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Greetings from Lourdes!
Many of us had a hard time thinking about getting to Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI) after years of journeys to Lourdes from the NY/NJ airports. The accommodations at the airport turned out to be surprisingly upbeat – clean, modern, and efficient, the airport personnel were both welcoming and helpful, and Malades and Caregivers were treated like “our lords, the sick and the poor” by those they encountered. A special thank you to Michael Ligorano, KM, and Brandon Sipple, KM, of the New Jersey Area's Malta Mobile Ministries Van. These Knights drove the van to the NY Office last week and, with the help of the building's maintenance crew, loaded over 50 boxes of supplies for the Lourdes Pilgrimage. The van was used to transport this precious cargo to BWI on Tuesday, where pilgrims helped unload the van and check the boxes in to be sent to Lourdes on the charter. Photos of this endeavor are included in the photo gallery, linked above.
After the usual processes, passages, and a bit of delay, we finally boarded the jet that was going to take us to France. While we wished there were more people on the pilgrimage, some of us were secretly grateful that we had more room and fewer nudging battles about who got the armrest. After missing three years of pilgrimages, we were finally going back to Lourdes – it seems like forever but looking back, we ask, “Where did the time go?”
While some of us were able to get some sleep during the flight, others felt it was more like Christmas Eve as we anxiously awaited our arrival. When we finally landed and entered the Lourdes airport, we stretched our legs before boarding the buses to take us to the hotels. We were welcomed by members of the Advance Team and hotel staff at Hotels Méditerranée and Alba, where we enjoyed lunch before checking into our hotel rooms.
After enjoying several hours of much-needed rest time, approximately 150 pilgrims gathered together for Mass. Our Principal Chaplain, H.E. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, BGCHD, celebrated Mass in the Hotel Méditerranée Chapel and Archbishop Allen Vigneron, ChC, of our Michigan Area, celebrated Mass in the Hotel Alba's Bartres Room. After Mass, we attended a reception and dinner with our teammates. The dining rooms of the hotels were filled with introductions, stories of pilgrimages-past, many laughs, and just the beginning of many new memories to be made.
Ten Chaplains, including Cardinal Dolan and Archbishop Vigneron, left their churches and their flocks to travel with us, to feed our spiritual hunger, and we are blessed to have them on this pilgrimage. Doctors, nurses, and student nurses, a veritable hospital staff in the air, transferred their responsibilities at home to others and take on the responsibility of providing medical support, as needed, for the pilgrims, and especially for the Malades and their Caregivers. Knights, Dames, Affiliates and volunteers, a cross-section of the new and the veteran, look forward to a life-changing experience for those they will care for in Lourdes, for those they would be carrying in their hearts to the Grotto, and for themselves, a hope for something they do not know but trust that the mercy and kindness of Our Lady would help them find.
Some members of the Association plan to meet us in Lourdes, having travelled to Rome to participate in the Council Complete of State, where they elected the American Association's very own Frá John Dunlap as the 81st Grand Master of the Order of Malta. We look forward to the new Grand Master joining us this week in Lourdes.
Until tomorrow...
Our Lady of Lourdes,
Pray for Us!
Click here to view the Lourdes 2023 section of our website, where we will be sharing these daily updates, photo galleries, Cardinal Dolan's updates, and more. Pilgrims can share these updates with family and friends back home so that they, too, can experience the beauty of Lourdes.
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