The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1919-04-05
A SOLDIERS TRIP TO LoURDEs.

lThe following letter was written
by a soldier of the United States, a
lieutenant in one of the regiments of
the American Expeditionary Forces.
The writer is vouched for by Judge
John w. Willis of st. Paul as young
gentleman of high character and in
telligence. What the author of this
letter says about the impression pro-
duced upon non-Catholics by a view
of the Stations Of the Cross leads to
note.)
Canterets, France,
January %, 1919.
1t was on January %, 1919, and
while we were spending our furlough
at Canterets, France, and in the Ply
renees Mountains, we got up early at
$50 A. M. and while it was still dark.
AS we left the hotel, the snowf1akes
of the day before had become larger
and thicker. and we were compelled
to walk through five to six inches of
snow.
Our destination was Lourdes, about
80 miles distant and down the val
ley. The trip was made on an cleo
trio line, which in going down the
valley where Lourdes lay, skirts the
edge of a deep canyon. AS one rode
down on this trip, the canyon below
and the high snow-clad mountain
above, could be seen alternately.
About 200 soldiers made the trip in
two electric cars.
Lourdes was reached about 10
o'clock in the morning and the places
of interest were sought Immediately.
The party was headed and in a sluice,
in charge of a Y. M. C. A. man from
Canterets.
1t is to be regretted that the writer
is not more familiar with the history.
both religious and ancient, of Lourdes,
France, but his excuse is that before
coming into the army he had no oc-
casion to study this history, and since
being in the army has had little, if
any, opportunity to do so.
The first place visited was the
spring in which there are supposed
to be great healing qualities to those
who will drink and battle in the wa
ter OF the same and l suppose in adj
dltion thereto, have the requisite
of faith. Other than that the medic
inal qualities of this spring was dis
covered, | think, in or about 1850. |
know nothing about it, but be that
as it may, in the vicinity of the spring
(and Cathedral to be mentioned later)
are numerous candles, on cone-shaped
standards, in size and shape and the
position resembling Christmas tree
about eight feet in height. Everyone
drank some of the water and contrib
uted few cents or whatever they
liked to a convenient box Near, over
and adjacent to the spring are hung
numerous crutches, canes and casts,
all bearing,.I presume, mute evidence
to the efficacious qualities of the wa
ter.
Next we visited and entered the
Cathedral, which in it's entirety and
from time to time has been in the
SouAoO vi CouoI1 uCtlOu SIuCe dUOuI
1851. This building is work of art
both on the outside and inside. The
interior of the walls thereof are al
most covered to the extent of being
absurd by banners, emblems, photos
and in fact any and all kinds of souve-
Mrs, brought there and left there by
pilgrims.
In front and slightly below the Ca
thedral proper and in sense form
ing an approach to the Cathedral, is
a huge, yet rather squatty building
which contains beautiful and large
pictures of Biblical interest.
About one-half a mile from the ap-
proach of the Cathedral and rising on
a sheer precipice, at least two hun
dred feet high, is an old fort. The Y.
M. c. A. informed us that it had been
under four flags and from those who
were Christians to those who were
not. We later Investigated and Wis
tied this fort and it was decidedly
interesting, in fact, one was uncon-
sciously taken back to-. say, the mid
die ages, or even before that, when
men fought as business and worked,
/ say, for a vacation.
.Purposely L have varied from, the
order in which the above places were
visited. In fact after seeing the
spring and drinking the ssholy' water,
one at a .time-two hundred men fol-
lowed the I'M. c. A. man up the hill
A large hill and the road or pathway
up the hill wound back and forth and
swung, around the side of the hill, all
this apparently to make the grade
more easy. Shortly UP the hill, we all
stopped in front of, at least. life-sized
bronze statues and a scene depicting
the court scene Of Pontius PLATE.
From then on up to the apex of the
hill and as the roadway wound in and
out and up the hill to the very top,
were similar bronze groups depicting
Jesus Christ from the court scene of
Pontius Plate to the Crucifixion. At
each group the Y NJ C. A. man would
stop and say few words, or if you
like, deliver short sermon A few
words in the sense that he did not
utter many, a short sermon in the
sense that at each group he would
indicate moral, applicable to people
in general and to us, as American SOL
dfers, in particular. And each and
every one was true and appropriate.
nd u A.. -