This year I was blessed to be able to go on the Pèlerinage de Pentecôte (Pilgrimage of Pentecost) from Paris to Chartres. The Pilgrimage began during the Middle Ages at the height of Christendom, and has been made by Saint Louis IX, King of France, King Louis XIV of France, Queen Mary of Scotland and Saint Joan of Arc. The famous, the lowly, the noble and the commoner have made this seventy-two mile walking pilgrimage from the Cathédrale Notre-Dame in Paris to the Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-Chartres. Eventually it became an annual Pilgrimage made at Pentecost and would continue well into the twentieth century, stopped only occasionally during times of war and persecution of the Faith. In the late 1960s the great Pilgrimage was discontinued, apparently for good. However in 1983 several traditional French Catholic laymen began again to organise the Pilgrimage. The Pilgrimage was held in honour of Mary, the Mother of God, for the purpose of seeking nothing less than the restoration of the traditional Latin Mass and Sacraments of the One Holy Catholic Apostolic Church. Soon after these few laymen brought the Pilgrimage back into existence, there were only a handful of pilgrims participating in the Pilgrimage, and because the priests offered only the traditional Latin Mass, when they arrived in Chartres, they were not permitted to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass inside the Cathedral. The bishop had refused to allow the faithful to celebrate the very Mass for which the Cathedral had been built. Instead, these few pilgrims and their priests were forced to have Mass outside, in the city of Chartres. However in 1992, the popularity of the Pilgrimage grew and had become so popular that the Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-Chartres opened its doors to the pilgrims, whose number by that time had swelled to 10,000 strong. Under the organisation of several columnists from ‘The Remnant’, Americans first began participating in this Pilgrimage in 1990. Every year since that time, ‘The Remnant ’ has organised the American Chapter (which is usually between 50 and 100 pilgrims). This Pilgrimage is tremendously difficult! It is a seventy-two mile, three-day walk from Paris to Chartres through woods and fields, and over highways and country roads. Pilgrims develop blisters and suffer fatigue. Yet there is no experience like this thoroughly magnificent one. Traditional Roman Catholics from all over the world come as one, to sing, to pray, to offer penance and to walk; all of this so that they may stand and witness to their sacred Catholic Faith. The Pilgrimage of Pentecost is an enormous triumph for every man, woman and child who calls himself a traditional Roman Catholic. With flags waving, banners flying, and statues of Saints and the Blessed Virgin Mary being held aloft for all to observe, this procession of pilgrims stretches out for miles across France, for three whole days. Then on the final day what a thunderous achievement is celebrated by 15,000 singing, jubilant, mud-splattered pilgrims! Once you have walked and prayed the Pilgrimage of Pentecost you will never fail to remember it! This pilgrimage is made up of Catholics whose average age is twenty-five years-old. Author Michael Davies has called it the ‘most important annual event happening in the Church today’.
We left Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia about 6:30, p.m. (E.D.T.) on the 15th of May A.D. 2002 and arrived at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Roissy-en-France about 7:30, a.m. (C.E.D.T.) on the 16th May. On the way into Paris we stopped at the Basilique Saint-Denis (Basilica of Saint Dennis) in the town of Saint-Denis, just outside of Paris. It is a beautiful old gothic cathedral, where all of the kings of France are interred. We then travelled into Paris where we rode by many famous sites and stopped at Place de la Concorde where King Louis XVI was martyred on the 17th of January 1793. Paris was first inhabited in the 3rd century, B.C. by the Parisii on Ile-de-la-Cité, an island in the Seine River, which was known as Lucoticia. Most of the buildings in Paris are rather new, built only in the 19th century. To-day the majority of the homes and buildings were built in the same style and are typically seven stories tall. Generally the streets are wide and lined with Sycamore trees. We arrived at Hotel Tonic early that afternoon, on the narrow Rue d’Austerlitz, where we had a brief respite prior to going out to see a little of Paris. Gerry Matatics took a number of us on a short tour of Paris, and while on the Metro (subway) we met ‘The Heineken Guy’. He was drinking a large can of Heineken (and had already had a few too many) and attempted to carry on a conversation with us, even though he spoke no English and we spoke no French. James told him ‘No comprejende!’, but he spoke no Spanish either. We divided into two groups with most going on a boat excursion along the Seine, while Elizabeth, Kiersten, Paul, Ben and I went to the top of the Tour Eiffel (Eiffel Tower). We later had supper at Chez Leon, approximately a half a block from out hotel, and afterward several of us, including Michael Matt, editor of ‘The Remnant’, walked to a small sidewalk café, where we had a couple of beers. There were two choices of beer, medium and large! It was nice and relaxing sitting around with traditional Catholics from all over the country, talking and having a couple of beers in Paris.
