LOURDES - THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2026 - The Feast of St. Theresa of Avila

Today is the Feast Day of the Great mystic, St. Therese of Avila.  She plays a special role in the life of the Church in the fact that she wrote much of the deeper interior castle and of a deep and intimate personal relationship with Jesus.  The famous statue of Bernini, the Ecstasy of St. Therese in Rome shows the almost hypnotic passion she had for the Lord as she was pierced by the sword of love for the Lord by an angel from heaven.  

For us at Lourdes, we have been invited to a personal retreat day - a day to draw closer to Jesus, through the Blessed Mary.  This day is a day of time alotted for personal prayer and reflection.  A day to wander the shrine grounds - to pray at the grotto, to join in the stations of the cross, pray the rosary, go to confession, bathe in the waters of Lourdes or to join the Eucharstic procession with the sick - whatever we would choose to do to grow closer to the Lord and to deepen our faith.  The bishop invited us, in his homily, to spend the day deepening our relationship to the Lord.  So there is not much to report here.  

I took a group up the steep stations of the cross just to the side of the main basilica - up the winding hills at the foot of the Pyrenees mountains - away from the noise and haste of the souvenir stores, streets and tourists.  This journey was not for the faint of heart - it was a more challenging journey - probably not unlike Jesus’ own final days on his way to Calvary.  The prayerful stations walked us through many reflections - from the saints and other authors - bringing the story of the final days of Jesus to our own world and its many issues, problems and possibilities.  

The final two pictures depict the basilica where we had mass this morning and a Eucharistic procession that takes place every day at 5:00 p.m. With the Blessed Sacrament.  This is a special procession that includes all the sick in wheelchairs and stretchers.  I can watch this procession from the balcony from my room.  It is both beautiful and very humbling.  Here in Lourdes there is a designated lane on the streets for wheelchairs and stretchers only.  The sick and suffering are treated as the most important people in the world.  I imagine they are treated the same way in heaven!

Tomorrow will be a day of travel as we board a high speed TGV train from Lourdes to Paris and then we’ll take a 3 hour bus ride from Paris to Normany to explore its rich history and role in World War II.  I will write if there is anything to report.  Otherwise look for another update on Saturday.  Until then, Go Guardians!!!  

LOURDES, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2026

We began the day with a beautiful Mass in the grotto, the very place where the Blessed Mother appeared to Bernadette Souborous in 1858.  It is here that she encountered the beautiful woman who would tell her to discover the spring below, who would urge people to conversion and he would define herself as the Immaculate Conception.  This place is so special.  Mass was at 10:30 a.m. And concelebrants and deacons were from California, Pennsylvania, India and New York.  Once again, the universality of the Catholic church was evident.  Bishop Malesic did a beautiful job with the homily and we were proud to have our own bishop preside and preach.  

Our next stops were to the two places where St. Bernadette was raised.  The first was an actual flour mill.  Her father owned the mill but failed tomake it financially lucrative for the family.  He lent to people generously when they had no means to pay him.  Thus his family went bankrupt and they had to move to a 2 room former jail where they lived in dire poverty.  This cachot (jail) was a miserable existence but Bernadette loved her family and was grateful for the very little she had.  

The Jail:

We finished off the day with the beautiful candlelight procession with the carrying of the Statue of Our Lady of Lourdes and the praying of the rosary.  Thousands participate, praying in their own native language, singing together the Ave Maria’s and joining the walk until all our gathered at the bottom of the basilica.  The 2 hour celebration is always a highlight of the experience of Lourdes, signifiying our Lady’s desire for God’s children to pray and showing the universality of our holy, Catholic church as it unites with every nation, tongue and race - all united in prayer and mind and heart.  

