Lourdes Report 2019
Report by Ollie de Bono
With the generous support of the St Nicholas Society I was pleased to return to Lourdes this year for a second trip. They say that every year in Lourdes is different and so it proved.
In the first instance, I was lucky enough to fly from Stanstead rather than travel by coach. After a 6.10am meet up at the airport, we finally boarded the plane at midday. Boarding is a complex affair, loading some very disabled fellow pilgrims into the narrow confines of the plane.
Two hours later, we took off and arrived at Lourdes in the early evening. What was immediately clear was that we were in for a sweaty week. As we disembarked, we were hit by a blast of hot, muggy air that turned an already sweaty task into a thoroughly soggy affair.
When one thinks of Lourdes during the year one tends to remember the incredible highs, but it is easy to forget the slow and sometimes frustrating pace of simply getting from A to B. This was made all the more testing by the intense heat. Spurred on by the Hospital Pilgrims, whose enthusiasm is a Lourdes constant, we were quickly back in the swing.
In fact, it was so hot that the Lourdes authorities cancelled the first afternoon’s procession – much to the disappointment of some but quiet relief of others. Presented with a free afternoon, the wheelchair-bound HP for whom I was responsible expressed a burning desire to climb to Lourdes’ highest point – the tower of Lourdes’ castle. I suggested a quiet afternoon in the Bronx instead, but he, undeterred, dismissed my tired opposition.
It took several hours to reach the top of the castle and I confess to some pride as we joined the others in the Bronx afterwards. I suppose that this is in many ways what Lourdes is all about – overcoming one’s own inertia and fear and then experiencing the sheer joy of shared endeavour that is so hard to find in everyday life.
My week continued in the same vein – a heady mixture of sleep deprivation, back breaking work, shared experiences and sharing the highs and lows of the day every evening in the Bronx.
I would recommend the OMV to anyone prepared to take the risk and willing to get properly stuck in. It’s a well-known cliché but in Lourdes as elsewhere, the more you put in the more you get out. As I write this, the highs are still there in my mind, the minor inconveniences already forgotten.
Report by Ollie Read
Lourdes 2019
This Summer I was fortunate enough to travel to Lourdes with the Order of Malta Volunteers and with help from the St Nicholas Society. Over 150 helpers spent a week looking after the disabled 24 hours a day. Helpers were strongly represented by current and former students of St Mary’s Ascot, Downside and Eton and everybody on the trip was welcomed with open arms and was respected amongst the organisers and HPs.
As it was my first pilgrimage to Lourdes, my trip started with a coach journey from London, where most first years’ tend to depart from. It was exhausting travelling by coach however being a long journey, I was able to get to know others my age and learn more about the week. We arrived in Lourdes around 11:00 am, an hour before the HPs and awaited their company.
All the HPs were really positive and nice and hearing the stories of their lives was both fascinating and heart-breaking. Even though some were fully disabled there were many who were only physically impaired and so whilst I was on duty, I spent much time getting to know everything about them and we all got along really well.
A very important side of the trip for me was the spiritual aspect. Going to different churches everyday with the HPs was very special and, with help from the choir who sang so well, made the experiences memorable. We were fortunate enough to be able to make a confession on the trip with Father Charlie which was also very rewarding. Finally, the 11:20 pm night prayers were very relaxing. It gave me a place of solitude where I could reflect on the day and we would walk back past the grotto in complete silence.
Another highlight for me was the evenings spent at the Bronx. All volunteers would collectively meet in a bar along with some HPs and celebrate the achievements of the day. We had a great time interacting and getting to know one another, regardless of the age differences.
I really enjoyed my week at Lourdes. It was the most intense week I’ve ever had, not to mention how spiritually uplifting it was. The experience was completely new for me and although very demanding, I had a lot of fun interacting and getting to know all the HPs and other helpers. I would strongly recommend going on this trip as it has helped me understand the struggles that some people undergo in order to care for an HP and how difficult life can be for those less fortunate than me.
Report by Gabriel Hopton
Spending a week in Lourdes was a hugely rewarding experience as it was a very spiritual time as well as a very intense period of helping people in a way that you have never done before. Looking after the HPs (hospital pilgrims) was very full on, however it was an enjoyable experience as they were all very nice, positive people. Many of the HPs were physically disabled but were completely mentally competent so it was very possible to have very interesting conversations with many of them. By contrast, some of the HPs struggled communicating, which of course made it difficult to engage with them, but it just meant you had to put more effort into understanding them. I’d say the most challenging task was putting the more physically disabled HPs to bed and getting them ready in the morning, as this consisted of showering them, brushing their teeth and shaving them.