The next day we took the Metro to Montmartre (Hill of the Martyrs), the highest location in Paris, where nearly 2000 years ago Christians were martyred. We went to the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur, a Romanesque-Byzantine church constructed in honour of a national vow. France had been overrun following the military defeat in 1870, and Cardinal Guibert, Archbishop of Paris, approved the vow to build Sacré-Coeur, if conditions improved in France and with the Holy Father in Rome. It was begun in 1875 and consecrated in 1919. Several of us climbed the steep spiral staircase to the dome, where there is a spectacular view of Paris. We were allowed to have a traditional Latin Mass in the basilica, but only if our chaplain faced the people rather than God; it was a little strange. We then saw l’Église Saint-Pierre de Montmartre, a gothic church begun in 1133 and completed in 1147, located next to Sacré-Coeur. Next to Saint-Pierre is Place du Tertre, a popular site for painters. After a snack and short break we walked to the Chapelle du Martyre (Chapel of the Martyr, referring to Saint Dennis) where Saint Ignatius Loyola and his six companions took their vows and founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). Afterward we went to l’Église de Sainte-Trinite (Church of the Holy Trinity), a beautiful Baroque church, (about the time I finished taking pictures in Sainte-Trinite my camera ceased to work and I had to use disposable cameras the rest of the pilgrimage) and then walked to the Academie Nationale de Musique (the Opera House). We then we went to eat lunch and I decided to be adventurous and order Shrimp Shells; they were small shrimp about an inch long that had to be shelled. After about twenty minutes with very little to eat; I gave up! Following lunch we went to l’Église de La Madeleine (Church of the Magdalen), built in 1814 in the style of a classical Greek temple. Some of the more musically talented members of our group sang Latin hymns while walking through the streets of Paris and on the Metro. We separated into three groups; my group went to the Conciergerie (the prison) where Queen Marie-Antoinette was held during the French Revolution before being martyred. After that we went to Sainte-Chapelle (Holy Chapel), built by Saint Louis IX, King of France, in 1246 to house Christ’s Crown of Thorns and other relics purchased from the Emperor of Constantinople. We then went to the Cathédrale Notre-Dame, and on the way back to our hotel we stopped in l’Église Saint-Nicolas-de-Chardonnet; a beautiful Baroque church built in 1768, on a site where a church has stood since about 1230 (where the Society of Saint Pius X offers Mass). That evening we went to Chez Leon for supper and had numerous small dishes of vegetables on the table; we were wondering what was going to go with them and after a while the waiter began taking up some of the dishes and we realised that they were appetisers that we should have been eating.
The next morning the big Pilgrimage of Pentecost commenced. Our sleeping bags were loaded onto trucks, each with a different name. Ours was ‘Étrangers’ (Foreigners) and we were given black ribbons to tie onto our bags. We began inside the Cathédrale Notre-Dame with prayers in French and Latin. Then about 15,000 pilgrims, from all over Europe, the United States and Australia, began the seventy-two mile walk. Walt, a former member of Saint Joseph’s, who is now stationed in Wiesbaden, Germany, joined us. We had to walk at a little faster pace getting out of Paris, but it was not difficult. Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapter (our brigade) was near the end. Every chapter kept some distance between themselves and the next chapter, so that each could have their own hymns, songs and meditations; also the chaplain could go to the back, between the chapters, to hear confessions. The French chapter knew ‘The Battle Hymn of the Republic’, which they sang in French (I did not know that anyone outside of the States knew that). ). I found out later that the Yankees in our brigade knew the words to ‘Dixie’! Father Michael of l’Abbaye Sainte-Madeleine in Le Barroux, formally of Richmond, was a chaplain on the pilgrimage. (Father Michael offered his first Solemn High Mass in America at Saint Joseph’s Church in November 1996). There were a couple of breaks in the morning and in the afternoon; at the breaks Notre-Dame-de-Chrétienté (Our Lady of Christians) handed out water and sometimes apples. The weather was pleasant, overcast and in the 60s throughout the entire pilgrimage. We walked through many small