Sunday, March 12, brought “200” Pilgrims to St. Nicholas Ukrainian Church, Passaic, NJ, who came to experience a Pilgrimage to Lourdes from their pews. An invitation from Rev. Andriy Dudkevych, Pastor went out to area Churches inviting all to “come and see” and experience the joy and peace of this Pilgrimage.
Co-Sponsored by the St. Nicholas Chapter of the League of Ukrainian Catholics, a request was made to the Lourdes Volunteers of America to bring the “Lourdes Virtual Pilgrimage Experience” to the faithful, that they have the opportunity to take this journey locally in the beauty of our Church, from their pews, as current economic conditions and concerns over safe foreign travel have hindered many from going on an actual Pilgrimage.
We were fortunate to have Mrs. Pamela Barton as our guide through the life of St. Bernadette, giving the explanation of the Apparitions of Our Lady, the history of the Grotto where Our Lady stood, the spring of fresh water and the building of the Basilica and environment. More significant were the stories of the many miracles, cures and healings both physical and spiritual experienced by pilgrims.
We too experienced a first in the hosting of this Pilgrimage, it was presented in two languages – Ukrainian and English. We were graced with Sr. Eliane Ilnitski, Superior Provincial of the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate to provide the Ukrainian translation of the program.
The afternoon began with a procession led by two young adults, the children from St. Nicholas School, members of Our Lady’s Sodality carrying the water from Lourdes, the Altar Servers carrying the Grotto rocks and the choir providing the singing of Marian hymns, very symbolic of the processions that take place daily in Lourdes.
The ‘pilgrims’ were called forward to come and experience the reality of a Lourdes pilgrimage – the opportunity to come touch an actual rock from the Lourdes Grotto and to touch the healing waters from the Grotto Spring, a very moving experience as per some testimonies.
Several ‘pilgrims’ testified that ‘they found themselves sobbing throughout the presentation’; another ‘that they never entertained plans to visit Lourdes but experiencing this Pilgrimage, travel to Lourdes will be first on their bucket list’; others remarked that the ‘silence and prayerfulness was overwhelming’. As Pamela noted, pilgrims bring everything to the Grotto in deep prayer and silence.
Towards the close of the program, Fr. Andriy provided time for adoration with the Exposition of the Holy Eucharist, followed by the recitation of a decade of the Rosary. At the close, a blessing was imparted on all with a grateful thank you for coming to share in this Pilgrimage.
The participants left with the silence of the Grotto and the joy and peace experienced in Lourdes.
Mrs. Barton also announced that the free will offerings collected that would normally be given to the Lourdes Volunteers of America, will be donated over to Fr. Andriy to be used for the relief effort for the soldiers in Ukraine.
