After seven years I returned back to Lourdes, France, to see again Our Lady of Lourdes in her Grotto in Massabielle. Three months of preparation from getting a visa to bookings of hotels and transportation, everything went well as my son and I flew to France on the third week of May, 2022.
It was a guided plan. Guided by Our Mother and her son Jesus. A plan after I finally turned away from a sin and vowed not to stay with it any longer. She heard my cries. She heard my pleads. “Make me see you again, Our Mother”. ‘Bring me back in your Grotto in Lourdes.” And, she did. She brought me and my son back in her Grotto in Lourdes, France.
Tears filled my eyes as I entered the gates of the Sanctuary. The feeling is different. There is a certain feeling of holiness the moment you enter the gates of the Sanctuary. We arrived just right on time for Mama Mary’s procession where pilgrims, young and old, male and female, healthy and the infirm, and from different parts of the globe, all carry candles, pray and say the rosary in different languages, with each decade of the rosary a song Mary Immaculate will be sung. Oh, how i love singing its refrain: “Ave, ave, ave, Maria.. Ave, ave, ave, Maria..”
The next day I spent much of my time in the Grotto. Again, the feeling was different. I cried and cried. I touched and kissed her cave. Saying – “finally, I am with you now, my Mother..”
The next day, I went to confession and from the depth of my heart I confessed to the priest the one sin that has been bugging me all the time. The one sin that causes all my guilt and restlessness inside. “Sin no more, my daughter”, that was what the priest told me after giving me an absolution. Mercy, I felt that. I felt God’s mercy after that.
I returned to the Grotto afterwards, I prayed, I talked to her and touched again the cave in her grotto. I cried as I prayed. I cried a river. And, I felt her love. I felt her maternal love. I prayed for those who asked me to pray for them. I prayed for those who intended to come and visit Mama Mary in Lourdes with their families. I prayed for those whom I have hurt and for my son and for myself. I prayed that I would be able to return back in Lourdes next time and to volunteer in order to help the elder and the infirm pilgrims.
This is my pilgrimage and I know it has just started. She has plans for me. Jesus has plans for me too.
God bless us all,
In Search of Thyself 