LMS CARDIFF - CHARTRES 2013 REPORT
Sunday, May 26, 2013 | 
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Anonymous |
A first Chartres pèlerinage
by Rhoslyn Thomas, Cardiff Latin Mass Society – 26/5/2013
Photos from Aline Reynaud and Official Pictures >> LINK TO OFFICIAL PICTURES<<
Photos from Aline Reynaud and Official Pictures >> LINK TO OFFICIAL PICTURES<<
Last year, I took part in my very
first pilgrimage: the LMS pilgrimage to visit the shrine to Our Lady of
Walsingham. This year, I decided to make the jump between that and the Chartres
pilgrimage. I had heard many things about Chartres: some said it wasn’t so bad,
you just had to “keep walking”, others said it was hellish (oh dear…). However,
all agreed that it was worth it, that the feeling you got after completing it
was like nothing else. Even those who had felt like giving up on the first day
were now booking their place once again this year. I decided that I was up for
the challenge.
The British contingent was
separated into two chapters: Our Lady of Walsingham (for the older pilgrim) and
the Juventutem chapter, whose patron saint would be St Alban. Being 24, I was
in the Juventutem chapter. Behind our chapter, we had a group of pilgrims from
the Chavagnes school in France, led by a much loved priest who was one of our
chaplains at Walsingham last year: Fr Bede Rowe. At one point, when some of us
(including myself) were lagging behind, Fr Rowe decided to stage a ‘hostile
takeover’ and chased us down the road with his chapter, shouting “Jog on! Jog
on!” (yes, this really happened)! This tactic worked and we had caught up with
everyone else in a matter of minutes.
Our chapter was also blessed to
have two priests. Our priests were Fr Withoos and Fr Gideon, who heard
confessions every day. Knowing that Pope Pius XII went to confession every day
(and what a holy man he was), I tried to take advantage of having this
sacrament on tap while I was there. The priests also read out meditations, sang
hymns with us and generally gave us advice; we were so thankful to have them
with us. In fact, one of the best things about the pilgrimage was seeing
priests walking around in cassocks and nuns in habits (and not a polyester
skirt in sight)! Oh, happy day!
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Chaplain of the Juventum Chapter Fr Whithoos and deacon Nicholas (soon to be ordained) alongside the Chaplain of the Chavagnes Chapter Fr Bede Rowe, which followed behind the whole way. Fr Gideon can be seennext to Fr Rowe.
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Now, for the walking…the first day
was, dare I say it, fairly easy. I
believe it consisted of about 27 miles, but I didn’t really feel it. I think I
was just so delighted to be praying the rosary in Latin, singing hymns and
listening to meditations. We were due to get into camp at about 8pm and, as
predicted, the heavens opened. Before we’d even got to the campsite, most of us
were soaked. We had to collect our bags (which, having been brought by lorry
from Paris, were all set out for us according to our country of origin) in the
rain and set up the tent in the rain too (there were communal tents already put
up, but a very kind pilgrim had offered to share her private tent with me).
However, by the time it came to eat our dinner, the rain had stopped and we
were all laughing about the day we had just had. There is truly so much
happiness to be found when you think things cannot get any worse! I laughed all
the way through the pilgrimage, particularly when I was soaked to the skin and
up to my knees in mud.
The next day was a very early
start. I was awake by 4.30am, but the official wake up call came at 5am over a
loudspeaker (in French), accompanied by classical music: “My dear pilgrims, it
is 5am. It is time for you to exit your tents” (2 minutes later) “Pilgrims, I
see that you are still in your tents. It’s time to wake up, pack things away,
come and have your breakfast…move!”. And so this Frenchman continued every
morning until every pilgrim had left the campsite. I believe most pilgrims had
a sort of love-hate relationship with him, but we would never have left on time
without his dulcet tones.
For me, the second day was much
harder than the first, though it was slightly shorter in terms of distance. The
good thing about this is that I had plenty to offer up! Every time I wanted to
sit down or my feet were really hurting, I thought: ‘Lord, I’m offering this up
to You for x,y,z’. If I had not suffered, I would not have been able to do
that. Suffering is a blessing if we use it wisely, I think.
The third day was D-day. When
Chartres cathedral was in sight, I forgot all the pains in my body. I forgot
that the rain was lashing down, that I was walking uphill. I was focused on
getting to that mass and when I did, it was worth every second of pain. It was
a Pontifical high mass with no fewer than three bishops, one of whom gave us a
Pontifical blessing. The cathedral was packed and there were more priests (with
plenty of lace), friars and nuns there than you could shake a stick at! I very
rarely cry, but after receiving Communion that day, I couldn’t help but shed a
couple of tears. You have to experience the whole thing to appreciate how
superb it was. Of course, Our Lord is present at every mass, but when a mass is
done in such a way which tries to acknowledge, as reverently as possible, that
He is there, both spiritually and physically, and how glorious He is, there is
nothing better.
All in all, I would advise
anybody, who is in reasonably good shape, to do the pilgrimage. In Our Lady of
Walsingham’s chapter, there were many pilgrims who were over 60 and I am
convinced that some of them were nearer to 70. Most of them did the whole
pilgrimage and I never heard any of them complain, which put me to shame! For
those who are near my age, you do not have to be at Ironman triathlon fitness
level. The knowledge that everything you do is for God is all the motivation
you need. Trust me, if I can do it, you can do it.
See also -
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1 Comments:
Rhoslyn - would you mind if I posted this on Stabat Mater blog please http://meneviastabatmater.blogspot.com
You can reach me on r.collinsassoc@btinternet.com
Richard
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