Pilgrimage of a lifetime: France

PART II: FRANCE

During the first part of my pilgrimage, I met this wonderful couple from Denver. Their pilgrimage ended in Paris at a different time than mine and they sent me this wonderful picture. I remember seeing the Eiffel tower on tv and in magazines when I was a kid. In fact, if you asked me then to name a site from France, it would probably have been the only answer I could come up with. It was just one of those iconic things that everyone knew about and assumed was essential to the identity of France as the world center of romance.

The truth is that that identity, as appealing as it may be to world travelers and dreamers, is a departure from France's real identity as the elder sister of Christianity, at least as far as Europe goes. That is an identity that has the Eiffel tower beat by 6 centuries or more.

LOURDES

That this was the first site in France and the only one, of the dozen and a half sites, where we spent 3 nights are both appropriate. Our Lady of Lourdes and Saint Bernadette Soubirous were the head liners in this all-star parade of miraculous people, places and events.

Humble both in spirit and stature (only 4 feet, 7 inches tall) Bernadette conquered a Priest, France and the world by simply repeating what she heard but could not possibly understand.

"I am the Immaculate Conception"

With these words in 1858, Bernadette confirmed the doctrine the church had infallibly confirmed just 4 years prior.

“We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.”

Bernadette, by her humble repetition of these 5 words, also ratified what Jesus said to Peter in Matthew chapter 16; "What you bind on earth is bound in heaven". That our Lady spoke these words on the date of the Annunciation (March 25th) is just priceless.

This statue and grotto mark where Mary appeared.

This simple square marks the place where Bernadette knelt before her.

This is the miraculous spring that resulted from that encounter. A spring whose water has resulted in thousands of miracles and cures. The miraculous cure of John Traynor, officially recognized as a miracle in December of 2024, is just one incredible example.

There is no place quite like it on earth and that's why 4 million pilgrims a year come here seeking miracles, answers and grace. Thousands of candles light up every night while the words ring out in song "Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria!", echoing through time, the greeting of the Angel Gabriel recorded in Luke 1:28.

In the front left of the audience, in a blue shirt, I can be seen praying along with this Rosay seen by thousands around the world!

The tour covered every aspect of all there is to do from visiting the 3 basilicas (the largest is totally underground and can seat 20,000 people) to Eucharistic adoration, Rosary, candlelight procession, Mass and even the Stations of the Cross up the side of a mountain. You can watch a documentary film about the miraculous story. We even toured many of the humble locations of her youth.

I can describe the devotions and events, but I can't describe the effect. That's something words cannot convey. In the secular mindset, Paris is the most important destination in France. That is because a large swath of Paris is filled with exactly the kind of opulence and glitz the world craves, modern, flashy and full of romance, sophistication and obscenely high prices. For the believing Catholic, a tiny village in the Pyrenees mountains is the capital of France. It is a throwback to an age where miracles are celebrated and believed in and suffering is understood as a necessary part of our pilgrimage to heaven.

Bernadette grabs you and won't let go by the sheer force of her love and humility. There are signs of her around each corner. She truly is everywhere. Without Lourdes, Bernadette Soubirous is just another nameless, faceless person that we never know. Because of Lourdes, she is a national heroine, less in stature only to Joan of Arc.

The sheer immensity of this place is breathtaking, and the sights and sounds are overpowering. Lourdes is impossible to adequately describe. I found myself constantly praying, walking, drinking the miraculous water, washing my face and hands in it and going to every site I could. Even 3 days is not nearly long enough. When you leave here, you feel genuine grief, mitigated only by the fact that later in this pilgrimage, you are to encounter Bernadette again. More on that later.

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.

Saint Bernadette Soubirous, pray for us.

TOULOUSE

A site associated with saints Dominic and Thomas Aquinas and with pipe organs.

I regret that the relics were not seen while we were there.

ROCAMADOUR

This place was really amazing and a great boost after the post-Lourdes letdown. This place is built upon legends that have to be peeled back like layers of an onion.

It starts with a legendary hermit who lived there round about the first century whose identity was unknown but who was simply called Amadour (he who loves). For centuries, no one knew what happened to the man until an 1166 excavation found him buried in the rock. Here.

The discovery of Saint Amadour in the rock caused the place to be called Rocamadour (the rock of he who loves). Legend has it that the mysterious saint was none other than the biblical figure Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10) and that his wife was Saint Veronica who wiped the face of Jesus on the way to Calvary.

Sometime later, an icon of the Blessed Mother was placed in the chapel at the summit of this high place and candles were lit before it in petition. Eventually, the soot from the burning candles caused the image to become blackened and it became known as the Black Madonna of Rocamadour.

126 documented miracles have been attributed to the intercession of Our Lady of Rocamadour.

In fact, it was at Rocamadour that Saint Bernard of Clairvaux penned one of the most treasured Marian prayers of all-time- the Memorare.

