Prayers and Paris

Before we left Omaha and the Normandy region this morning, we stopped at Pont-du-Hoc, one of the sites overlooking the beach that had been occupied by the Germans during WWII. It was still surprising to me how serene and beautiful the grounds seemed despite the fact that the bunkers and structures from the war still remain there today. After having time to walk around and reflect on the time we had spent in Normandy, we continued on to Lisieux, the home of St. Thérèse.

As a choir, we had been praying a novena to St. Thérèse since the beginning of the trip; we sure had a lot to pray for! Given Mrs. Campbell’s own devotion to St. Thérèse, and by association, the choir's, our journey to Lisieux gave us a sense of what it's like to participate in pilgrimage.

The town of Lisieux is very small, and although I had been there before, I never cease to feel amazement at being in a place of such incredible meaning. One can't help but feel a sense of awe when in places where such good, really sacred people once lived, prayed, and worked.

After visiting St. Thérèse’s tomb and spending some time in the Carmelite chapel, we walked up the hill to the house where she lived. The tour was short, but we were able to many interesting things, like the school books and toys from St. Thérèse’s childhood as well as her hair! (She had her hair cut when she entered the convent, since it was difficult to wear a veil with long hair)

Next, we drove to the cathedral where we would be singing. After rehearsing in the beautifully and colorfully mosaiced lower basilica, we performed our third concert of the tour, featuring our all-female piece, Thérèse’s Canticle of Love. What an honor to sing finally sing it in Lisieux! Surprised yet again, we gave an encore to our audience, and afterwards, one of the priests at the basilica congratulated us, saying that he hoped that music like ours greets him in heaven.


Before we left, we took a quick peek at the beautiful and ornate upper cathedral and then practically ran to the bus to make our way to Paris! Most of us couldn't help but catch a little shut-eye, but our tour guide woke us up just in time to see our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower dominating the landscape of Paris.

Immediately, the landmarks I had seen during my previous two trips to this wonderful city flashed through my mind, reminding me why Paris is one of my favorite cities in the world. I couldn’t wait to begin experiencing it again. We all had a late dinner and went to bed full of anticipation for our four day whirlwind tour of La Ville-Lumière!