To say my vocation is a Marian vocation is an understatement. In fact, the only reason I am in the seminary is because of the intercession of Mary and my experience in Lourdes, France.
In 1858, the Blessed Mother appeared to St. Bernadette in the city of Lourdes and miraculously opened up a natural spring. During these apparitions, Mary called for people to come in procession to Lourdes so that they could drink and wash themselves in the water. Over the past 150 years, there have been 67 officially declared miracles and countless other nonofficial or unknown physical and spiritual healings. So now, every year, millions of pilgrims journey to Lourdes in search of healing.
Through the amazing generosity of Barbara McCullough, I was blessed to go on a pilgrimage to Lourdes in 2007 with a group of students from Marin Catholic High School. Under the direction and guidance of Father Tom Daly and Charlotte Kiesel, our group went to Lourdes in order to serve the sick pilgrims and to grow in our prayer life. As one pilgrim stated, “Lourdes is the world turned upside down.”
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