towns and wooded areas, and about mid-day, in the middle of a wooded park like area, we had Mass. There were so many people we could not see Mass from our place, but we heard it over the loudspeaker. In France they read the Epistle, first in Latin, then in French; afterward they sing (or read) the Greater Alleluia (or Gradual and Lesser Alleluia) in Latin, followed by the Holy Gospel in Latin and then in French. The sermon was, of course, in French. After Mass we had lunch, which consisted of baguettes and water. Many pilgrims from France and other parts of Europe brought various food and wine to go with the bread and water. We walked on small dirt roads and paths through forests and fields. That afternoon we walked through Saclay, a particularly picturesque village with a beautiful medieval church. The mayor requested that we walk only on the sidewalks through the town. That evening we made it to Choisel, walked up ‘Cardiac Hill’, through Le Fevre and finally into Bivouac de Choisel (our first campsite). I was extremely tired and had a very difficult time walking the last few miles. Large tents were set up for the many pilgrims. The American men and Australian men shared one tent, while the American ladies and Australian ladies shared another tent. The Swiss were on one side of us and the Germans were on the other side of them; the British were on the other side of us and the Irish were across from the British. Some pilgrims brought their own tents and set them up around the larger tents. I would not have wanted to set up a tent after walking about thirty miles. The priests had tents set-up in their own section of the campground. We had some type of vegetable broth, baguettes and water or wine for supper.
We were awaken early in the morning with classical music over the loudspeaker. During the night I had gotten very sick and was unable to walk the second day. I stayed back and went with those taking down and setting up the camp for that night. I helped pack some of the tent parts after they were taken down, but was unable to do that very long. Later that morning one man who was one of the last crew taking things down offered me whiskey, but I do not think I could have kept it down. It was rather cool and breezy, and he let me sit in his car until time to leave. His son Bertrand, took me to the next campsite. It was interesting riding with a French driver through the small towns and countryside in France. They sometimes just pull off onto the sidewalk and; on one narrow street, Bertrand pulled in between the parked cars to let the oncoming car pass. He stopped at a bakery in a small town on the way so that I could buy a Coke, and he purchased a loaf of bread, which the lady handed him unwrapped; he took the loaf of bread and put it in the back seat of the car and drove off. Our next campsite was just outside the town of Gas. I helped set up a couple of tents that afternoon; I understood almost no French, one of the men knew quite a bit of English, some of the others knew a little English and some spoke no English, but we managed to work together and raise the tents. Our tent was across a field from a picturesque cemetery. I was finally getting a little hungry that afternoon and stopped by a tent where I was able to get a Coke and a peach. A beautiful tent chapel was set up in the centre camp where they had Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. I stopped in for a short time and while I was there everyone made an Act of Consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary in French. I was unable to find my sleeping bag and had to borrow blanket and mat from the Order of Malta.
Pentecost Monday we again were awaken by classical music from the loudspeakers. Breakfast included bread with jelly, coffee, tea and juice. We then began the last half-day of the walk. We walked through endless fields of wheat, barley and canola. We had lunch in a field and afterward, while walking you could sometimes see the spires of Chartres in the distance. Early that afternoon we finally arrived in Chartres. The Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres is a beautiful gothic church built in 1163 on the site of an earlier church. The pilgrimage ended with the cathedral, packed with pilgrims, a Solemn High Mass offered by Monsignor Wladimir-Marie de Saint-Jean, abbott of Chanoines réguliers de la Mère de Dieu. After the Mass we were able to see the cathedral and do a little shopping before boarding our bus, which took us back to Hotel Tonic in Paris and supper at Chez Leon, where we were joined by our Austrian guide, Rosa Gillibrand.
