in different ways. I can only report what I sensed at the Grotto. The statue of Our Lady of Lourdes is in my opinion very French. She does not have the Latin exuberance of Spanish or Italian Madonnas. She stands in the Grotto, discreetly looking upward and measuring her gestures. However, this does not prevent her from giving impressions of great mercy and goodness. Her goodness reminded me of the French merchants and pedestrians I approached with my broken French in the village. They would address you with a very courteous “Bonjour monsieur” and then go out of their way to help you with your problem.
Our Lady’s goodness at Lourdes has something of that same polite and intense goodness full of respect for the person despite his weaknesses. I felt dignified by my dialogue with Our Lady. Inside this enormous respect, she exhibited for me a kind of passionate and maternal solicitude that I had never experienced before.  It was with great sadness that I left Lourdes and the Grotto on that Sunday morning to catch my train. I bid my farewell and slowly left, turning back several times until that last glimpse and final au revoir, a scene that remains in my mind’s eye.

A Change and a Promise

On the train back, I reflected a bit on the pilgrimage. Indeed, it was so like the millions of others that traveled the same route. However, it confirmed my idea that each pilgrimage is different and that this is the allure of Lourdes.
Did I find what I sought? I received no great miracle but then again, I did not ask for one. However, I found at the Grotto a maternal gaze, a place where one can go to be heard. I found a place that violently clashes with our modern revolutionary world. Our Lady makes no compromises with the sins of our days but she calls the poor faithful as they are, and beckons them to return to the practice of the Faith.
I returned changed in ways hard to define. I definitely felt peace in my soul. Lourdes puts your soul in order. It has a cleansing effect upon you. I sensed a promise not on the part of Our Lady to me, but rather she elicited from me a promise to return.
My sentiments are those expressed by an antiphon from the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary that is sung at Vespers that says, “Trahe nos Virgo immaculata, post te curremus in odorem unguentuorum tuorum.” (“Draw us, O Immaculate Virgin, we will run after thee because of the savor of thy good ointments.”

Novena to
Our Lady of Lourdes

Prayer

Be blessed, O most pure Virgin, for having vouchsafed to manifest your shining with life, sweetness and beauty, in the Grotto of Lourdes, saying to the child, St. Bernadette: "I am the Immaculate Conception." A thousand times we congratulate you upon your Immaculate Conception. And now, O ever Immaculate Virgin, Mother of mercy, Health of the sick, Refuge of sinners, Comforter of the afflicted, you know our wants, our troubles, our sufferings deign to cast upon us a look of mercy.  By appearing in the Grotto of Lourdes, you were pleased to make it a privileged sanctuary, whence you dispense your favors, and already many have obtained the cure of their infirmities, both spiritual and physical. We come, therefore, with the most unbounded confidence to implore your maternal intercession. Obtain for us, O loving Mother, the granting of our request.

  (state your request)

 Through gratitude for your favors, we will endeavor to imitate your virtues, that we may one day share your glory.

Our Lady of Lourdes, Mother of Christ, you had influence with your divine son while upon earth. You have the same influence now in Heaven. Pray for us; obtain for us from your Divine Son our special requests if it be the Divine Will. Amen. 

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.

Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

NINE DAY NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF LOURDES
Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9

DAY ONE

O Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, virgin and mother, queen of heaven, chosen from all eternity to be the Mother of the Eternal Word and in virtue of this title preserved from original sin, we kneel before you as did little Bernadette at Lourdes and pray with childlike trust in you that as we contemplate your glorious appearance at Lourdes, you will look with mercy on our present petition and secure for us a favorable answer to the request for which we are making this novena.

(make your request)O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.

Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

DAY TWO

Be blessed, O most pure Virgin, for having vouchsafed to manifest yourself shining with light, sweetness and beauty, in the Grotto of Lourdes, saying to the child Saint Bernadette: "I am the Immaculate Conception!" O Mary Immaculate, inflame our hearts with one ray of the burning love of your pure heart Let them be consumed with love for Jesus and for you, in order that we may merit one day to enjoy your glorious eternity. O dispenser of His graces here below, take into your keeping and present to your Divine Son the petition for which we are making this novena.

(make your request)O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your  assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.

Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

DAY THREE

"You are all fair, O Mary, and there is in you no stain of original sin." O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. O brilliant star of sanctity, as on that lovely day, upon a rough rock in Lourdes you spoke to the child Bernadette and a fountain broke from the plain earth and miracles happened and the great shrine of Lourdes began, so now I beseech you to hear our fervent prayer and do, we beseech you, grant us the petition we now so earnestly seek. (make your request)O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious  in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.

Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

DAY FOUR

O Immaculate Queen of Heaven, we your wayward, erring children, join our unworthy prayers of praise and thanksgiving to those of the angels and saints and your own-the One, Holy, and Undivided Trinity may be glorified in heaven and on earth. Our Lady of Lourdes, as you looked down with love and mercy upon Bernadette as she prayed her rosary in the grotto, look down now, we beseech you, with love and mercy upon us. From the abundance of graces granted you by your Divine Son, sweet Mother of God, give to each of us all that your motherly heart sees we need and at this moment look with special favor on the grace we seek in this novena. (make your request)O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your  assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.

Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

DAY FIVE

O Mary Immaculate, Mother of God and our mother, from the heights of your dignity look down mercifully upon us while we, full of confidence in your unbounded goodness and confident that your Divine Son will look favorably upon any request you make of Him in our behalf, we beseech you to come to our aid and secure for us the favor we seek in this novena.(make your request)O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your  assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.

Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

DAY SIX

O glorious Mother of God, so powerful under your special title of Our Lady of Lourdes, to you we raise our hearts and hands to implore your powerful intercession in obtaining from the gracious Heart of Jesus all the helps and graces necessary for our spiritual and temporal welfare and for the special favor we so earnestly seek in this novena.

(make your request)O Lady of Bernadette, with the stars of heaven in your hair and the roses of earth at your feet, look with compassion upon us today as you did so long ago on Bernadette in the Grotto of Lourdes.

O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious  in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.

Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

DAY SEVEN

O Almighty God, who by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary did prepare a worthy dwelling place for your Son, we humbly beseech you that as we contemplate the apparition of Our Lady in the Grotto of Lourdes, we may be blessed with health of mind and body.  O most gracious Mother Mary, beloved Mother of Our Lord and Redeemer, look with favor upon us as you did that day on Bernadette and intercede with him for us that the favor we now so earnestly seek may be granted to us. (make your request)O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your  assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.

Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

DAY EIGHT

O Immaculate Mother of God, from heaven itself you came to appear to the little Bernadette in the rough Grotto of Lourdes! And as Bernadette knelt at your feet and the miraculous  spring burst forth and as multitudes have knelt ever since before your shrine, O Mother of God, we kneel before you today to ask that in your mercy you plead with your Divine Son to grant the special favor we seek in this novena.

(make your request)O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.

Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

DAY NINE

O glorious Mother of God, to you we raise our hearts and hands to implore your powerful intercession in obtaining from the benign Heart of Jesus all the graces necessary for our spiritual and temporal welfare, particularly for the grace of a happy death. O Mother of our Divine Lord, as we conclude this novena for the special favor we seek at this time. (make your request here) We feel animated with confidence that your prayers in our behalf will be graciously heard. O Mother of My Lord, through the love you bear to Jesus Christ and for the glory of His Name, hear our prayers and obtain our petitions.O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your  assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.

Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

A CHRISTIAN RESPONSE TO LOSS

Loss and the suffering associated with it rains down upon us in many forms from virtually the first moment of our births. As a child, we play simple board games and lose half or most or some of the time. We experience injustice, illness, pain, the passing of loved ones (even the young), and family strife. Even siblings can be mean, selfish, nasty, and inconsiderate of each other. Parents routinely lose sleep for the sake of their children and spend entire days fatigued as a result. Virtually all of us lose our jobs or incomes at some point, experiencing material privation. Even the very act of aging, day by day, is a gradual loss of vitality, causing melancholy, bitterness, or useless vanity.

"Days turn to minutes and minutes to memories. Life sweeps away the dreams that we have planned." (John Mellancamp)

Ah, the loss of dreams! Unfulfilled dreams of having professional success, or of finding a spouse, or of having children--these are among the worst losses. Or, having achieved worldly success, we realize too late that our earlier, empty sacrifice of time could have been better spent in prayer and with family.

Two common human reactions to the injustice of loss are anger and despair, in all their degrees and categories. Frustrated, parents give up on reigning in their child's sinful behavior, and thus neglect them. Embittered and humiliated, the formerly hardworking man might become lazy and withdrawn over the years. The Church has long taught that anger is actually a legitimate emotional reaction to injustice. But that does not mean we should be slaves to this emotion. Adults who give in to the anger that arises from mistreatment at the hands of others will become malicious, sullen, and vindictive.

Faith in Jesus in conjunction with our humble acceptance of loss, just or unjust, in all things great and small, is the only mature Christian response. (We are referring here to our internal spiritual response. Injustice often requires us to take steps in our practical actions to correct injustices, or, to make prudential decisions to address the loss--that is, if your child breaks his arm, you must take him to a doctor.) Our faith that God will restore all things (even if only in heaven after our death) opens the door in our soul for hope. We beg you, do not let that word, hope, slide by your mind. Hope is a supernatural virtue, a gift that flows from faith--a powerful reality available from God in matters of loss. When was the last time you felt the awesome power of supernatural hope?

These might sound like lofty and idealistic words, but you will experience (or witness) some kind of loss today, or this week, perhaps in a small matter. When this happens, attempt to examine your internal emotional and spiritual reaction. Then, make an act of faith--tell God that you believe in Him, and that you believe He can and will restore the loss, and remind yourself that God often uses loss (if we accept it correctly) to teach us something, or to prepare the path to some future greater good that is unfathomable at the current moment. After your act of acceptance and faith, make sure your internal spiritual radio is tuned into Channel Hope. Discern hope, feel hope, wait for hope. It will come. If you react this way often enough, hope will begin to shine through your eyes. People will turn to you in times of loss to see and feel the reality of hope in your eyes. In other words, when people see you, they will see ... a saint.

A timely message from Catholic City.
http://www.catholicity.com/