On Earth as it is in Heaven

October 11, 2025

After sleeping soundly and enjoying breakfast at the beautiful Eliseo Hotel, we gathered for a fast-paced walking tour of historic Lourdes. Our local guide, Diane, met us in the lobby, ready to lead us through the places of St. Bernadette’s childhood.

We first visited the Boly Mill, where Bernadette was born in 1844 and lived for ten years. Her family eventually lost the mill when local wheat crop failures forced them into bankruptcy.

After losing the mill, Bernadette and her family moved to Le Cachot, a tiny single-room dwelling that had once served as a prison. She lived there in 1858, when she experienced the first apparition of Our Lady at Massabielle.

After our morning tour, our group celebrated a private Mass at 10:00 a.m. in St. Joseph's Chapel. Fr. Ray was the principal celebrant, and Fr. Swink preached the homily. Having gone to the baths earlier that morning, Fr. Swink reflected that one of the great graces Our Lady offers at Lourdes is conversion. The Gospel calls us to metanoia—a change of the mind. The way we think becomes the way we feel, the way we feel becomes the way we act, and the way we act becomes the way we are. We must rid ourselves of “stinking thinking” and learn to observe God’s Word as the Virgin Mary did.

After a group photo at the sanctuary, we returned to the hotel for lunch and then had time to explore Lourdes. Many joined an afternoon tour with Diane, who continued the story of Bernadette. She described how a mysterious Lady appeared to the young girl while she was gathering wood near the rocky grotto of Massabielle—whose name means “old rock.” Mary instructed Bernadette to drink from the spring and wash there. As the girl dug into the earth, water began to flow, and countless miraculous healings have occurred there ever since.

The Lady later identified herself with the words, “I am the Immaculate Conception.” Because this title had only recently been defined by the Church—and was far beyond Bernadette’s education—Church authorities recognized it as confirmation that the apparition was authentic. Lourdes is indeed holy ground.

After our tour, many pilgrims visited the grotto again. Some were able to experience full immersion in the Baths of Lourdes, while others took part in the “water gesture,” washing and praying with the spring water themselves or with the help of the grotto volunteers.

Many of us returned to the grotto as the 3:00 p.m. English Rosary was being prayed. Two of our pilgrims had the joy of leading decades of the Rosary! Be sure to watch the video, which also shows members of our group reverently touching the rock walls of the grotto, right where Mary appeared.

At 5:00 p.m., a Eucharistic Procession invited us to follow the Lord into the vast underground Basilica of St. Pius X—a powerful experience of faith in the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.