Bells

Life in rural France is measured by church bells. From my bed at Laury's I could hear the hours and half hours chimed from two different village churches along the Lot. Last Saturday evening I heard bells coming from a different direction calling the villagers of Cadrieu to Mass. Their itinerant priest celebrates Mass the last Saturday of every month, and the bells ring to remind them..."This is the day...come!" In Conques I heard the bells persistently calling the Brothers to church for 7:30am matins and 7:30pm vespers. Watching them hurry into the church, their long white robes flapping wildly over their sandaled feet made me hurry as well. Slipping quietly into a back pew, my heart was thrilled by the sweet tenor voice that began to sing the liturgy the moment the bells became quiet. The bells that chime in my photo are from the church in the tiny village of Cenevieres. Protected by its 12th century chateau, the church and its villagers have been marking time, praising God, celebrating Holy Eucharist, giving thanks for births, marriages, and saints, and mourning deaths to the rhythm of these bells for centuries. Worshiping God and measuring life...always reminded by the bells.

Rocamadour

It's hard to avoid churches and pilgrimage sites when you visit France. Religion has played a huge part in the history of this country and is still an important part of its patrimony. This photo is from my visit to Rocamadour, a major pilgrimage site on the way to Santiago de la Compostela in Spain. Several of France's kings made pilgrimage to this holy place that has roots as far back as the 7th century. A pilgrim wishing to do penitence would ascend these stairs on his knees, praying the rosary at each step. There are 287 steps to the church of the Black Virgin at the top. I can only wince in imagined pain at the toll these steps took on the pilgrims' knees!

While there are many other churches in France that have a Black Virgin, the one at Rocamadour is one of the most famous. To me, she is also the most beautiful. The dim light in the church made it hard to get a good photo, but I hope you can appreciate how special she is. In some ways this trip feels like my pilgrimage. I'm still not sure exactly where this pilgrimage is leading me or just what God's plan is in all this sacred exploration and spiritual beauty. Maybe the early pilgrims weren't sure either. My prayer is that I, like them, can find my way to what God intends.

Montsegur

Help me understand....

This is Montsegur located in southwest France. It is a ruined Cathar stronghold that sits atop a pog. In 1243-44, 500 Cathar men, women and children were held at siege by the French army. Pope Innocent III decreed Cathars to be heretics and pressured the French king to assist him in destroying all Cathars in France. After almost 10 months, the besieged finally were overcome. The French demanded that they recant their heretical faith or be burned. 250 refused to recant and were burned on a huge pyre in the meadow marked by a memorial in the photo below. I climbed to the stronghold...a very difficult hike, but well worth it. The view from the top is magnificent, but loses some of its fascination when you consider that the people who were trapped here were this far above any help.

This is only one of the places that the burning happened. Eventually all the Cathars were eliminated. In fact, nothing remains of their faith except the writings of the Catholic church which explains why they were decreed heretics. Essentially they are people who rebelled against the excesses and exclusiveness of the Church. They did not believe in the Holy Eucharist, nor did they believe in infant baptism. They believed that the Bible should be written in the language of the people and made available to any believer, not just held in the hands of priests. The only sacrament they practiced was the consolamentum or laying on of hands to declare a person as a Good Man or Good Woman.

For these reasons, they were destroyed in the name of God.

Help me understand......

The Church in St. Cirq Lapopie

I'm frequently surprised by churches in France. An ancient facade can hold relics and art from the long distant past or it can open into a bright modern space. You just never know when you pull open the big wooden doors what you may find inside. The 15th century church in St. Cirq Lapopie was that kind of surprise. Instead of being dark and dim inside, it was white, airy, and open. The walls were still lined with tiny chapels devoted to different saints and the Holy Family, but each chapel had a unique, more modern style. I loved this one dedicated to the Virgin, a gem of blue niched into the white wall illuminated by votives.

Then stepping outside the Virgin's chapel, I'm thrilled by this very modern art installation...a tree leafed with stainless steel bicycle wheels . Reaching high up to the Romanesque vaulted ceiling, does it signify movement toward God? Living modernity growing from a dying world? Or fresh thoughts about religion rooted in the old, established tradition? Or is it....just art!