Lourdes - A.J. Keenan 4/2
The National Schools Pilgrimage to Lourdes 1968 began in the bustle of Victoria station
underneath the "Continental Travel Indicator" in the early afternoon and then by train to
Folkestone for the Cross Channel trip to Boulogne. The crossing was moderate although a
certain member of the party sat on deck for most of the voyage looking very pale and under
the weather. We arrived at Boulogne at about 5 p.m. that afternoon and had tea at the Boulogne
Buffet. Following the meal there came the slow process of transfer to the train, the scuffles
for the window seats and general settling down into the compartments which would be home for
the next 15 hours. The train slowly pulled out of the 'Boulogne Maritime' at about 7 p.m. and
got under way, there was a long journey ahead of us. The cards were then produced and the games
went on until the late hours. Nobody, apart from the clergy, slept that night. No rest for the
wicked! Everyone, I think, had a sore back the next morning! The first sign that we are nearing
our destination is the river Gave which follows the railway line from just south of Pau. We
pulled into Lourdes, nestling under the snow-capped peaks of the Pyrenees, at about 9 a.m. and
went to our hotels, the first concern being breakfast.
Father Louis with the pilgrims.
That night sleep was no problem although neither was getting up for 7 o'clock Mass the next
morning. We attended the opening ceremony of the pilgrimage and for the rest of the day walked
round the town. It is surprising that the Basilica is almost completely cut off from the bustle
of commercial Lourdes by the rows of trees that surround the grounds. During the stay we went to
baths and up the Way of the Cross. Every evening at 8 p.m. there was the torchlight procession
which is perhaps the most stirring of the ceremonies at Lourdes where the night rings to the
continuous 'Aves' of the pilgrims and the stream of light which winds round the grounds.
One always feels sad when the train pulls out of the station, the general feeling being you are
not going home but leaving home. One thing Lourdes does bring home to you is, with the
handicapped everywhere hardly ever without a smile on their faces, the quotation, "To take up
their cross and follow Me ..." A final word of thanks to Father Louis who organised and made this
trip possible.
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