England Visits Lourdes

The Archdioceses of Liverpool and Westminster visited Lourdes this past week.  I had the chance to get to know both Archbishops, and they were delightful.  Archbishop Patrick Kelly is the Archbishop of Liverpool:

He and I spoke for a while, then he invited me to return the next day so that he could give me the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick.  Here he is leading the Rosary Procession the next day:

One of the highlights of my trip was meeting His Grace, Archbishop Vincent Nichols - Archbishop (soon to be Cardinal) of Westminster in England.  He is responsible for over 500,000 Catholics in his diocese, but he showed so much concern for me after finding out about my illness.  He mentioned that he had a seminarian who died of cancer in his last diocese.

While we were speaking, he focused on me as if no one else existed in the world, despite the many people who wished to speak with him.

The next day, he came up to me after Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament to ask for my address so that he could "stay in touch" and send me a book he would like me to read.  It was very easy to see Christ beaming from him and to see his zeal for souls.  Please keep this holy shepherd in your prayers.  He certainly has mine every day, which he asked me to promise him:

Archbishop Nichols leading the prayers at the Rosary Procession:

Institute of the Good Shepherd Visits Diocese of Raleigh

Father Hugues Beaugrand, IBP recently visited the Diocese of Raleigh following his ordination to the Priesthood in France on July 4.

He offered Mass at many parishes, including a Missa Cantata at Sacred Heart in Dunn.  Please keep him in your prayers as he begins his priestly ministry!

Fr. Beaugrand (2nd from right), with Fr. Parkerson, pastor of Sacred Heart in Dunn

Pray For Adam

Every day I spend in Lourdes is filled with miracles.  Last night I met a wonderful 9 year old boy from Pennsylvania - Adam Recke.  He and his dad are on pilgrimage in Lourdes, and I met them after the daily Rosary Procession.  Adam has a very rare disease called Niemann-Pick Type C.  This rare and terminal disease affects very few individuals - there are approximately 500 cases worldwide.

His condition is a neuro-degenerative disease, so for the past two years he has had to undergo constant physical therapy to keep his balance and be able to function.

His dad keeps a blog about his son.  Please keep him in your prayers - these touching stories emerge from Lourdes all of the time.

Goodbye to the Scottish

The Diocese of Dunkeld, Scotland has been in Lourdes on pilgrimage for the past week.  It was a lot of fun to have them here, as they brought their parish youth groups to help the sick.  The day before they left, they invited me to their diocesan party at a local restaurant.  

It was amazing to experience the Scottish culture - it is quite normal for the youth to go to a pub with their parents and their priest to relax and sing folk songs.  Their parish priest decided to bring out the bagpipes...

...and play a jig or two:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKaAHPybhck

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT2s6v59-Ak

Latin Mass

This morning's Mass in the Immaculate Conception Basilica was quite "extraordinary."

Father Benoit Paul-Joseph, FSSP (current TLM chaplain) with Fr. George Byers, C.P.M. (former TLM chaplain).  Father Paul-Joseph drives from the FSSP parish in Tarbes every Sunday to offer Mass in Lourdes.  Afterwards, he rushes back to Tarbes to offer two more Masses:

Wales Visits Lourdes

The Archdiocese of Cardiff in Wales is on pilgrimage in Lourdes.  

The diocese was first established as the apostolic vicariate of Wales in 1840, and elevated to the parent Diocese of Newport and Menevia in 1850 by Pope Pius IX . In 1895, the diocese was renamed the Diocese of Newport. Finally in 1916, the diocese became the Archdiocese of Cardiff.

Tonight at the Rosary Procession, I served as MC for Archbishop Peter Smith as he led the prayers of the procession.  Before the procession he asked why I was in Lourdes, and when I told him about my condition, he took my hands and promised to pray for me every day.

Please keep the Diocese of Cardiff in your prayers during their pilgrimage!

The Polish Left :(

The Polish seminarians left today, which makes me very sad!  Not only were they completely orthodox, but they were so nice and a lot of fun.  They invited me to visit Poland in December, so I hope I will be able to take them up on the offer!

Adam loves to sport the "half tabby cat," as you can see:

Thankfully, they did leave us with a traditional Polish folk song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTvnJshWGPU

Great Liturgical Items....

....which belonged to Saint Michael Garicoits.  I saw them at the church in Betharram, France.

I especially love this one:

A beautiful cope:

St. Garicoits' chalice:

Altar missal from the 1800's.  It was about three feet tall:

This cope has over 470 Saints on it, each one of them labeled on their halo:

One of Saint John Vianney's shoes:

Help McKenzie Armstrong Become a Nun!

I have known Miss Armstrong for six years.  She plans to enter the Franciscans of the Immaculate on August 15th, The Feast of the Assumption, but her college debt continues to stand in the way.  She has started a fundraising blog (http://fortheimmaculate.blogspot.com) where she is seeking prayers and donations so that she can begin her journey towards becoming a consecrated "Spouse of Christ."

From her blog:

I have been discerning my vocation since before I was Catholic and, since converting in 2003, my desire to devote myself more closely to Jesus and to serve Him more fully has only grown and has become impossible to ignore... I had desired to enter the Carmelites immediately after high school, but was told that I was too young and that I had converted too recently. Instead, the Carmelites instructed me to attend college first and to continue to pray and grow closer to God during the intervening time. Therefore, I entered Belmont Abbey College in 2004 and pursued a Bachelor’s degree in English and Biology.

...My devotion to St. Francis quickly grew and I knew that if I was to enter religious life, it must be as a Franciscan. However, I could not find a Franciscan community that I felt any attraction to whatsoever during college, until I learned of the Franciscans of the Immaculate.

As the Franciscans do not accept money, do not have a steady source of income, and do not allow anyone to enter with any debt whatsoever, I must rely on the generosity of others if I hope to enter anytime within the next five or more years. I am confident that Our Lady will let me give Her the gift of entering on the Feast of Her Assumption, August 15.

Let's keep her in our prayers and help her find support!

"Montagnes Pyrenees, Vous Etes Mes Amours!"

A few days ago, I visited the nearby town of Betharram with my friend Msgr. Jean Laffitte. He works in Rome as the vice president of the Pontifical Academy For Life (they published the wonderful bioethics document that Pope Benedict gave to President Obama during their first meeting). Msgr. Laffitte is a native of the French Pyrenees, so he was very kind to spend a day showing me some of the region while he is home on vacation.

There is a beautiful 18th Century church where one can find the incorrupt body of Saint Michael Garicoits - the founder of the Society of Priests of the Sacred Heart of Betharram. I'll make a later post with those photos.

For now, a few photos of my favorite place in the world - the French Pyrenees:

Msgr. Laffitte and I before beginning our excursion:

We reached 5,000 feet:

It is completely quiet and peaceful, except for the bells around the necks of the grazing sheep....

.....and bulls:

Another Organ Concert in Saint Pius X Basilica

I am always impressed with the daily concerts given in the Underground Basilica.  Does anyone know the name of this piece?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxn5KMelBuc

Part 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygwoFuQMp7c

Stations of the Cross in Lourdes

One of my duties in Lourdes is to lead the Stations of the Cross.  They are life-sized and wind up a tall mountain.  It takes about 1 hour to complete, but they are magnificent: