Notes from the Pilgrim Road

Madrid

The Beginning of the Pilgrim Road: Vezelay

The are four pilgrim roads in France that all converge at the Pyrenees into one road that cuts across Northern Spain. The main French road begins in the Basilica of Vezelay, which is about two hours south of Paris.

This is the very beginning of the road that winds all the way to the Atlantic coast of Spain and helped shape the Middle Ages

My wife is a post card maniac. Here she is at the post office.

Isabel taking her first steps outside of the church

The tympanum above the door is typical. It depicts the Last Judgement. The door faces toward the setting sun providing a reminding of the end of days. Christ sits judging and below him on the right and left are the damned and saved.

Isabel with the Little flower

Friends

Isabel was responsible for another beautiful chance meeting. During mass she kept smiling at these two little girls in front of us. After mass they continued to play with her. We began talking with their parents and they invited us over to their summer home for drinks.

The grandfather turned out to be the French ambassador to Vietnam. They were an extremely engaging family and we had a wonderful time

They are Parisians and this is their family home. During WWI the allies were camped only 4 miles from their home. They aquired this stove when the war was over. What a beautiful collector's piece.

The Escorial

This was built by Phillip II and was the center for the Catholic Counter-Reformation, and it is the burial place for the Spanish monarchy.

The Mosque at Cordoba

Also important in the Reconquista of Spain is the Cathedral of Cordoba. Built in the middle ages, when the Christians retook Cordoba, the mosque was converted into a church. It is a marvelous building.

This is the chapel where the Blessed Sacrament is reposed.

Lourdes

We stopped at Lourdes and went into the baths - Isabel, too.

In 1858 Bernadette Soubirous claimed to be receiving apparitions from the Virgin Mary. This was of course well after the French Revolution and the climate was very anti-clerical. During the last apparition in front of a large crown filled with skeptics she was instructed to dig into the dirt. Out of the hole she dug gushed a spring which immediately started to yield miraculous (and very well documented) healings. Today the spring still flows and millions travel there every year. It is quite moving. There are throngs of people there in wheel chairs who go into the baths. Every night there is a large candle light procession where they pray the rosary and sing hymns.

Random Isabel

On the plane

This was a waiter at a restaurant we were at. Oli bumped into him when they were both singing a Spanish hymn. He was a real devout Catholic and he loved Isabel. His father fought for Franco in the war