Virtual tour takes people to Lourdes

On March 19, Catholics at St. Ambrose parish in Latham will make a "virtual pilgrimage" to Lourdes, France, the site of a shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes, who appeared there in 1858 to St. Bernadette Soubirous.

The virtual pilgrimage is a 90-minute journey via computer projection of the actual pilgrimage that visitors to the shrine spend an entire day making.

The day will also include real events: Exposition of the Eucharist, a rock and holy water from the Lourdes grotto, blessing of the sick, and recitation of the Rosary.

You are there

"The virtual pilgrimage basically brings the experience of visiting the shrine of Lourdes to those who cannot get there," said Mary Dooley, a parishioner at St. Pius X Church in Loudonville and a member of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospitality North American Volunteers, which is based in Syracuse.

At their own expense, the volunteers travel once or twice a year to Lourdes to assist disabled and ailing pilgrims.

Marlene Watkins of Syracuse founded the group in 2002 after visiting Lourdes and seeing a need for English-speaking volunteers.

"There was a real need there," she told The Evangelist. She also sensed another need: helping the sick who could not get to the shrine. "I spoke to several people, and we got the idea of a virtual pilgrimage."

Traveling show

Within a year of getting that idea, Mrs. Watkins was taking her Power Point presentation to other states. The tour has also gone to England, Ireland and other European nations.

"Before we knew it, we were being invited into prisons, high schools and even individual homes for only one person," she said. "We will go any place where the sick or those who want to make the virtual pilgrimage can gather.

"We just came back from Germany where we visited eight military bases and hospitals to present the virtual pilgrimage to soldiers, some of whom are recovering from injuries in Iraq," she noted. "Many were bed-ridden, so the staff at one hospital set up a closed-circuit system that projected the pilgrimage to every single patient. It was wonderful."

(The virtual pilgrimage begins at St. Ambrose parish in Latham at 1 p.m. on March 19. For information, call 315-476-0026.)

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