The usual program of a day at Lourdes comprised of a morning mass, each morning in a different location, and an afternoon or evening activity such as the music evening, the passage through the Grotto and the candlelit procession. Every evening just before midnight, the volunteers attended night prayers across the river from the Grotto, an opportunity to reflect and gather one’s thoughts at the end of the day. The days at Lourdes were very long. A reason for this is that everything an HP does takes far longer than it does for a normal person. This really demonstrated how difficult a life of a disabled person and of those who look after them is, especially considering that we only looked after the HPs for a week, but other people spend their whole time all year round looking after an HP.
My week at Lourdes was an incredible week, as it was the most intense week I’ve ever had as well as the most spiritual and demanding. However, it was a lot of fun as it was very sociable and I enjoyed looking after the HPs. Lastly, I found it an insightful week, as it made me realise many aspects of our lives that we take for granted as there are so many things that are so easy for us that are not so easy for a disabled person.
Report by Tom Hamp
This summer, the generous support of the St Nicholas Society enabled me to travel to Lourdes with the Order of Malta volunteers for the first time.
The experienced volunteers who I had spoken with in advance of the pilgrimage had told me that it was near-impossible to describe. I now understand exactly what they meant, but with that semi-excuse out of the way, will attempt as best I can to capture some of its essence.
After travelling independently, I met the disabled guests (whom the OMV call Hospital Pilgrims or ‘HP’s’) and my fellow volunteers mid-afternoon on Sunday. As I went to bed that night, I felt as if I had been in Lourdes for weeks. I think that is, for me, what stands out most about the pilgrimage – its sheer intensity. Despite a complex rota system being in operation, you are barely off your feet, and in the few hours a day that you are, I would highly recommend sleep – as much as anything else, Lourdes taught me the value of a well-timed power nap! Yet the strains of tiredness, exacerbated this year by a pretty extreme heatwave, pale in comparison to the strength of the connections which I formed in Lourdes, with both HPs and volunteers alike.
On the second evening of the pilgrimage, I was asked to take a wheelchair-bound guest with limited verbal communication to the roof of the hospital (where the HPs stay) for our drinks party. At first, I questioned why I, a complete novice, had been entrusted with helping her in any way, but by lunchtime the next day, despite her disability, we were chatting about her favourite film (Mamma Mia) and shopping for souvenirs before walking the parade together in the Grotto. By the end of the week, she was one of the HPs with whom I felt I’d formed a close bond – and I’ve printed out a photograph of the two of us to go up on my university wall.
The same can be said for the other volunteers, many of whom quickly became close friends. After long days, which can begin as early as 6am, the time spent in the evening at the ‘Bronx’, a bar where all the volunteers congregate after the duties of the day are over, felt very well-deserved. All members of the OMV, whether first year 6th formers like me or old-timers who’ve already left university, were able to reflect on the highs and lows of the day in an environment where the barriers of age faded away and everyone was united in our shared experience. Daily night prayers, led by one of the chaplains in the grotto every evening, was another highlight and provided a moment of peace in a week in which you have little time to appreciate your surroundings (the crêpe stall on the walk back is also to be highly recommended!)
As I boarded the plane back to London on the back of less than 3 hours sleep, I was already looking forward to hopefully being able to return next year (albeit perhaps in the short term focusing more on a few days rest at home!)
If you do have the opportunity to come to Lourdes, and are willing to embrace the challenges which the pilgrimage undoubtedly will throw at you, I could not recommend it highly enough. Out of the 52 weeks of relative routine which you have in the year, the OMV pilgrimage to Lourdes is something completely different and, to my mind, well-worth a try.
