Goodbye Lourdes

We are leaving Lourdes tonight...and tonight our "difficult" pilgrimage begins.  Train to Toulouse, then overnight train to Paris, then RER to the Paris airport, then a plane ride to Glasgow, then a train to downtown Glasgow, then a 5 hour layover in Glasgow, then a train to Oban, overnight in Oban (above a pub!), then a bus ride and some ferries and a walk to our hostel in Iona!  It will take 2 days to get from Lourdes, France to Iona, Scotland.  But it will so be worth it once we get to Iona.  I am really looking forward to the time to recharge.

Today I went to one of the cemeteries in Lourdes.  It was dramatically different than either the Montmartre or Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.  At this cemetery, there was NOTHING but Christian graves.  Each grave had a minimum of one cross (and many where crucifixes).  As well, unlike the other cemeteries, there were far less angels or statues (other than Our Lady of Lourdes---which there were not many--or Jesus).  It was interesting to see how this was an obviously Christian (and even further, Catholic) cemetery.  It appeared that there were some people buried there than had either come to Lourdes for healing and died in Lourdes and so where buried there or had died elsewhere and had their body brought to Lourdes for burial.  I saw some Portuguese, Spanish, and German graves.  It was very interesting.

Something else that has interested me (and we have discussed a little in class) is that when the pilgrimage to Lourdes first started, the emphasis was on physical healing.  There are pictures (on postcards and in our book) of abandoned crutches hanging from the grotto.  Now there are no crutches hanging from the grotto.  The emphasis on the physical healing seems to have lessened over the years (which the book may explain in later chapters).  People still come to Lourdes to be healed and expecting a miracle, but there are also people (like the man we met yesterday) that do not come for healing.  Lourdes has evolved from a spot for physical healing into a spot for physical AND spiritual growth/healing/meditation.  I get the impression that even if the people are not healed, they will be accepting of that result and will not see the trip as a waste.  Lourdes will likely continue to be a pilgrimage location for many years to come, regardless on the number of miracles that happen here.