Aug 14 brought another extraordinary grace... Our pilgrimage group left Lourdes early in the morning and travelled by bus to Loyola and the family home of St. Ignatius, great Founder of the Society of Jesus. We arrived while dozens and dozens of other WYD pilgrims of different countries were arriving. I thought for sure we would be among the hundreds and hundreds preparing for an outdoor Mass in front of the Basilica.
Instead, we made our way to the upper room where St. Ignatius spent months recuperating from his near-mortal wounds taken during a battle in Pamplona, including a leg shattered by a cannonball. In this room while lying in bed he would read, finally reading as well a life of Christ and stories of the saints. From here he resolved inwardly to serve Christ and to seek His glory rather than his own. Fantasies of winning the love of a lady at court and renown for military exploits gave way to a dawning awareness of a love and beauty incomparably greater ... the majesty of a God who hid His glory for a time in order to draw all things to Himself (cf. John 12:32). A King who became a servant so as to truly establish His reign in the wayward hearts of His creatures.
Here then, in Ignatius' room, we celebrated the Mass... It was a blessing and a reminder of the true glory to which each of us is called ... that to Whom is given a name above all names. Jesus.
Thank you so much for sharing your journey with us! We continue to pray for all of you- your safety, enjoyment, and spiritual growth-
ReplyDeletePraise Jesus!
Wonderful, I prayed for you all and glad there were some good experiences. Gayle said she brought me a bottle of Lourdes water!
ReplyDeleteThat is a pleasant room to read Ludolph of Saxony. It makes me think of the pleasant upper room Old Monstery Inn chapel, but posh-er and with the trendy euro fengshui altar arrangement (why the candles on the Epistle side and the flowers on the Gospel side and not vice versa? Or are they actually on the right ends and need to be moved to the other edge of the table so the priest can face the windows, versus Deum? Our pastor did that with the Novus Ordo at the OMI chapel, naturally with one candle on each end, and appeared very happy and it's a sign of the times that nobody even commented on it, myself I was rather moved and felt like we were worshipping God, he could have even worn a maniple and biretta, it would have been fine, the world needs that to counter the entropic tendency to put 2 candles on one end of an altar, and flowers on the other), and without the log tabernacle where Jesus lives like St Simon Stock (I don't know if that's the point of it, but I have much affection).