PÈLERINAGE DE PENTECÔTE
de Notre Dame de Paris à Notre
Dame de Chartres
The Pilgrimage to Chartres is an ancient
tradition, having been walked by popes, kings and queens
(including Louis IX and Mary Queen of Scots), great
French writers such as Charles Peguy, and Saints such
as St. Bernard, St. Joan of Arc, St. Anselm, St. Vincent
de Paul, Louis Martin, Francis de Sales and countless
others, and last but not least by many members of St
Bede’s traditional
community.
Vatican ll nearly killed it off, but twenty-five years
ago, a small band of French traditionalists re-established
the Pilgrimage. Barred at the doors of Chartres
Cathedral, they had to celebrate the traditional Mass
in the town square. Thus began the restoration
of what was one of the last annual pilgrimages in Europe. Much
has been written about Chartres, but the Pilgrimage
must be experienced to be understood.
It begins on the day before Pentecost when thousands
of traditional Catholics from the USA, Russia, Australia,
Ireland, Canada, the UK, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Spain
and so many other countries join their French brothers
and sisters at dawn beneath the spires of Notre Dame
Cathedral in Paris. Three days later it ends in
the city of Chartres, as well over ten thousand dust-covered
traditionalists complete the challenging march and kiss
the stones of the ancient Cathedral of Notre Dame de
Chartres. Much of what happens in between defies
description.
The two Pentecost pilgrimages - the one organized by
Notre-Dame de Chrétienté and the other organized by
the SSPX - are the most important annual events happening
anywhere in the world today, but you won’t find
a single mention in the secular media.
It is a living, breathing act of Faith, augmented by
Catholic militancy and old-world charm. Just imagine: three
days with no talking heads from the Christophobic left,
no blah, blah, blah, three days without the sex, sewage
and din of the modern world that insulate modern men
from any contemplation of the four last things. The
road to Chartres exists in the real world,
where the pilgrim remembers what it is like to feel
completely alive, both in body and soul. It is
for God that the pilgrims march, for God and Catholic
restoration.
Why do thousands of Catholics from all over the world
make the journey back to France every spring? Because
their hearts are heavy, their peers have apostatized,
their families are divided, their countries are dying
and their Faith is under relentless siege ... the Pilgrimage
provides salve for their wounded souls.
It rained this year on the road to Chartres; it rained,
sleeted and some even saw a snowflake or two. For
hours we walked through a sea of mud ankle deep, yet,
incredibly, spirits soared! Chapters upon chapters
of pilgrims passed bustling with song and prayer and
happy conversation throughout the three days.
Yes, Europe is in the process of banishing the old
Faith from her shores! She’s busy legalizing every
conceivable human depravity, butchering her babies, euthanizing
her elderly, destroying the Christian family and the
sacrament of matrimony. And, yet, in the midst
of all this putrefaction, over the hill comes a jubilant
band of thousands upon thousands of Catholic pilgrims
from every corner of the globe, marching six abreast,
in a column stretching from horizon to horizon, announcing
to the whole world that the old Faith is still alive
and in rude and hearty good health.
For three days, even secular France can’t ignore
this strange and wonderful pilgrim parade, flanked by countless
priests in muddied cassocks and purple stoles, the all
but forgotten keepers of Europe’s broken altars. Throngs
of scouts lovingly carry statues of Our Lady on their shoulders;
banners of the saints are raised high for all to see; pilgrims
sing forgotten hymns, renew broken vows, and celebrate
Mass in the Rite of their forefathers, saints and martyrs. The
Pilgrimage to Chartres is a fire in the darkness that
covers modern Europe.
Sunday, after the sun had long since set, the fire
became literal when a bonfire crackled in the centre
of the field where hundreds of tents had been pitched
for the night. Its flames licked the darkness ten feet
in the air, transforming the faces of countless pilgrims
in a flickering, reddish glow. Their boots were
caked with dried mud; white bandages identified the walking
wounded. They wore traditional scout scarves
around their necks; their flags and banners, emblazoned
with images of the Sacred Heart and Our Lady, snapped
in the breeze overhead.
“Je vous salue, Marie” (“Hail Mary…”)
the rugged company sang in rousing harmony over and over again. A couple
of monks in the traditional habit of the Benedictines led the pilgrim chorus. Suspended
high on a wooden cross a young scout played the part of the Crucified. What
one saw was a raw manifestation of faith and tradition that was so Catholic
to the very core that it sent shivers down one’s
spine.
Then the pilgrim voices grew silent, as that band of
thousands turned towards the opposite side of the
field and knelt down. The drama has ended, but one final act is
yet to be played out. Nearby, there is a small
chapel tent that is lit from within by a single candle,
a sanctuary lamp. God Himself has been waiting
in the wings.
Absolute silence reigns as a priest emerges from that
makeshift Holy of Holies. Without a word, he raises the Blessed
Sacrament and traces the Sign of the Cross over a sea
of kneeling pilgrims. All eyes are locked on
the monstrance in humble worship; a mass Sign of the
Cross is made in the windblown silence.
This is what the Revolution has labored 500 years to
obliterate from the face of the earth. It’s not just
the Mass of Ages … it’s the very Faith
itself, whole and entire, which includes the hallowed
customs of the most transcendent cultural heritage
the world has ever known.
There are few present who appeared to be much over
twenty years old.. This is a children’s crusade…only
without the folly. The future belongs to them. The
Revolution has failed. The promise for the future
is breath-taking.
Michael Matt, the American chapter leader, recorded
that tears burned in his eyes as he absorbed the
full extent of that joyful realization and that he
could not remember being more proud to be a Catholic. “It was” he
wrote “one of the most beautiful manifestations
of Faith one will ever see.”
One young lady, who had been to World Youth Day, was
asked how that compared to Chartres, her response was
potent: “Notre-Dame de Chrétienté should
organize that, too. Maybe then it would be as
Catholic as this! It will take time to absorb
what I’ve seen here. But I’ll never forget
it.”
If
you are interested in taking part in this beautiful
experience, contact::
Francis Carey, Chartres 2001, 14 Beryl Road, London,
W6 8JT
Tel: 020 8741 1316, Fax: 020 8868 7158.
Email: latinmassuk@yahoo.co.uk
Pilgrims from the USA or Canada should contact:
Fr John Mole: 175 Main Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K13
1C3, Canada
The pilgrimage also has its own website (but you need to be able
to read French).
Click here.