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly to thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother; to thee do I come; before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.

Our Lady of Rocamadour, pray for us.

Saint Zacchaeus, pray for us.

Saint Veronica, pray for us.

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, pray for us.

Paray Le Monial

The Sacred Heart devotion is one of the most treasured and powerful devotions in all of Christian history. The main staple of the devotion is the offering of the First Fridays.

(From fatima.org)

1. I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.

2. I will give peace in their families.

3. I will console them in all their troubles.

4. They shall find in My Heart an assured refuge during life and especially at the hour of death.

5. I will pour abundant blessings on all their undertakings.

6. Sinners shall find in My Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.

7. Tepid souls shall become fervent.

8. Fervent souls shall speedily rise to great perfection.

9. I will bless the homes in which the image of My Sacred Heart shall be exposed and honored.

10. I will give to priests the power to touch the most hardened hearts.

11. Those who propagate this devotion shall have their name written in My Heart, and it shall never be effaced.

12. The all-powerful love of My Heart will grant to all those who shall receive Communion on the first Friday of nine consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they shall not die under My displeasure, nor without receiving the Sacraments; My Heart shall be their assured refuge at the last hour.

These are the promises given by Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque.

Here.

Jesus literally appeared to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in this very space where we celebrated Mass and promised many things, including final perseverance to those who complete the First Fridays devotion.

The day we celebrated Mass here was October 3rd, 2025. The first Friday of the month. There are not words to describe how priceless that is and I'm determined to go to Mass on the First Friday of at least the next 8 months.

Margaret Mary is entombed in this place.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, pray for us.

Nevers

October 3rd, 2025 was already one of the most spiritually and emotionally overwhelming days of my entire life by virtue of what I experienced at Paray Le Monial.

However, spending the afternoon and night in Nevers, for a deeper encounter with Bernadette, pushed me over the edge.

Certainly, the most famous person in France at her time, this messenger of miracles lived out her life in solitude and suffering in this convent 8 hours away from the little village she grew up in and the grotto that changed her life and the world.

In the convent, they told us we could not take pictures but that was a rule I had to break. Having traveled so far, how could I not have this image to treasure and share with the world? The miraculous image of a saint who looks like she died yesterday and not 146 years ago.

I knew much of the story of these later years from reading this book.

Yet, seeing the reality of it all really impacted me.

The building she first saw upon entering the convent.

The statue on the grounds that she prayed before, because it reminded her most of the Lady she saw at the grotto.

The very room where she told her testimony to the other nuns.

The very room and the very spot where she died in agony on April 16th, 1879

Finally, as I have already shown, her incorrupt body in repose in the Chapel.

Words cannot convey the experience.

Saint Bernadette, don't forget us.

Chartres

I was so happy to see the effort being put in to restore this magnificent Cathedral that holds one of the most priceless relics the world has ever seen.

This is the veil actually worn by Mary when she was pregnant with the baby Jesus.

Around the 12th century, it was saved by priests who were able to escape into the Crypt church below, from a fire that destroyed some 80% of the church.

We celebrated Mass in that Crypt church.

In 1944, the veil was saved again, by this man.

His name was Colonel Welborn Griffith and he openly defied allied orders to shell the cathedral amidst report that German snipers were holed up inside. He took it upon himself to search the cathedral and clear it. He died the same day at another location.

His heroism earned him the distinguished service cross from the President of the United States.

Notre Dame De Chartres, pray for us.

Welborn Griffith, pray for us

Lisieux

The little flower is not little in France. Her basilica is the 2nd largest religious pilgrimage site in the country behind only Lourdes. Saint Therese of Lisieux is a big deal in France and that just shows how amazing God is because no one could have predicted it.

This precocious child died on September 30th, 1897 at the age of 24 from a bout with tuberculosis. She died in a convent and would have been unknown to the world had her memoirs not been discovered and published. That book became one of the top 3 best-selling books of all time and the #1 best-selling autobiography.

Simply titled Story of a soul, the autobiography of Saint Therese of Lisieux has impacted millions of people and taught them that we each have within us the ability to rise to heaven by the little way. Not all of us are destined to be Popes or Crusaders or doctors but each one of us is given the sufficient crosses and graces we need to be saved. We simply need to cooperate with what is set before us.

This is not to suggest that simple and easy mean the same thing. By simple, I mean only that it is straightforward and discernable with no advanced level of formal education required.

As for it being easy, that is another matter altogether.

Hell will be populated with the peddlers of easy religion because Our Lord's words on this were quite clear.

Matthew 7

¹³ “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. ¹⁴ For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

¹⁵ “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ So, every sound tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears evil fruit. ¹⁸ A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Thus you will know them by their fruits.

²¹ “Not every one who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ ²³ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.’

