Rennes, Mont St Michel and Lisieux

June 18, 2015

Archangel Michael’s island fortress, the Martin family home in Alençon and St Thérèse’s Lisieux — three sacred stops on one extraordinary day in Normandy. (5 min read)

I love France. I have a history here – in this lifetime and in the past – which I think explains it. It is relatively easy for me to travel in France and my mind and body relaxes like I’m at the beach. The food suits me very well. And the locals are generous with my high school French.

I’ve never had a bad experience in France, excluding a turkish toilet in Brittany (c 1993). Until now. So let me put the warnings out there about Rennes, which is also in Brittany. I arranged two nights here solely because there is a bus to Mont St Michel and (relatively) easy train connection to Lisieux. And as my trip was near completed, I decided to lash out on a more comfortable (ie expensive) hotel close to the train station. And thats when my first world problems started.

Rennes

I’ve stayed in lots of hotels in my time and I’m pretty tolerant… but when I’m paying top dollar (or euro), I expect things to be perfect. Not so with NOVOTEL, Rennes. They kindly upgraded me to a suite – nice, in principle, but the reality was certainly a downward slide from the comfort of the pilgrim hostel in Loyola and the convents in Italy. Firstly, there was no pillow menu. Can you believe it? All that is on offer are fat, high-profile, synthetically filled pillows. And one cannot even open the windows. And even when the air-conditioning is turned off, one can still hear an electrical buzzing noise! So, limited sleep on my first night as the hotel could not resolve these issues. I asked for a room down-grade the next night and it was actually more comfortable.

As for Rennes itself, I have never seen or been approached by so many beggars or street people in my life. Not even in San Francisco! They were mostly young people with bad hair, bad fashion and tattoos. And I went straight into judgement – they smelt terrible, they looked menacing and they did not look unfed. And I was not charitable. Which, of course, made me feel guilty… afterwards.. but, in the moment, I was surly. I was not a good representative for Dom Inacio on this occasion.

Mont St Michel

But Rennes does offer ready access to Mont St Michel. A bus, which leaves from the main train station (so as to connect with day trippers from Paris), takes just over an hour to get to the Mont. There is a lovely 45 minute walk from the bus depot to the Mont and this is an opportunity to ponder this extraordinary place – an abbey that seemingly emerges from the rock of this landmass which, at high tide, is near surrounded by the ocean. There is nothing on the Mont except the abbey, a church and a meandering main street of about twenty businesses – eating places and souvenir shops – and a museum. The mont is fortified and it is possible to walk the ramparts.

The Mont is, obviously, dedicated, to St Michael the Archangel and he is omnipresent. Many of us call on Michael for protection from malevolent spirits. While i have done this myself, and trust my prayers have been heard, the energy of Michael is not familiar to me. However, I do have a history with Mont St Michel.

I was last at Mont St Michel in 1993 when I took a weekend trip there from Paris with a friend from the American University of Paris where I was studying. Being students, we had little money and stayed in Avranches across the bay from the Mont. That visit to Mont St Michel was profound, although I did not understand it at the time. The only part that remains clear is the visit to the cloister on the top of the Mont. I experienced there what I now understand was an activation of a past-life in this place.

And so it was with great anticipation that I returned to Mont St Michel after 22 years. I was expecting something special to happen during my visit and I assumed it would be in the cloister. Interestingly, it did not unfold like that.

In preparing to visit the Mont, I had decided to pray for two friends, in particular. And I had this random thought that there would be a church with a statue of Jehanne d’Arc close to the bottom of the Mont and I would do this, and get my rosaries blessed, there. Perhaps this thought arose because of my previous visit, or maybe even my reading, but it did unfold this way. The church was the first stop for me. It was closed for a private service but this ended just as I finished taking my photos of the exterior and the statue of Jehanne d’Arc. This meant there was a priest inside and he was so very pleased to bless the rosaries, as I requested, in the names of Jehanne d’Arc and St Michel.

And next I climbed the path and stairs up to the abbey. There was no charge in this experience for me although, in a mundane sense, it was familiar. There are numerous chapels within the abbey and only one seems to be in use now. These spaces are no longer consecrated and they are completely empty (literally and, for me, energetically).

The chapel on the top of the mont is a different story altogether. I arrived here not long after mass had commenced and took up one of the pews. The mass, in the middle of the day, was all sung. And the singers were either Dominican priests (there were 4 of them) or nuns (about 8 of them). The experience was sublime as their voices filled this huge gothic church and the vibration was so high that I found myself in tears during the communion. This wasn’t the experience I was expecting on the mont but it made sense in light of the prayers on this pilgrimage.

