Well, I've actually managed to produce my very first video: a combination of my little phone camera, Windows Movie Maker and YouTube...
Far from perfect, but it's only my first attempt. Now I think I know what I'm doing, I'll have to go back to Lourdes to get some better photos...!
Fr Tim was taking lots of recordings with his little camcorder, so I guess that there will shortly be a major documentary piece all about Lourdes hitting YouTube. Watch this space!
Saturday, 2 June 2007
Penance
Our Lady, when she appeared at Lourdes, called for penance (though I always think it sounds better in French: "Penitence, penitence, penitence") for our own sins and those of others.
For me, the biggest penance at Lourdes has to be contemplation of the English music and hymns.
Mass at the Grotto for our group was on the last morning: there is at least one Mass at the Grotto per major language each day, and if you have a small group you "share" this slot at the Grotto. The priests sort out in the sacristy who will do the readings, who leads (and chooses) the hymns, who preaches and so on (I think it's according to the number of pilgrims they have with them) and then convey this information to their groups. I have absolutely no idea what goes on in the sacristy, but watching the fallout afterwards can be quite amusing.
There is a group who have turned up several years on the trot for the Friday English Mass at the Grotto armed with guitars. Faced with such preparation, the other groups generally allow them to take charge of the music. This year there was another large group who had chosen their favourite hymns. However, as they didn't have guitars, they were given the job of doing the readings instead. Much murmuring ensued when, after the psalm, the music group commenced singing the Alleluia (and the second reader had to turn around with reading unread!)
The choice of hymns was pretty ghastly: this is in contrast to many of the other language groups. There was a Mass attended by a Ukrainian group just before the English Mass, and the chants were beautiful. No guitars, just voices.
At the baths, the Rosary is recited and hymns are sung while people queue. The main language varies: usually several verses of Immaculate Mary are sung between the decades, but everyone can join in the Latin chorus (Ave, ave, ave Maria!) Invariably, if the main language is English, hymns are sung instead. Only the English can join in, as the hymns are not really sung anywhere else. This year I think we scraped the bottom of the English hymn-barrel with a rendition of "Kum-ba-ya"
This lack of inclusivity makes itself most noticeable during the Torchlight Marian Procession. Decades of the Rosary are recited, and verses of Marian hymns are sung in different languages (often all at the same time!), but the chorus of "Ave Maria" is pretty standard, and the tradition seems to be that, at the Ave, everyone raises their candle in salutation. This is one of the most heart-stoppingly beautiful moments: to see thousands of candles go up in the air as we process round the Domaine. Alas, on the Thursday night, an English music group lead the singing, and substituted their own music for the last three decades... perfectly nice songs, in other circumstances, but it meant that no-one could join in with the hymns... and no candles were raised...
Oh well... penitence, penitence, penitence !
For me, the biggest penance at Lourdes has to be contemplation of the English music and hymns.
Mass at the Grotto for our group was on the last morning: there is at least one Mass at the Grotto per major language each day, and if you have a small group you "share" this slot at the Grotto. The priests sort out in the sacristy who will do the readings, who leads (and chooses) the hymns, who preaches and so on (I think it's according to the number of pilgrims they have with them) and then convey this information to their groups. I have absolutely no idea what goes on in the sacristy, but watching the fallout afterwards can be quite amusing.There is a group who have turned up several years on the trot for the Friday English Mass at the Grotto armed with guitars. Faced with such preparation, the other groups generally allow them to take charge of the music. This year there was another large group who had chosen their favourite hymns. However, as they didn't have guitars, they were given the job of doing the readings instead. Much murmuring ensued when, after the psalm, the music group commenced singing the Alleluia (and the second reader had to turn around with reading unread!)
The choice of hymns was pretty ghastly: this is in contrast to many of the other language groups. There was a Mass attended by a Ukrainian group just before the English Mass, and the chants were beautiful. No guitars, just voices.
At the baths, the Rosary is recited and hymns are sung while people queue. The main language varies: usually several verses of Immaculate Mary are sung between the decades, but everyone can join in the Latin chorus (Ave, ave, ave Maria!) Invariably, if the main language is English, hymns are sung instead. Only the English can join in, as the hymns are not really sung anywhere else. This year I think we scraped the bottom of the English hymn-barrel with a rendition of "Kum-ba-ya"
This lack of inclusivity makes itself most noticeable during the Torchlight Marian Procession. Decades of the Rosary are recited, and verses of Marian hymns are sung in different languages (often all at the same time!), but the chorus of "Ave Maria" is pretty standard, and the tradition seems to be that, at the Ave, everyone raises their candle in salutation. This is one of the most heart-stoppingly beautiful moments: to see thousands of candles go up in the air as we process round the Domaine. Alas, on the Thursday night, an English music group lead the singing, and substituted their own music for the last three decades... perfectly nice songs, in other circumstances, but it meant that no-one could join in with the hymns... and no candles were raised...Oh well... penitence, penitence, penitence !