²⁴ “Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; ²⁵ and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. ²⁶ And every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand; ²⁷ and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it.”

The way of Therese was simple, but it was not easy. Her mother and 4 siblings died before she reached the age of 4. She herself suffered sadness and doubt, loneliness and sensitivity. Ultimately, she suffered pain and sickness most of us can't imagine. She was tormented by the evil spirits and succumbed to a painful death by tuberculosis at the age of 24.

My first real encounter with this village was a quiet walk down the streets alone since I had decided to skip the visit to the Normandy beaches. Even by this point, worldly anxiety was creeping back in.

When the crowd returned, we headed for the Basilica and there, we got a surprise I will never forget for as long as I live on this earth.

Every year, for one week, a reliquary holding her remains is displayed in the basilica that bears her name. These remains are then solemnly marched out and stored away for another year.

I literally got to see them, touch my cross to them and pray over them on the last hour of the last day. It was beyond dreams.

After the Cathedral, we went and explored the convent and the grounds.

In World War II, 80% to 90% of Lisieux was destroyed by German bombings. Miraculously, the hotel, the Basilica, the parish church and the convent all survived unscathed. In fact, at least 2 bombs landed on the convent grounds but did not explode.

Saint Therese of Lisieux, please pray for us.

Paris

To say that I was very disappointed with parts of the Paris experience would be an understatement. I didn't even tip the local tour guide because, frankly, I think he did a terrible job. If you can't read the room and give the people what they want, find something else to do. He spent what seemed like 14 eternities showing us every government and civic and secular culture destination he could. He went on and on through the meccas of the obscenely rich snob sect, passing by Lamborghinis parked in front of Louise Vittone and other destinations we had no interest in. Meanwhile, we spent literally minutes in the most important Paris destination- the site of Our Lady's apparitions to Saint Catherine Laboure to present the Miraculous Medal to the world.

I was very pleased with the overwhelming majority of this pilgrimage. I was bitterly disappointed with how Paris was presented and so was pretty much everyone I spoke with. Note to the tour company- we couldn't give 2 figs about who the prime minister was in 1952 and where he stayed or where to go in a $500,000 car to buy a $1500 handbag.

We did care about the story of Our Blessed Lady's appearance to Catherine Laboure and wanted to spend devotion time there. When we are interested in the tour of the rich and narcissistic, we will let you know.

We gave the Eiffel tower the few minutes it warranted. I was ok with that.

However, the short shrift you gave us on this miraculous site was an outrage.

Pretty much nothing was said about the Miraculous Medal and the miracles that have been associated with it. The two incorruptible saints (Laboure and Saint Louise De Marillac) were mentioned only in passing and no time was given to venerate the places where Our Blessed Lady and Catherine Laboure were.

We spent ample time at the Basilica of Saint Vincent DePaul but Rue De Bac deserved far more and the bus tour through privileged Paris proper should have been dropped completely.

Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, pray for us.

Saint Catherine Laboure, pray for us.

Saint Vincent DePaul, pray for us

Do you remember where you were when this happened?

That was a horrible day. I'm pleased that the restoration of the Cathedral of Notre Dame is proceeding so well.

Some closing thoughts

Perfection is something that doesn't exist in this world and I certainly wasn't looking for perfection in this tour. Overall, there was far more to like than dislike but there were a few bumps along the way and things that I feel can be improved upon. I have already mentioned most of them.

There is one more, however that will probably keep me from ever touring with 206 again even though, for the most part, they did an exceptionally good job.

The name and foundation of 206 takes its roots in the false apparitions in Medjugorje. I tried to bite my tongue, but I found Medjugorje being constantly interjected into the dialogue as if it is credible and can stand with Fatima, Lourdes, Rue De Bac, Paray Le Monial and the other miraculous sites around the world. It is not and it cannot.

Medjugorje is diabolical. It has been roundly condemned by every bishop of competence and jurisdiction. The messages are banal and empty at best, downright heretical at worst and the 6 millionaire ''seers'' are nothing more than liars and hucksters.

There have been no miracles at Medjugorje, no cures, no prophecies fulfilled and the inner circle is rife with excommunications and defrocking of priests. It is the greatest fraud ever perpetuated on the Catholic church in its 2000-year history.

Why am I making such a big deal of this?

Simple. The scandal of the scam threatens to undermine the credibility of the true. Medjugorje, the obvious and diabolical fraud, undermines the very true and miraculous nature of all the places I went to on this trip as well as Guadalupe, Lanciano, Turin and every other miraculous site there is. We cannot latch on to every kook and huckster who claims Mary or Jesus spoke to him/her.

We must be discerning. Medjugorje must be totally rejected, plain and simple.

That being said, this trip will energize me and motivate me, help me to be a better man, give me needed graces and hopefully, God willing, a few miracles.

God bless you and thank you for joining me on this journey.