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The first event was very early
in the morning, a combined Mass at the Grotto for all comers.
As the picture shows, this was a standing room only event, drawing
hundreds around the statue of the Virgin Mary as an international
group of priests conducted the celebration. After Mass, we got
in line to walk around the interior of the caves, touching the wet
walls for good luck and God's Blessing. |
The next event was the taking of
the photographs. Each contingent was allocated a slice of time
to form in front of the basilica to take their group photo.
Photography was provided by one of the studios in the
Pont Vieux part of town,
where one could buy a copy at a special (well, high) price.
The event began with the arrival of Vatican guards, shown in their
loud purple, red, and gold garb. |
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The next several photographs
show scenes of the units preparing for or getting their photographs
taken. Almost all the contingents took the matter formally --
dressed in their best uniforms, marched to and from the event, and
patiently standing at ease in formation while the photo shoots went
predictably well behind schedule. |
This was one of my favorite
special uniform shots. One might have thought that this was a
French or Spanish offering with the musketeer-styled dress, but in
reality it was the Slovak color guard sporting this sharp outfit.
Many of the newly-independent Catholic countries from Eastern Europe
had very large contingents in attendance. |
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This was the resulting
photograph for the Portuguese contingent, one of the better photos
taken on the day. |
The American contingent was
among the last photos to be taken, and we immediately headed up the
hill to take part in the Stations of the Cross (more of which is
described in the Sanctuary chapter.
A number of other contingents did likewise, so the path was a big
traffic jam. |
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This was another shot in the
Stations of the Cross sequence. The readings were performed by
members of the contingent, while one of the Priests conducted the
opening and closing prayers. |
Somewhere beyond the halfway
point of the stations, we passed a vantage point overlooking this
scene, of the tent city that was provided for some of the service
members in attendance (not all contingents could afford to stay in
hotels). The flags indicated where the servicemembers came
from. |
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This was the scene at the
so-called 'fifteenth' station, representing the rock that covered
the entrance to Christ's tomb. I cannot read the words mounted
on the rock at upper right, but it announces Christ's resurrection.
For us, it also meant we could begin the long and
refreshingly-downhill descent back to the Sanctuary. What a
climb! |
We had lunch and the early
afternoon to ourselves. The next event was late afternoon at
the Lourdes War Memorial, discussed further in the
Fort and City chapter.
This memorial service was conducted by the armies of those nations
that participated in the World Wars, plus contingents representing
the Stabilization Force (SFOR) and the forces in Kosovo (KFOR).
We had a terrific vantage point for the opening parade as the
columns made a right turn directly in front us to the Memorial
grounds off the photo to the left. |
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It was difficult to see the
service taking place, this photograph was the best we could do.
After all the units reached the field behind the Memorial, there
were speeches, the playing of Taps, and the laying of wreaths to
commemorate the war dead. |
We departed back toward our
hotel as soon as the recession began. We captured this shot of
the color guards making the turn down the street past our hotel and
toward the Sanctuary. It was time to get dinner and prepare
for the big event of the evening... the Maria Procession. |