TOLOUSE, FRANCE - TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2026

As I write these words I do some from Toulouse, France on the way to Lourdes.  You may not have heard of Toulouse but it is headquarters to Airbus, the second largest airplane manufacture.  The other, of course, is Boeing, located in Seattle, Washington.  But Toulouse is also an important location in Catholic history as well.  Pope Fabian in the year 257 C.E. Sent Saint Sernin to the city as its first bishop.  He was not warmly received!  He was actually martyred and his body was dragged through the city by a bull.  Today, Saint Sernin is buried in the country’s largest and most famous Romanesque Basilica, St. Sernin in the very center of the town.  Also significant to Catholicism is the fact that St. Dominic founded the Dominican community in Toulouse in the year 1215.  One of its most prominent members, St. Thomas Aquinas is prominently remembered in the Basilica as his skull and other remnants are placed under the main altar at the basilica.  Toulouse was also the center of a major heresy in the church called the Albigensian movement which rejected the incarnation of Christ and the material world.  Pope Innocent III had to launch a brutal army crusade against southern France to crush the movement. 

 

I had the privilege to preach today in the Basilica and I spoke about our pilgrimage to Lourdes and why each of us came.  I welcome you to reach the homily by clicking here.  

 

 Keep us in your prayers as we are doing for you.

On our way to Tolouse, France.  Landed safely in Montreal, Canada and taking off from here to Munich, Germany via Lufthansa.  Enjoying time with Bishop Malesic and his friend, Fr. Chuck from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  Will be remembering you all in our prayers and thoughts throughout this journey.   Keep us in your prayers as we will do the same for you.

Landed safely in Munich, Germany.  It’s 5:10 a.m. Cleveland time and we’re waiting our flight to Tolouse, France.  We’ll stay one night in Tolouse and have a tour of the city tomorrow morning before heading on the bus to Lourdes.  

Farewell to Paris

 Just some final photographs as we bid farewell to Paris.  A few of us took an evening cruise down the Seine River to bid farewell to the city of lights on this beautiful Saturday

Day 10 - Paris - Panoramic Driving Tour, Notre Dame

 In the afternoon we had a panoramic driving tour of Paris and a Tour of Notre Dame.  Some of the sights we visited along the way included the Arc de’Triumphe, the Paris Opera House, the Invalides (where Napoleon is buried), Hotel De Ville, and the Champ Elysses.  

But nothing can top the historic and magnificent Notre Dame Cathedral.  Not only has it been a place of worship for 860 years but it has stood the test of war, fire, persecution and  revolution.  It was begun in the year 1163 and completed in 1260 and is one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in the world.  It has been the subject of many books, movies and has inspired visitors from around the world.  The tragic fire of 2019 accidentally set by either a cigarette or an electrical fire brought the world to its knees wondering if it could ever be restored to its original beauty and elegance.  340,000 donors from around the world contributed over 700,000 euros (the equivalent of more than $928 million U.S. dollars) to restore the beautiful cathedral) and it reopened on December 8, 2025 to rave reviews.  I had the opportunity to sing with the Holy Angels choir many years ago and I can tell you that the restorations have made it brighter and more elegant than ever before.  It is truly breathtaking.  

Day 10 - Paris - The Final Day

Well we’ve come down to our final day and it was an outstanding one.  We started out with Mass at the Chapel of the Miraculous Medal.  This is where the Blessed Mother appeared to St. Catherine Labore two times and gave explicit instructions about a medal that she wished to be made to honor the sacred heart of Jesus and of Mary.  It was to be distributed generously to people and since the appearance has been attributed to many, many miracles.  St. Catherine’s body is incorrupt and is displayed in the church.  St. Vincent DePaul’s heart is also in the chapel encased in a reliquary to the right of the sanctuary.  I had the great privilege of celebrating the Mass not only with our pilgrim group but with pilgrims from around the world.  The chair that you see below is the chair the Blessed Mother sat on when she spoke to St. Catherine Labore.

The heart of St. Vincent DePaul in a reliquary.

After our Mass there we went to the Church of St. Vincent DePaul just a short distance from the Miraculous Medal Chapel.  Here we saw a beautiful little church with a wax figure of St. Vincent DePaul modeled exactly the way his body looked after his death.  It was just a small church located off the beaten path but really nice inside.