Ross Mullen | Contributing Writer
“I can’t explain but I wanna try.” Fireside, Arctic Monkeys.
I have recently returned from a week volunteering in Lourdes with the Dublin Diocesan Pilgrimage and while as we all return to college, students recount the stories of their summers in a vast array of exotic destinations. J1s in Boston, trekking around Thailand, inter-railing around Europe, volunteering in Africa etc. Lourdes doesn’t really fit in on this list.
This was the third time I have travelled to Lourdes as a helper and I am always bombarded with queries as to why I go along with a barrage of comments about how the whole idea of Lourdes belongs in a fairytale, not reality. Hopefully this article can shed some light on why I, along with hundreds of other helpers, go to Lourdes and why it does have a beneficial purpose for those sick pilgrims who go.
Firstly, just to explain what exactly the pilgrimage consists of. Each year over 170 sick pilgrims travel to Lourdes and stay at the “Accuiel Notre Dame”, which is basically a modern day hospital where they are looked after by the hundreds of helpers who accompany them. These pilgrims are people who without the Dublin Diocese would be unable to attempt to even travel to Lourdes. Many are severely disabled, elderly and/or incredibly sick. That single week in Lourdes is their holiday for the year and in most cases, the best week of their year so why begrudge them that?
These pilgrims travel to Lourdes for a variety of reasons. Religion is not the sole one, contrary to the seemingly popular belief that the search for a cure is the lone motive behind people’s pilgrimage. Some travel for the company as loneliness develops. Some travel as it’s their only opportunity at a holiday. Some travel for the religious aspect. Most travel purely for the enjoyment they get from the week.
While it might be clear as to why an elderly pilgrim would visit to Lourdes, it might be a bit more confusing to figure out why hundreds of students would pay to travel to Lourdes as a helper. Lourdes is a magical place but not due to any religious aspect in my view. There is not another place I’ve been to where I’ve seen so many smiling faces. It is truly peaceful. It’s not all about religion and the baths supposed healing power. It’s a place where pilgrims can relax and enjoy themselves, where their disability or illness doesn’t control and define their lives.
Some travel for the company as loneliness develops. Some travel as it’s their only opportunity at a holiday. Some travel for the religious aspect. Most travel purely for the enjoyment they get from the week.
I find it very difficult to explain why I go to Lourdes. Some of the reason is because you want to help, you want to have a positive influence on someone in a more difficult position than yourself. Of course it isn’t easy taking care of awfully sick pilgrims but when you realise that by merely listening to their stories or taking them down town for a drink that it means so much to them. It is only by putting in the effort that once finds it such a rewarding experience.
Naturally, us helpers manage to have some fun as well. When all the pilgrims go to bed, in true student fashion we seek out the local pub for a few relaxing drinks. This is part of what fosters such a warm link between helpers. You make a lot of close friends in Lourdes. Personally, I’ve travelled with the same group for the past three years and by going through so much over there you really bond together. Sadly it is something that can’t be done justice in words and must really be experiences to be believed. So you’ll have to take my word for it!
Those who belittle these pilgrims for their supposed “blind faith” are incredibly ignorant. While religion is a strong part of Lourdes, it is only a part and not the entirety.
Unfortunately, there will be cynicism by a large contingent of people surrounding anything to do with religion as atheism is all the rage these days. I stress that the pilgrimage is not solely a religious venture. Yes, the week revolves around masses and services but there’s also shopping, heading down to the town for a drink, relaxing in the sun with a cup of tea or whatever the pilgrim wants to do. Those who belittle these pilgrims for their supposed “blind faith” are incredibly ignorant. While religion is a strong part of Lourdes, it is only a part and not the entirety. These pilgrims do not travel in search of a cure to their ailment and the trip to the baths is anything but the highlight of their week. It is the pilgrims’ holiday, they choose what they wish to do. For example, one day I found myself in a local pub with a pilgrim who had decided the All-Ireland Hurling final was far more important than any ongoing mass.
Lourdes is a place they can put themselves at ease, they have nothing to worry about within the walls of the sanctuary of Lourdes. Whether you believe or not is irrelevant. Whether the pilgrims themselves believe or not is irrelevant. What matters is whether the week brings a smile to their face or not. It is a week where the turmoil of battling illness or loneliness is forgotten. It is glaringly evident to anyone with any experience of this pilgrimage, whether as a helper, a pilgrim or even a relation of either of the two, that anyone who participates has a wholly enjoyable time. So why question that on the grounds of religion?