In The Footsteps Of Bernadette
I'm almost back to normal after the Pilgrimage: I didn't go to bed quite as early as I should (but, due to the time-difference between France and the UK, earlier than every other night last week) and was out for the count. I nearly didn't make it up in time for Mass this morning, but following my usual Saturday routine is good discipline. As a result, I have a glorious afternoon ahead of me in which I shall experiment with my photos, some CDs and YouTube...
...but while you're waiting, I thought you might like the following little snippet, as a sort of apéritif.
On my way back from the baths on Tuesday morning, I passed the grotto. Normally the place is packed out at that time, and I was preparing to find a corner of a bench by the river wall on which to sit, contemplate and pray. However, I happened to glance back towards the statue of Our Lady in the niche of the rock. At the same time, the crowd seemed to thin and move away, exposing the plaque in the ground which shows the spot where St. Bernadette was kneeling when Our Lady appeared... This was just too good an opportunity to miss, so I moved forward to take a photo...
...and just for good measure, I took a photo of the niche where Our Lady appeared as seen when actually standing on the plaque... obviously, it would have been better to have knelt there, but that's not an option for me. A Hail Mary was duly prayed in thanksgiving.
...but while you're waiting, I thought you might like the following little snippet, as a sort of apéritif.
On my way back from the baths on Tuesday morning, I passed the grotto. Normally the place is packed out at that time, and I was preparing to find a corner of a bench by the river wall on which to sit, contemplate and pray. However, I happened to glance back towards the statue of Our Lady in the niche of the rock. At the same time, the crowd seemed to thin and move away, exposing the plaque in the ground which shows the spot where St. Bernadette was kneeling when Our Lady appeared... This was just too good an opportunity to miss, so I moved forward to take a photo...
...and just for good measure, I took a photo of the niche where Our Lady appeared as seen when actually standing on the plaque... obviously, it would have been better to have knelt there, but that's not an option for me. A Hail Mary was duly prayed in thanksgiving.
Friday, 1 June 2007
The Grand Hotel d'Angleterre
Just so that you can see exactly how blessed we were with the hotel accommodation...
The black arrow on the left shows the location of our hotel. The black arrow on the right shows the entrance to the Domaine (nearest the Grotto and the main basilicas) known as St. Joseph's Gate. I am a very slow walker, and it took me approximately three minutes... one of which was waiting for an opportunity to cross the road...
The black arrow on the left shows the location of our hotel. The black arrow on the right shows the entrance to the Domaine (nearest the Grotto and the main basilicas) known as St. Joseph's Gate. I am a very slow walker, and it took me approximately three minutes... one of which was waiting for an opportunity to cross the road...
Home Sweet Home...
I am happy to be home again... no, I am happy... well, I did rather miss Sylvester...
...but oh, wow... Lourdes was fabulous. I could easily have stayed longer!
I was able to follow the progress of Fr Tim's blog using my super-snazzy mobile phone: unfortunately, I couldn't edit my own blog using the phone (I didn't see much point, given how comprehensively Fr. Tim was covering events, and how I couldn't upload any of my own photos), and I couldn't publish comments (on my own or other people's blogs)... and the one time I tried to use the computer in a local café, the internet connection promptly went down (which I took as a sign that Our Lady didn't want me to blog for the duration of the pilgrimage!)
I have exported all my photos to my computer (all 183 of them) and will now go through and prune them a little... and then I shall post my own thoughts on the trip. However, the shots taken using my phone camera are pretty mediocre in comparison to Fr Tim's stunning displays (the "big" camera he refers to is exactly that) so while I'm pulling my collection into some semblance of order, I suggest you have a look at the following: Rue du Bourg, International Mass, Finding St. Bernadette, Two Views of Lourdes and The Visitation. He has put up some other posts, but these are the ones with photos!
Thanks for those of you who stopped by to post comments in my absence (it's nice to feel loved) and I prayed for all my readers at the Grotto (and the five of you know who you are...)
;-D
...but oh, wow... Lourdes was fabulous. I could easily have stayed longer!
I was able to follow the progress of Fr Tim's blog using my super-snazzy mobile phone: unfortunately, I couldn't edit my own blog using the phone (I didn't see much point, given how comprehensively Fr. Tim was covering events, and how I couldn't upload any of my own photos), and I couldn't publish comments (on my own or other people's blogs)... and the one time I tried to use the computer in a local café, the internet connection promptly went down (which I took as a sign that Our Lady didn't want me to blog for the duration of the pilgrimage!)I have exported all my photos to my computer (all 183 of them) and will now go through and prune them a little... and then I shall post my own thoughts on the trip. However, the shots taken using my phone camera are pretty mediocre in comparison to Fr Tim's stunning displays (the "big" camera he refers to is exactly that) so while I'm pulling my collection into some semblance of order, I suggest you have a look at the following: Rue du Bourg, International Mass, Finding St. Bernadette, Two Views of Lourdes and The Visitation. He has put up some other posts, but these are the ones with photos!
Thanks for those of you who stopped by to post comments in my absence (it's nice to feel loved) and I prayed for all my readers at the Grotto (and the five of you know who you are...)
;-D
Sunday, 27 May 2007
Prayers Answered
It seems that Boots and Harry have been found a new home, just in time. But I think that Stephen must be heartbroken to part with the two rascals. So a prayer for him would probably not go amiss...
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