Two years ago the school rebuilt the grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes directly across from the entrance to Oakwood. It is visible from the large window of the Chapel and I like to begin a walk outside with a visit to the grotto. It is beautifully landscaped and the original stones were used to rebuild this lovely grotto.
I went to Lourdes on the weekend of Pentecost after having given the 30-day retreat to some priests from Malaysia and India and a Brother from the Philippines and a Sister - all in the Institute of Religious Formation. I had made that same retreat in Manresa, Spain three years before and now I had the opportunity to give it to others and spend more time in the cave where Ignatius wrote the Exercises. We were a busload driving through the mountains from Spain to France and arrived in Lourdes just before the weekend and another Sister and I were fortunate to find a room in a house near the shrine.
What impressed me most and I can still remember how it thrilled me (I am seldom thrilled so this is a special memory)was the Mass in multiple languages and filled with worshippers from all over the world. It was a real Pentecostal experience.
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