Tuesday morning we left early for the train for Salzburg. We travelled through the countryside Champaign, Lorraine and Alsace with beautiful fields, woods and villages, and every once in a while there was a huge church just sitting out in a field. Near Strasbourg Cecilia, Elizabeth, James, James and I went to the dining car for lunch; it was an Austrian train, so the menu was predominantly Austrian. I ordered Wienerschnitzel with Greek salad; no one was brave enough to try the ox-muzzle salad or ostrich. Some time after we crossed the German border our lunch was served, and for dessert we had Mozart cake. There was only one waiter, so it was a little slow; we ordered in France, ate in Germany and thought we were going to pay in Austria! It was a leisurely three-hour lunch. We travelled through Baden-Württemburg and Bavaria in Germany, which was picturesque with green fields and yellow fields of canola, woods and villages. We arrived in Salzburg that evening and went to our hotel, Mercure, where we were joined by authors Michael Davies and Jamie Bogle. We had Wienerschnitzel for supper and after supper we had free time to explore the city. We went to the Altstadt (old city), which has the Salzach River on one side and a cliff with Festung Hohensalzburg (Hohensalzburg Fortress) on the other. Salzburg is very clean and safe; most store windows, even jewelry stores, have no covers over them. The streets are narrow, and there are small religious statues and paintings everywhere on the sides of buildings. James and I happened to be the Domplatz (Cathedral Square) at 10:00, p.m. when bells from the various churches and monasteries began to toll. We explored a while longer and then headed back to our hotel. On the way back through the Neustadt (new city), in which many of the buildings were built in the 1500s, we ran into Walt and Jeff, and took them back to the Domplatz in time for the bells at midnight.
Wednesday morning we had an official tour of the old city of Salzburg, which has been settled since about 500, B.C. There are salt mines nearby, hence the name Salzburg. The modern city of Salzburg was founded by Saint Rupert about A.D. 700. There are a little over 100 churches in Salzburg; four are Lutheran and the rest are Catholic. We had a tour of the magnificent cathedral. The original Romanesque cathedral was built in 774 and replaced by a Baroque building in the 1628. It was one of the largest cathedrals in Europe at the time, with room for about 3000 people; there are five organs and four choir lofts. At one time Salzburg was the most important city in the German-speaking world and the archbishop of Salzburg was able to choose the bishops in the German speaking lands. The cathedral has the baptismal fount from the original cathedral; among the more famous baptised there was Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The cathedral was bombed eight days before the end of World War II and took fourteen years to repair. We also saw Residenz, an extensive complex of buildings, containing some 180 rooms and three spacious courtyards. Here the prince archbishops of Salzburg held court and controlled the destiny of their country up to the 19th century. We saw Saint Peter’s Monastery founded about 700 by Saint Rupert. Saint Peter’s Cemetery is one of the oldest cemeteries in the world still in use. The Emperor Charlemagne was once a guest of Saint Peter’s Keller (restaurant) at the monastery around 800. We also saw the house where Wolfgang Mozart was born. At noon we went to Mass in Sebastiankirke (Saint Sebastian’s Church), an apostolate of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter. After Mass we had lunch at Voglwirt (restaurant) in Atherington where we were served Wienerschnitzel, of course. We then went to Arnsdorf where Franz Gruber wrote ‘Stille Nacht’ (Silent Night). Afterward we went to Oberndorf where Nikolauskirke (Saint Nicholas’ Church) once stood and where ‘Silent Night’ was first sung on Christmas 1818. The town flooded and the original church could not be saved, but a small chapel has been built in its place. A lady with a guitar came and sang ‘Stille Nacht’ as it had originally been sung. Oberndorf is on the Salzach River across from Laufen, Bavaria, Germany. We then went to Pilgrimage Church of Maria Plain, which stands on a wooded hilltop overlooking the city of Salzburg. It was built in 1674 and preserves a painting of the Blessed Virgin, which miraculously survived a fire in Bavaria. After supper several of us went to the Salzburger Festungskonzerte in Festung Hohensalzburg, featuring the Festival-Ensemble. Cecilia, James and I rode in a Mercedes-Benz taxi. The taxi driver flew through the narrow streets and squares of Salzburg. The concert was in the Fürstenzimmer (Prince's Room), which had a panoramic view of Salzburg. After the concert we walked back to the hotel; it was very depressing knowing we would be leaving Salzburg the next morning.
Thursday morning we departed Salzburg. We arrived in Scharten were we had Mass at Maria Scharten, a beautiful little baroque church with Our Lady of Lourdes in the vestibule. After Mass we had lunch at the pub across from the church, where we ate outside with a view of the church. I had some type of beef and a special local apple cider. We then stopped by the Evangelische Toleranzkirke (Tolerance Lutheran Church), established by Emperor Franz II in the 18th century. Emperor Franz brought a number of Lutherans to the area because he believed that if Catholics and Protestants lived together, they would grow to like and accept each other; however they wanted nothing to do with each other. To-day the Scharten area is about half Catholic and half Protestant. Afterward we stopped in Eferding where we toured Schloß Starhemberg; Count Starhemberg fought against the invading Turks. We then stopped by Konditorei Vogl, on the main street in Eferding, considered the best Konditorei in the region, where we had cream cakes, coffee and beer. That evening we had benediction at the Wilhering Moastery, the greatest Rococo monastery in Austria, and then arrived at Steigenberger Maxx hotel in Linz for supper. After supper, Gerry Matatics, his wife, Adrianna, James, myself and several others walked along the Danube River to the old city of Linz.
