Looking for a Miracle – Part 2
Once we got back from Lourdes and I got back to work, I started to see the effect of our pilgrimage on other people. I saw it first with family and friends because everybody was curious and wanted details of the experience. This was expected because just about everyone we knew was praying for a miracle for Angie. But what wasn’t expected was how interested my students from my school were. I was teaching all the French classes at Purcell Marian High School, a Catholic high school in Cincinnati with a student body of about 1000 students who were both Catholic and non-Catholic. Naturally, I had taught all my classes a lesson about the story of Lourdes and had shown them the old black and white film about Bernadette. I wanted them to understand why I was taking off work for about 10 days. Plus, I had shown Angie’s picture to all of my classes. I had them do a little research about the town and find stories of people who were healed there, and I asked them to pray for Angie.
When I came back I discovered that the majority of my students had taken a personal interest in our trip. I also learned that this interest had spread through the entire school. First, the faculty supported me by taking my classes to make it possible for me to be gone. Second, every morning the senior assigned to the daily announcement led the school in a prayer for Angie. And finally, my French students were more engaged for a while. Everyone had questions, looked at a few pictures and were open to a blessing of Lourdes water. It made me smile and I felt very blessed. Soon I discovered that in class when my more difficult students came back to their right mind and regular behavior, I could take my Lourdes water and give them a blessing. I’d say something like, “it looks like you need and an extra blessing or extra help today,” and believe it or not it worked. To a person, when I blessed them with Lourdes water they would smile and pay attention. I actually was blessed with a miracle. It wasn’t the one I had prayed for but it was a miracle nonetheless.
Once we got settled back into our routine, life went on almost as usual. Angie, John, and Matt went to school, I went to work. I continued to pray and go to prayer meetings too. Along the way we had a couple of amazing things happen that reminded me that there really are miracles happening. One afternoon as we were getting ready to leave a farm where there were apparitions of Our Lady, a large number of butterflies followed Angie into her van along with 3 or 4 more kids. They swirled all around the children for a few minutes and left. It was so cool! All of us were amazed at how many there were. A couple of them lit on Angie. And when they all left the van smelled like roses. And believe me when I tell you, there were no roses to be seen anywhere.
A couple of other experiences like this and an offer from my friend, Carol, had us thinking about one more pilgrimage to Lourdes, France. I knew what to expect and most of all I knew how much Angie loved the being there. My Aunt Lorene had recently passed and left us money to pay for the trip too. So, money was no object. But… I knew how hard traveling is with Angie. It’s very difficult to get her on a plane. It’s very hard on my back doing all the transfers necessary in a day, even with a friend to help me. Her wheelchair is custom and doesn’t collapse, so even our “luggage” was especially challenging. What to do?
Then one Friday evening in the spring, Angie, my Mom and I had gone to the Holy Spirit Center. There, a lady came to us in the parking lot and asked us to come with her to her car. She had something in her trunk that she wanted to give Angie. We followed her and when she opened her trunk, we could smell roses. She took a print of a painting that she had made after she had a vision of Our Lady. I didn’t know her and have never seen her again. But Angie still has the print hanging in the hallway outside her room at St. Joseph Home. It was after this that Carol and I decided to take Angie on one more pilgrimage to Lourdes.
The pilgrimage was at the end of the following summer. This trip, I had time to plan more carefully, especially since I knew the ropes. I had more courage to explore too. I was more willing to take Carol and Angie farther away from our dormitory and the grounds of the Shrine to see more of the town. Generally, we followed the same routine as before by first eating breakfast, after which we headed to Mass in one of the many chapels. Then we had free time to walk the grounds, visit different chapels and the shrine where Bernadette actually saw the Virgin. We always made sure we were there for the processions in the afternoon since Angie loved that so much. Sometimes we made it for the beautiful candlelight processions in the evenings too. In addition, we spent time getting to know our fellow pilgrims and exploring the “Frenchness” of the village of Lourdes.
Many of us generally met-up in one of the French cafés for a coffee or snack. We shared our challenges and laughed about how many wheelchairs could fit in one bar. We noticed that most of the customers ordered hot chocolate instead of wine, but not us, of course. Angie loved her wine (no drinking age in France) and Carol and I couldn’t let her drink alone. A few of our new friends really touched our hearts too. One example I remember was that of a relatively young father of four who had a stroke in his early 30’s. He was here with his wife and one of his daughters. His wife shared their story of how they had learned to cope with his limitations and make life work for their family. It was inspiring and it helped me to feel like I was in this life with others with similar struggles as ours.
Carol, Angie and I also decided to go visit a little fishing village on the coast for a day trip with another mom and her son. We took the train for a two-hour ride to the coastal town of St. Jean de Luz. Because I spoke French very well, I could navigate all the details. It all worked out well and made us very much aware of the ease of navigating the barrier-free village of Lourdes. St Jean was much more difficult to explore with wheelchairs. In fact, we chose to settle down in a picturesque café on the wharf to watch the boats and the people busily passing by. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed it very much, but we were also relieved to get back to Lourdes where the living was relatively easy.
One more memorable story is about the beggars that used to sit on the streets outside the gates of the grounds of the Shrine. Every day we would roll past a lady with a dirty little 3-year-old girl sitting on the sidewalk next to her. I’d say bonjour and sometimes give her some change. On the second to last day, she got up and gave Angie some Italian money. I was shocked! We said thanks and went on our way. Then later the next day, I saw a lovely lady with a cute little girl outside one of the shops across the street from the Shrine and I recognized her from somewhere. Then suddenly I realized that she was the beggar and the little girl was hers. What a surprise! Best begging location in the world!
With all of our adventures and memorable moments behind us, it was time to think about going home. On our last evening, we had a party where someone played the piano and we all sang. The time had flown by and Angie was getting sad. We exchanged contact information and promised to keep in touch with our new friends. After that, I took her for one last walk in one of the gardens where we watched to moon rise over the stream that passes through the grounds. As we sat there she cried and cried because she knew we were leaving. I cried with her. Another bitter-sweet moment together with Ange and another wonderful memory.