This week, Father Michael Romano will be sending back reports of his pilgrimage with Bishop Dennis Sullivan and the Knights and Dames of Malta to Lourdes, France. This is the first in his series of reports.
Through the invitation and generosity of the Knights and Dames of Malta, Bishop Sullivan and I left from JFK Airport yesterday for a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France to serve as chaplains to some of the “malades” (ill people). Our total group numbered 405 on the flight.
Bishop Sullivan and I are part of the orange team, which is made up of 7 malades and their caretakers, assistants, leaders, hosts and a medical team. We will get to know them better in the coming days as we journey with them.
Once in Lourdes following some informational meetings, we all went in procession according to our groups for Mass at the church of Our Lady of the Rosary. The Mass was for all of those on the Order of Malta pilgrimage from the United States’ chapters. All told, we are over 1,000 pilgrims.
At the end of the week, we will have Mass with everyone who traveled with the Order of Malta from all over the world (over 25,000 pilgrims).
Following tonight’s Mass, the bishop ran into Father James Greenfield, the provincial of the Oblates of Saint Francis de Sales, who pastor a few of our parishes.
One of the things that struck me early on is how the doctors and nurses on this pilgrimage are using a week of their vacation time to accompany the malades on pilgrimage here. The joy they exude, the selfless manner in which they look for any way to help others and their prayerful spirit are an inspiration.