The Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres boasts the veil said to be worn by Mary at the birth of Christ. Originally from Constantinople, the veil was offered to Chartres by Charlemagne in 876. It is considered a major relic of Christ, since it would have touched the child Jesus. It is displayed in a separate chapel, and the color is a grey-blue. Because the veil was such a draw for the early Christians and many traveled to see it, the Cathedral was able to survive.
Following an early dinner at 5 PM, we left Chartres, boarded our bus (driven by Angelique, our feisty, French-speaking driver from Normandy), and headed to Paris. What a sight to drive along the Seine with a perfect view of the Eiffel Tower for several miles! We settled into the Holiday Inn Express with large, comfortable beds, lovely, fluffy bath towels, a TV, a bountiful breakfast, and a private bath in each room! These comfortable accommodations were in a convenient, central location for the remainder of our pilgrimage that would take place in Paris.
On Thursday, May 28, our pilgrim group set out for the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, seat of the Archdiocese of Paris. Meeting us there were Holy Cross priests Kevin Grove (whose writings we had read during our preparation meetings) and Greg Haake, both of whom are completing their doctoral studies in Paris, and both who will be joining the faculty of the University of Notre Dame this fall 2015! Fathers Kevin and Greg chimed in regularly as tour guides, and their familiarity with Paris was a boon!
The Cathedral is among the largest and most well known churches in the world. It was completed in 1345. In a small back chapel is housed the Crown of Thorns said to be worn by Christ. Some of us paid 5 euros to enter the reliquary of the cathedral treasury expecting the Crown to be displayed there and saw, instead, the large gold monstrance type container which is used to display the Crown on Fridays during Lent!
About a 20 minute walk from the Cathedral is Paris' famous Church of Saint Sulpice where Fr. Moreau was sent soon after his ordination to learn to be a seminary formator. The Sulpicians were recognized for their expertise in this area! It was the Sulpician priest, Gabriel Mollevaut, who would serve as Moreau's spiritual director for the next 20 years!
Next we walked to the Chapel of the Miraculous Medal attached to the convent of the Daughters of Charity, founded by St. Vincent de Paul and Saint Louis de Marillac. Fr. John Deriso needed to return to Le Mans for the evening, so Fr. Greg Haake accompanied our group for this part of the pilgrimage. The Chapel of the Miraculous Medal is the site of three apparitions of the Virgin Mary to a young nun ,Saint Catherine Laboure, in about 1815, which led to a new popular devotion throughout the Catholic Church, the wearing of the Miraculous Medal. Saint Catherine Laboure's body is displayed in the front of the chapel under glass as it was found not to be decomposed when it was unearthed for her beautification!
Finally, a brief walk from the Chapel led us to the Chapel of St. Vincent de Paul who exemplified many of the principles of the French School of Spirituality. In a letter to Father Moreau, Farther Mollevaut, his spiritual ldirector wrote: "You will have everything, the day you take St. Vincent de Paul as your model." The body of St. Vincent de Paul, who died in 1680, was found mostly intact 52 years after his death.
This deep immersion into French culture and spirituality, relics and devotions, leads me to reflect on our students and their spirituality. Our American culture does not espouse (or house) relics of such stated significance as we witnessed in France, Our students' spirituality appears to be explained by many writers in terms of their social and emotional development in North American ways of thinking and being. We will need to find ways of explaining Moreau to our students in terms that appeal to their American ways of understanding, valuing, and appreciating!
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