OWENSBORO, Ky. - A Glenmary Sisters’ Pilgrimage to France departed St. Stephen Cathedral after a 5:30 AM Mass October 30, 2001, celebrated by Fr. John Vaughan, pastor of the Cathedral. Spiritual Director Fr. John Vaughan, Sister Chris Beckett, pilgrimage leader, and sixteen excited pilgrims from various local parishes boarded a bus for Louisville to board a flight to Atlanta. One pilgrim met the group there, more joined in Atlanta, making a total of twenty pilgrims. All boarded a flight to Paris, France.

In Paris, pilgrimage guide Antoine accompanied the group to a hotel near the Eiffel Tower, and a little later led them a short distance to St. Christophe de Javel church, to celebrate their first mass in France.

The tour group visited many Cathedrals such as Notre Dame and Chartres that until now they had only read about and dreamed of seeing. Awestruck by the magnificent beauty of European Cathedrals,: the statue lined facades, and architectural design, the pilgrims entered the churches’ doors and felt like they had entered another world. The domes were constructed to resemble the heavenly vault, while all were surrounded by the word of God as was revealed in the beautiful liturgical art, mosaics, statues, stained glass windows and the floor. It was like taking a journey through the history of the faith and the Scriptures in stone and glass.

The facade of Notre Dame Cathedral is divided into four levels with three portals. Above the three main portals is a line of statues of the twenty-eight kings of Judah and Israel. The rose window in the middle of the cathedral is framed by two recessed arches with statues of Adam on the left and Eve on the right. All the rose windows essentially have the same basic construction: a depiction of Christ or the cross of Christ with pictures and images from the Scriptures or the lives of the saints that extend from the center. The rose windows make a powerful spiritual point. The play of light, harmony, and balance are all enveloped in the perfection of the God - centered circle. This structured harmony is intended to be a picture of the well – ordered soul that makes God the center of life, then everything else falls into place. The gallery area above the rose window and the two towers above the gallery are surrounded by ghouls, gargoyles, and demons, yet these wonderful cathedrals would only be impressive gathering places without the Mass, liturgy and prayers of the church.

A massive circle embedded in the floor of the Chartres Cathedral contains a small circle in the middle. Chairs covered the design so only a small portion of it was visible. This medieval image of the rose is called a labyrinth. A rose image formed from the six petals that radiate from the inner circle in a series of twisting overlaid folds and turns resembles a part of the human anatomy called the intestine. This elaborate twisting path, which can be walked in the normal sense or traversed on the knees like the pilgrims did in medieval times is a centering exercise and a way of focusing the soul on its root, looking to the Christ within. To walk this path one must slow down and be committed to the discipline of a slow journey. It is intended to calm the impatient mind that leaps from thought to thought and project to project and let the mind settle, savor and rest. This labyrinthian journey could be made in a few short steps but the straight and shortest journey might not be the most enlightening or beautiful.

A special place for the pilgrims was the town of Ars, France, in which St. Jean Vianney, patron saint of parish priests, ministered and died. After viewing a video about the famous Cure de Ars, Fr. John Vaughan celebrated a Votive mass for St. Jean Vianney in the shrine of the church which contains his body. Fr. John was allowed to use St. Jean’s chalice for the Eucharist, a special moment for him and the pilgrims to partake of the blood of Christ from this chalice.

Here the pilgrims saw the beautiful Pieta that portrays the Virgin Mary’s calm as she looks with mournful resignation at her dead son, cradling Him in her arms. It was difficult to keep one’s composure, as thoughts of how devastated the Blessed Virgin must have been after she witnessed the crucifixion and the slow painful death of her only son. Our Mother, Mary, is a model of courage to us all.

As the journey continued, the group traveled to Rouen and Lisieux, in Rouen to visit the modern Joan of Arc Church and see the actual spot where Joan was burned at the stake. It is said that everything burned except her heart, which could not be destroyed and was finally thrown in the river.

In Lisieux, where St. Therese lived and died, the group celebrated the mass of St. Therese in the crypt of the basilica and Mike Conley, director of music at St. Stephen Cathedral, was invited to play the organ there. As the pilgrims sang God’s praises accompanied on the organ by Mike, it was a moment that lifted us spiritually to the heavenly vault of the church. This was a special honor for Mike, since the little Flower, Saint Therese, is his favorite saint.

One of the most inspiring experiences on this pilgrim journey was a visit to Lourdes. Father John Vaughan concelebrated with two other priests the mass at the grotto where the Blessed Virgin appeared to Bernadette. After the mass, one of the pilgrims from another group began to sing "Precious Lord," and other pilgrims soon joined in – a very moving and joyous moment.

At Lourdes, the group next toured the Immaculate Conception Shrine and its crypt, which stood at the top of the grotto. The stained-glass windows in the shrine told the story of Bernadette and the apparitions. In the sixteenth apparition, the lady told Bernadette that she was the Immaculate Conception.

Another profound experience was bathing in the cold, healing waters of Lourdes at the site of the spring where the apparitions appeared to Bernadette. There were many other "Olympic moments" on the journey, like the six-hour train ride through the French countryside with many small chateaus with colorful flowers blooming in window boxes and built into the side of the mountains. It was reminiscent of a trellis flower garden except that this garden was made with houses. The train ride was like seeing miles and miles of God’s thoughts for His creation with the seemingly endless expanse of heaven and earth stretching as far as the eye could see.

Most of the pilgrims went to the top of the Eiffel tower to share a view of the beauty of Paris with its narrow winding streets, bridges, the Seine River, and elaborate domed buildings. Then there was the cruise on the River Seine to view the city of lights by night and a trip to Sacre Coeur to tour the church and visit the artist district of Montmartre where the old masters used to gather to paint and show their work. It is still a gathering place for artists.

Other interesting places visited were the Chapel of the Miraculous Medal. Located near by was a memorial to the Jews shipped on barges off of the Ile de Paris to concentration camps during World War 11. Also visited were the Arch de Triomphe, Champs Elysee, the famous Louvre and the simplicity of Taize, where the group met the brothers of Taize and attended a noon prayer service with them.

On a personal note, it is difficult to choose a favorite thing, event, or place that was the most impressive, fun, or outstanding, but for this pilgrim sharing the journey with old friends and cultivating new friends, walking together through the awesome Cathedrals and celebrating the mass together surrounded by the scriptures and history of the faith in glass and stone gets my vote. The awe-inspiring images that we saw make it easy to believe in something we can’t see or touch and we can carry these wonderful images in our hearts forever.