Report by Wilf Palmer-Tomkinson
At first, I was not mad keen on the idea of spending a week of my summer holidays looking after the severely disabled. However, after a lot of convincing from ex-volunteers I signed up and went on the long 22-hour bus trip to Lourdes. Arriving we were thrown straight into it the deep end helping the arriving HP’s off the bus and to settle them in. It is quite full on, especially the first day, but there are plenty of people around to help and guide us for the entire week. We were all split into teams and took turn being on and off duty. We had to work hard when we were on duty, but we had plenty of time off duty to recover. We were quite unlucky and had one of the hottest summers on record in Lourdes which meant that it was even harder work. But the blue skies highlighted the beauty of Lourdes and whilst there you do get to see the whole of Lourdes and many different chapels and churches. The services themselves, though quite long, were a great part of the day and a good time to relax and focus on oneself. Coming from Eton there was a group who went out and it was great fun with them. But also, the people are so nice and inclusive, and we all go to the bar at the end of the day with whom we all had a lot in common. The whole week is very tiring, both physically and mentally, but the experience you go through means that you make long lasting friendships. I am definitely going again and would highly recommend anyone else thinking of going as it is not only very satisfying work but also great character building.
Report by Hector Rankin
Last summer, I was privileged enough to be able to spend a week in Lourdes with the Order of Malta Volunteers. Having been recommended and advised to go by my older brother, I was slightly skeptical of what the week would be like after hearing some of the stories he had told me of his time there. However having experienced the work that the OMV has accomplished in Lourdes, as well as on countless other pilgrimages, I could not recommend anything more than the Lourdes pilgrimage.
Spending the week in Lourdes was incredibly rewarding, as I immersed myself into the daily routines of helping the Hospital Pilgrims (HPs) carry out their daily lives whilst also furthering my own spiritual beliefs. One of the aspects that struck me most about the HPs was how full of life they all were, each of them maintaining very happy and enthusiastic outlooks to life, even though many of them had heavy mental and physical disabilities. Over my week, I developed a great relationship with an elderly gentleman called Graham, who had a stroke five years before. His daily routine was incredibly demanding, especially the wake-up and night duties, however his constant appreciation for our help made it wholly worth it, as I could see how much it meant to him that he was with us in Lourdes.
Our daily program across the week consisted of a morning mass service, always in a different location, my favorite of which was in the Cathedral in the Trees, followed by an afternoon or evening activity each day. These were very enjoyable as it allowed us to socialise with the HPs and other volunteers while doing relaxing and entertaining activities, such as the music evening. A personal highlight of the Lourdes experience was the daily night prayers within the Domain, opposite the Grotto. This allowed us to have some time to reflect on all that had happened during the day, as well as allowing us to look forward to the next day. After this, all the volunteers would then head off to the local bar, which provided us with a great place to socialise and relax after the long day.
My week in Lourdes was incredibly rewarding for many different reasons; I was encouraged to further my own religious beliefs, as well as engage with those who I would not usually encounter in day to day life. I had a hugely fulfilling week, and I think that this was due to the spiritual and physical intensity of each day. However, it was a hugely enjoyable and entertaining experience, made better through the caring for and getting to know the HPs better.
Report by Freddie zu Wied
On the OMV Lourdes Pilgrimage 2019
I have never been pushed as far out of my comfort zone as I was this, my first time, in Lourdes for the OMV’s 2019 pilgrimage. Each day I spent there brought me a fresh array of new challenges and obstacles to be considered and overcome, some of which left me in situations I had never thought I would ever find myself in. And yet, my reflection upon the week is overwhelmingly positive. After some thought, I since concluded the main reason for this fond recollection concerns the totally unique role of the individual on the Lourdes pilgrimage. Through duties, deeds and interactions with other pilgrims, each and every pilgrim is always completely worthwhile and even invaluable to the trip. Not only does this attitude benefit the overall efficiency of the pilgrimage, but, crucially, it also means that every person partaking values themselves as an important part of the activities on the trip, of the personal experiences of those around them, and of the organisation as a whole. The Lourdes pilgrimage is therefore often talked about as a ‘family’ experience for good reason. Every person, whether staying in the hotel or in the hostel, plays a significant role in the lives of those around them for the duration of their time spent in Lourdes, and therefore becomes a vital part of the whole trip. Notably, accompanying the significance of these roles comes a certain unspoken expectation for each pilgrim to be dependable for each other. The daily range and variability of emotions experienced by the pilgrim is such that every individual constantly needs to be there for one another. It is this anonymous but consistent dependability that is the cohesion within the Lourdes pilgrimage ‘family’, that which makes the experience so special. The family that comprises the OMV Lourdes pilgrims is really at the core of how each activity is executed, each challenge considered and each obstacle overcome. It is for me the most valuable part of the pilgrimage, and the part which will draw me back next year and likely for years to come.