Friday morning a bus took us into the old city; the bus driver apparently did not know his way around Linz and we rode around for a while. Rosa Gillibrand was originally from Linz and was able to tell us about the Nazi invasion and World War II in the area. Adolph Hitler was from nearby Leonding, and had the main square ‘decorated’ with numerous Nazi flags and banners when he came to visit. We saw the old Jesuit Church, and the Ursuline’s Church, both beautiful old Baroque churches. We saw the rooms where the Gestapo imprisoned Blessed Franz Jägerstätter, before sending him to Berlin, where he was put to death for refusing to fight with the occupying Nazi army. We went to Mass in Minoritenkircke (Franciscan Church). The priest at Minoritenkirkce in the 1960s, did not like the new Mass, so he just continued offering the traditional Latin Mass. Now the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter serves the church. After Mass Father Zimmer gave a tour of the church and then we had lunch at Wienerwald Café. That afternoon we stopped at Saint Florian’s Monastery. The monastery was founded in the 4th century and the baroque buildings that stand to-day were begun in the late 17th century and completed in 1751. Pope Pius VI was a guest in 1782. Anton Bruckner, an outstanding composer of the 19th century, was a choir boy and later an organist at Saint Florian’s. He buried in the crypt directly under the organ in the church. We then continued on our journey to Vienna arriving at our hotel, Novotel Wien West.
Saturday we went to Mass in Kapuzinerkirche (Capuchin Church), and afterward we saw the Imperial tombs of the Hapsburgs in the crypt below the church. One must have royalty or high nobility going back for six generations to be buried there. We walked to Augustinerkirche (Saint Augustine’s Church), Stephansdom (Saint Stephen’s Cathedral), where we had a tour of the cathedral. It is a beautiful gothic cathedral consecrated in 1147 and completed in 1164. The roof and much of the inside was destroyed during World War II, but has been rebuilt. Outside the cathedral is the pulpit where Saint John of Capistrano preached a crusade against the Turks. We saw Michaelerkirche (Saint Michael’s Church) and Graben with the Dreifaltigkeitßäule (Column of the Trinity). We also toured the grounds of Schoß Hofburg (Hofburg Palace) and saw the outside of Spanische Reitschule (Spanish Riding School). We had lunch and then went to the Kunsthistoirsche Museum where we saw Flemish works of the Fifteenth century and Raphael’s famous ‘Madonna of the Meadow’. We prayed May Devotions in Schloßkirche Hetzendorf (Hetzendorf Palace Church), which were sponsored by Una Voce Austria. That evening seven of us went to a Strauss and Mozart concert by the Wiener Hofensemble (Viennese Court Ensemble) in Kursalon. After the concert we walked in Stadtpark (City Park) behind the Kursalon where there is a bronze statue of Johann Strauss.
Sunday we went to Mass, with our chaplain, Father McDonald, in Schloßkirche Hetzendorf where Kevin, James and I served Mass. The priest at the chapel then told us about the history of the chapel which is dedicated to the Holy Trinity (it was Holy Trinity Sunday). During World War II the buildings on both sides of the chapel were bombed, but the chapel was untouched. After Mass we went to a restaurant just outside the palace and then back to the hotel for a short while (I don’t know why we didn’t just go into the old city from there). James and I stopped by Karlskirche (Saint Charles’ Church) on the way into to the old city, but only saw the outside. We wandered all through the old city and went to the Museum in the Schweizerhof (Swiss Courtyard) where we saw the crown of the Holy Roman Empire, worn by the Emperor Charlemagne. We also went to Schloß Schonbrunn (Schonbrunn Palace) built 1696-1749, but didn’t have time to tour the inside. We got back to the old city in time for a Mozart Mass at Kapuzinerkirche.
Monday we came back to Virginia via Frankfort.
