Well it has certainly been a different sort of trip this year !
We left Glasgow on 6th May and slowly made our way to Dover sailing from there on the 11th - that was where we encountered snag number 1 - way back last year some of the berths in Calais had been damaged and the repairs had not been done - I think there were only 4 berths operational instead of about 8 ! When we got to Dover we were warned there would probably be a long delay in landing - only 2 berths available so we had to wait our turn. Fine thought we - good job we no longer had a dog .
Shortly after we left Dover the Captain came on to announce that therre would be longer delays - of the 2 operational berths one had just been damaged and would take about 3 hours to repair
. We were in fact about 4 hours late arriving.
We had planned to arrive in Lourdes on Friday 27 May and the early part of the trip went without too many problems - other than Raymond coming off a horse on the 24th and probably chipping his elbow and having lots of soft tissue damage. Yes we got him an elbow brace for that wee catastrophe. Needless to say I took lots of photos of his rather interestingly coloured arm. However - did it stop him riding other than for the next 3 days ? Of course not - he's a big tough man.
On May 25 I got an SMS telling me that there was to be the annual Military Pilgrimage to Lourdes for 3 days starting on the 27th - and there would a a contigent from Ukraine including 1 UGCC Bishop and some clergy . A good while back Sr Stephanie one of the SSMI Nuns in Lourdes told me I seemed to have a knack of choosing the best times to go to Lourdes - it seemed I had done it again.
We got to Lourdes about lunch time on the Friday and there were lots of Uniforms to be seen and on our Camp Site were also 6 Italian Motorhomes saying that they were for the Peace Marathon from Rome to Lourdes all 1600 Km of road - and it seems they were running judging by the guys in Running Gear we kept seeing.
Friday afternoon I popped into a certain wee Church to see what I could find out about Liturgy times as I fully expected there would be some alterations. Fr Peter answered my ring at the doorbell and greeted me warmly. He was still waiting for a final decision from the Bishops about Services but it looked so far that all would be Concelebrated Roman Rite Masses and the Blessing of the Sick and the Marial Procession . However there would be Liturgy at the normal time of 7.30am each morning - would I be there the next morning - Saturday ? --- I'll leave you guessing as to my response.
Saturday morning arrived dawning nice and early and by 6.45 am I was on my way to Church.[ for the first time I drove myself there leaving Raymond in bed in the caravan ]. By the time I got there the Church was open and other than Fr Peter I was the only one there.By 7.15 candles were lit and smoke from Incense was rising [ Smells - wonderful , but would there be bells as well ? ] suddenly I saw 5 vested priests[ no Bishop ] and I recognised 3 or them - Fr Peter and the Priest from Ss Sergius and Bacchus from Rome [ he was surprised to see me ] , and a young Priest I have seen there before . Sadly the congregation was still minute - me , a youngish man who was acting as Chanter [ and he was GOOD ] and one wee nun. Liturgy was wonderful - mainly in Ukrainian but one of the priests [ no I don't know his name ] was chanting the Litanies in English ! Now that did give me a silly problem - did I make the response in English or Ukrainian.Oh yes - we did have Bells and Smells . There was another change too - a new Gospel Book with a wonderful silver cover .
Afterwards I had a wee chat in indifferent French with the Rome Priest [ neither of us have 'good' French ] and a quick word with Fr Peter as to Sunday - Liturgy was to be 7.30am and then they would all be in the Domain for the International Mass.
Sunday morning dawned and I was off - this time only Fr Peter and Fr Michael [ the young Priest I have seen there before ] were serving - the others were preparing for the Concelebrated Mass. Again Liturgy was in Ukrainian - but this time the Gospel was chanted in English for me From hearing the 2 Priests chanting I have to say I can't see why any Liturgies have to be said . I was introduced to Fr Michael afterwards , but an Interpreter was needed. He [ Fr Michael] is young and has been there before when I have been there and a wonderful singer - went off into the house singing merrily .Fr Peter said he was still tired from the Marial [ Rosary ] Procession on the Saturday evening -it was estimated that there were over 5000 present and it took 3 hours from leaving the start position to arriving at the square in front of the Rosary Basilica for the final decades , prayers and Blessing . I arranged to meet with him on Wednesday morning - for a catch up session and some rather more serious talk.
OH by the way there were no Services specifically organised for the Eastern Catholics on the Military Pilgrimage - not Vespers , no Molebens , no Liturgies - nothing , nada , zilch
Monday was devoted to shopping and seeing friends - yes it is necessary to catch up on gossip and buy food and it was not a nice day - drizzling and damp.
