MANILA, Philippines – The immigration officer at Charles de Gaulle airport gave me a stern look and asked me where I was going. I replied “Lourdes, madam.” She had a puzzled look on her face and didn’t seem to understand what I just said. I kept repeating “Lourdes, Lourdes.”
Exasperated, she gave me a piece of paper to write my destination. She suddenly broke into a smile after she read what I wrote and screamed “LUURD!” and stamped my passport.
I think I pronounced it the wrong way and should polish my French 101. Exiting customs, I noticed lots of French police with assault firearms rushing towards the area I was leaving. I discovered there was an airport shutdown and flight operations had been put on hold. A suitcase was left in the middle of Terminal 2-C and the bomb squad was on the way. These guys take security very seriously.
I hurriedly proceeded to the car rental area and took delivery of a spanking brand-new MB C class wagon with only 84 kilometers on the odometer. It took me over an hour to learn all its high-tech features. It had no gear shift and just a mini paddle that indicated Drive, Neutral and Reverse. Shifting of all the seven speed gears was decided by an onboard computer. It had so many bells and whistles that my low-tech brain had difficulty comprehending. My driving confidence has waned through the years because I don’t drive at home anymore and here I am embarking on a journey of thousands of kilometers in a foreign land. Thank God. My wife was a great co-pilot and guided me through GPS.
The drive to my first stop Nevers took a little over three hours. Since I have visited this city at least nine times, there was no difficulty finding the Chasse St. Bernadette which has now been renamed Espace Bernadette. As in my previous visits, the vast complex consisting of a grotto, church, garden, convent, exhibit area and souvenir shop was virtually empty, save for a Hispanic couple praying at the Grotto. Tears welled in my eyes as I knelt and whispered a prayer in front of the corpse of St. Bernadette encased in an air-tight glass reliquarium. Her face was so beautiful and so well-preserved despite being dead for close to 160 years. My wife who was praying beside me said she thought she saw her body move.
Emerging from the chapel, I saw another elderly couple arriving. In the full hour we stayed at the complex, we saw less than 10 people. St. Bernadette requested to move far away from Lourdes by entering a convent so that the faithful could focus their full attention to the Immaculate Concepcion and not her. I guess she got what she wanted even after death.
Feeling the warmth of St. Bernadette’s blessing, we hit the road and embarked on a 700-kilometer journey to Lourdes where it all started close to two centuries go. It took more than eight hours to negotiate a combination of wide freeways and one-lane roads to get to our destination nestled at the foot of the Pyrenees. After checking in at the Helgon Hotel, I fell into deep slumber without changing clothes.
It was four degrees next morning when we headed to the grotto area known to locals as Massabielle. I haven’t been to Lourdes in 15 years and noticed so much has changed. More hotels, more souvenir shops, more restaurants and more commercialism along the 500-meter walk to the grotto.
At the Grotto entrance, I was amazed to see how beautiful Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral had turned out which was under construction the last time I was there. There were more new holy places and landmarks within the complex. We immediately headed for the grotto where the crowds were beginning to swell.
Security was tighter and the spring Bernadette dug with her bare hands is now covered in glass with limited access. After a few minutes of silent prayer, we walked to the faucets, drank, washed our face and hands then filled our mini bottles with water from the miraculous spring. Before Sept. 11, 2001, we’d fill five-liter bottles and hand carry them on the plane which airlines don’t allow anymore. As we moved out of the complex, throngs of people started arriving, some in wheelchairs and some in crutches hoping to get blessed and healed of their ailments by the Immaculate Concepcion. A few hundred meters from the Grotto was a moviehouse that permanently screened the movie I Am Bernadette. We wanted to watch it because it was a new version but unfortunately the cinema didn’t open until mid afternoon. I’ve seen a couple of Bernadette movies — one in black and white and the other produced by Cannon films (the film outfit that produced several Chuck Norris action flicks) starring American actress Sydney Penny as St. Bernadette.
My journey of faith didn’t stop in Lourdes because it has just started.