Goodbye Lady of Lourdes for now. Till the next time when you beckon on us to visit you again. Today is day 10 of our Marian Pilgrimage. We headed for Torreciudad in Spain for the Shrine of our Lady of Torreciudad, a 3 hours and 45 minute scenic drive along the Pyrenees mountain range of France and Spain. The French countryside we passed was beautiful but after some 2 hours drive, we hit a snag. There was road construction in one of the tunnels bordering France and Spain. The Tunnel Aragnouet-Bielna was being prepped for avalanche threat for the forecasted snow in the mountains. All vehicle traffic stopped from both sides of the tunnel. We waited for about 30 minutes so when nature called, there was really no choice. I had to take cover using a French made umbrella held by Butch alongside the road near the edge of a cliff to pee. Others were prepared to follow but the signal to go was just in time and we moved on and crossed the 3 kms Aragnouet Tunnel and arrived in the border province of Aragon in Spain.
A very important stop, toilet in a small town where everyone made a dash to the toilets and a short shopping spree, for sardines, cerveza, calamari negra, milks chocolates, etc. Some couldn't wait, they opened the Spanish sardines while inside the bus. Off we go and passed some little towns like Salinas, Escalante, San Vicente and then we were greeted by a magnificent and breathtaking view of the Shrine.
Torreciudad means "Tower of the City". It is a fortification tower built during the Muslim occupation. For centuries, the original shrine housed the statue of Our Lady where local people kept alive the custom of coming on a pilgrimage to this place to pray to our Lady, until it was transferred to the new shrine in 1975. The new shrine was completed in 1975 under the initiative of St. Jose Maria Escriva, founder of the Opus Dei to continue the tradition and as a sign of his great love for Mary and his desire that people come to show their love to Mary. There is also a huge collection of Virgin Mary statues and icons from all over the world. We even saw a statue of the Lady of Penafrancia from the Philippines.
After our visit, late lunch was at a local restaurant in Torreciudad. Onwards we drove for another 2 and a half hours for Zaragoza and visited the Shrine of Our Lady of Pilar. This is another magnificent edifice. It is said that the Virgin Mary appeared to St James with a column or pillar and he was asked to build a chapel on the site. Today a towering basilica has been built in honor of Virgen de Pilar. Fr Ho said mass in one of the many chapels specifically at the St. Anthony Chapel inside the Basilica.
Another snag happened as our bus can not unload our baggages in front of Hotel Tibur. We had to push our luggages for about 500 meters to the hotel. Despite, all these snags, it was all worth it. We can not help recall the DVD we viewed inside the bus about Archbishop Fulton Sheen when he talked about his sufferings and said that God made it easy on him. We can say that as well about these experiences that God made it easy on us. It is also noteworthy to mention the quotes that struck us while watching the film : "Show me your hands, do they have scars from giving? Show me your feet, are they wounded in service? Show me your heart, do you have place for divine love?
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