Tuesday was a not very good day . I had intended to go to the laundrette in the morning [ having found out where there was one ] - but that never happened - I spent well over an hour in the ER of Lourdes General Hospital. Some idiot had left a plastic band [ the variety that is heat sealed round a box and exceedingly difficult to cut off ] in the street and as I had stepped on it it tied itself round my feet and I crashed to the ground - leaving an enormous amount of gore pouring from me. As I picked myself up I was still clutching a bag of laundry in each hand , and my purse and they were well and truly spattered . The end result of that crash was a broken pair of glasses , split lip , badly grazed nose, bruised and grazed knee, and a gashed right hand, not to mention the two black eyes that developed . At the Hospital I ended up with several Sutures [ hand and inside my upper lip ] and was told since my 2 front teeth had moved that it was imperative that I saw a Dental Surgeon ASAP, and no they would not give me the name of a dentist.
So off to our friends we went for a dentist. I got an appointment with their dentist at 6.30pm. Just to fill in the time till then I organised new glasses though I had spare ones with me [ and the prescription was up-to-date ] they were not Photochromic and that was essential for the sun [ I cannot tolerate glare ].
Now it has to be admitted the Dentist was young and handsome , and with Donald Duck on his socks
- which helped divert me a bit from the nasty news he gave me - my 2 front upper teeth were fractured beyond repair - they would have to be removed once I got home. However I have to admit that the Digital X-rays he took were very clear - a large gap across the whole tooth for both of them. To get me pain free he stabilised them at the back , sent me off with an enormous amount of mouthwash to keep me free of infection [ hopefully ] till I get home - BUT I may not bite with them at all - no more wonderful French bread - no croissants - no pastries , no cream cakes ---------- aaaaaaaargh. By the way - the bill for 3 Xrays , lots of cementing , and an hour of his time came to 20�[ 13 Pounds Sterling or 25 USD ] I could not believe it - at home a dental Xray is about 25 GBP and I had 3 of 'em.
We got back to the caravan and I decided on food for the meal - not easy but I managed. A wee bit later I decided on some liquid anaesthetic - I felt I deserved it even if I did have to sip a rather nice Glenfiddich through a straw. [ OK that was almost sacrilege - but it was the only way I could take it in ]
Raymond took me to my meeting with Fr Peter on the Wednesday - he nearly dropped when he saw the battered figure at his door. We had a good chat session and did a fair amount of work into the bargain
As my mouth was such a mess - it was still oozing a bit I did talk to him about the wisdom of Receiving Communion - and he said it was for him to worry about that - I was just to go forward at the end - not difficult with the numbers there.
On Thursday I wopke feeling a bit better and as we had both woken early Raymond took me down for the morning Divine Liturgy - wonderful - a congregation of 6
By Saturday I was feeling rather more human again - I had new glasses , the various injuries were healing nicely , bruises those that were obvious and on view , and others in places where one should not be bruised , were fading nicely and I could talk more easily. Incredibly I have been in Lourdes for 8 days by now - and not actually been to the Grotto - thank goodness for the Ukrainian Church - candles have been lit for you all and you will be prayed for at Liturgy.
Some changes have happened in the Church since the arrival of Fr Peter last year and more are planned - but they will happen very slowly.
I was hoping to have got down to the Domain - but with virtually no skin on my nose , that was not wise at all - still I will be back in September, by that time the brand new skin should be a bit tougher and with application of sunscreen should be able to cope with a bit of sun.
On the bright side - I have been here for 9 days and have managed to be at Liturgy on no fewer than 4 occasions - absolutely wonderful - all have been sung/chanted , using French , Ukrainian , English and OCS - oh not all at the same Liturgy - it has really been wonderful.
Oh - on the last day I was there there was an interesting latecomer - who did not seem to be very comfortable with the use of Ukrainian so Sr Stephanie rushed forward with a bilingual English/ Ukrainian book for him. Chatting afterwards it turns out that this is his 4th visit to Lourdes - he has always admired the golden domes but it was his first visit to the Church - he was passing and heard the Chant . Turns out he is a Ruthenian Priest from the USA , was wearing a 3 bar neck cross so we had a short chat - Fr Peter , and myself and all of us exchanged e-mail addresses.
The rest of the holiday went according to plan - more or less , apart from the nice kind person who drove over our TV Satellite dish while we were both away from the caravan on Friday in London - a new dish will have to be bought though the rest of the gubbins attached to it - receiver arm , and motorised unit seem to be OK . Now I have to get my mouth sorted out - not being able to bite is not exactly easy. Life is much easier since I got all the mouth stitches out but it has to be admitted that my faith in French Doctors took an enormous dip after the Doctor in Saumur removed my stitches - a most unpleasant experience[ and I've removed plenty from other folk] - blunt scissors inside my lip I do NOT appreciate.
Tomorrow morning I am off to the dentist here to see what he can do - I understand from the French Dentist that there are 3 options - but no matter what the teeth have to be removed . I freely admit I am more than a bit apprehensive about this.
However it all has to be done
Anhelyna
You will just have to learn to start chewing and biting into things from your side teeth. Lots of young people here in the U.S. have broken their front teeth due to sports or other situations ( like my cousin's brother who threw something at her in a childhood fight, for instance 
) and had to have them capped or bonded or veneered. They just don't bite directly into things anymore.
