Reflection on a pilgrimage to Lourdes
Georgia Silvia ‘13
Georgia Silvia CSON '13
I made my pilgrimage to Lourdes, France for one main reason, my friend Jill Costello
visited Lourdes one month before she lost her battle to lung cancer. At twenty-two years
old, Jill was a nonsmoker and a division I college athlete.
After witnessing how many of the Knights and Dames of Malta came to support Jill’s
family at her funeral, I became increasingly more intrigued with these individuals in their
distinctive black and red uniforms and the work that they do. When the opportunity
presented itself to have my own experience in Lourdes, I couldn't resist, even if it meant
traveling out of the country the week before nursing finals. I knew it would be an
amazing experience, one that would bring me closer to my friend Jill and one that would
be well worth compromising the extra hours of studying.
The pilgrimage to Lourdes not only exceeded my expectations, but left me with a hunger
to do more and plans to travel back. The trip deepened a passion I hope to continuously
pursue through my nursing career and gave me reassurance that helping support the
sick both physically and emotionally through culturally competent and multidirectional
approaches to care is exactly what I want to with my career.
My malade was coincidentally named Jill and was battling the final stages of cancer. A
single mother of two children, she came with her mother, Barbara, to Lourdes for one
last miracle. Jill and her mother completely touched and filled my heart. I never knew I
could fall in love with two strangers after such a short period of time. Not only did I fall in
love with Jill, but in loving her and watching her reverence and blind faith in the power of
Mary, I also fell back in love with the Catholic tradition I was raised to follow. At a time
when our church is being challenged and facing hardship, I, like many young Catholics,
was beginning to lose sight of the power of a strong Catholic faith. I can honestly say,
after traveling to Lourdes, my faith was restored, strengthened and deepened in ways I
could not have imagined or attained by simply going to mass.
While in Lourdes, I was challenged to think of others before myself one hundred percent
of the time, a concept so foreign to many people in our world today. It came naturally in
Lourdes because the men and women that surrounded me, both the sick and the healthy,
all approached the week with the same attitude. We were all there as a community,
serving with and for others. From the moment the journey began I started seeing the
natural goodness God in both the sick and the healthy. I fell just as much in love with the
other caregivers as I did those we were to "serve". I felt as though, for that week in time,
there was no other place I was meant to be. The stress of the finals I had to take when I
got back to Boston, the stress of moving back to San Francisco for the summer, and the
stress of finding a summer job was completely alleviated for five days.
As a student nurse, this trip only further confirmed my instincts in choosing nursing as
my major, where I am constantly challenged to help care for others in a variety of ways,
was most definitely the right decision I ever made. I am forever grateful for this priceless
opportunity that I will treasure forever.