My own flaws were again exposed during the mass as I wanted to punch in the face the woman who sat next to me because she was intent upon humming along, even though she did not know the music. My own reaction to her diminished the experience. I would see she was in joy and certainly serious about praising God… but I would have been more at ease with mosquitos buzzing around me than listening to her!

I stayed for a while after the mass to take some photos and then got back on the “tour”. A lof of people visit Mont St Michel and, in June, a lot of school children. It is crowded and noisy (two of my favourite things). I did not see too much reverence, or awe at the architecture, but there was quite a lot of interest in looking out from the mont onto the surrounding sea and countryside.

It was a bit of a shock going from the experience of the mass to the mass of tourists, especially because the cloister was the next important thing on the tour (and, for me, the most important of the visit). Predictably in retrospect, the cloister was full of visitors. There was a lot of noise and many children out of control. I found it difficult to settle here and had no awareness of any particular connection with the place. So different from my last experience.

I did manage to find a courtyard to the side of the cloister than no one was interested in and I had a few minutes to myself there. This place felt very calm and solid and I was able to connect here. I took a few photos to help me remember it… and captured some spirit activity.

Thank God for tripadvisor.com because I had an excellent lunch of crepes and salad at the number 1 restaurant on the mont. The souvenir shops did not interest me so I decided to slowly walk back to the bus depot and enjoy the countryside. I am grateful to have returned to Mont St Michel at this time but found one day was enough for me.

LIsieux

Getting from Rennes to Lisieux most quickly (about 3 hours) required two changes of trains (Le Mans and Mezidon). Even with luggage this is easy and not very expensive (about 40 euro). For me there is only one thing of interest in Lisieux – St Therese of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face.

I visited Lisieux on pilgrimage in 2012 and had a successful visit at the Basilica and Carmel Convent which I wrote about at length.

Again I had dinner with St Therese and, again, I was not aware of her presence until dessert. We talked about my intentions and I asked for her help. Just like Xavier, St Therese used to be a patron saint of Australia (because we are considered a “mission”), and there are some good signs that she will help us. I had the rare privilege of being permitted to place the rosaries on her relic on the altar in her basilica and received much consolation as I expressed deep gratitude for my life, for this pilgrimage and all connected with it.

And I met Therese’s parents, Zelie and Louis Martin, again. On my last visit they had been beatified by the Vatican and were awaiting recognition of a second miracle to be canonised. This has now occurred and they will be made saints this year. I found the story of this miracle so consoling that I will share it here.

“Carmen was born on 15 October 2008, after 28 weeks of a very difficult pregnancy. ‘Prepare for the worst’, the midwife said when the baby was born. Complications that are common in very premature babies multiplied: among other things, respiratory distress, double sepsis, and a cerebral haemorrhage of the most serious kind. Since Carmen was born on the feast of St Teresa of Avila, who was a Carmelite nun, Carmen’s father went to a Carmelite monastery outside of Valencia. The nun took this intention to heart. Carmen’s parents came to Mass at the monastery every Sunday and then left quickly for the hospital.

Late in November, the case seemed hopeless. For the first time the mother was allowed to touch her baby; the incubator was left open. the family began to think of the funeral.

On November 23, the Prioress of the Carmelite monastery gave Carmen’s parents a card containing a prayer to Louis and Zelie Martin in Spanish. Carmen’s mother and father had never heard of Louis and Zelie or of their famous daughter, St Therese of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face.

Providentially, the next day, Carmen was transferred to a new hospital. Contrary to all expectation, Carmen sustained the transfer well, and her infection was suddenly under control. She began to recover, to the point of being able to leave the hospital on January 2, 2009.

One problem remained a serious concern: the cerebral haemorrhage expanded her skull and caused pain. A medical review was scheduled for February 19th. The doctors would probably operate. A new “offensive” of prayer to the Martin spouses was begun. Providentially, the reliquary of Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin arrived at the Shrine of Llerida (also called Lleida) in January. Carmen’s father, her big brother Ishmael (born in 2004), and her grandparents came to the Shrine at Llerida to thank the Blesseds for their intercession. At their monastery, the Carmelites joined their prayer. Some days later, an ultrasound reveals that the cerebral haemorrhage has disappeared and scars are no longer visible. Even more surprising (to date the doctors cannot explain it) is the total absence of any neurological or motor difficulties.”

When Carmen’s parents were told that Louis and Zelie would be canonised they said:

“This news fills us with emotion, with joy, and with gratitude. For us, Blessed Louis Martin and Zelie Guerin are part of our family, since we have prayed to them and they have interceded with the Lord to grant us the healing of our daughter. The Martin couple is an example of family union founded on love and respect for children. And thanks to them, we can demonstrate these values to our children”.

Let us hope that the Martins will secure support for an Australian healing event in 2016 and that there will be many more miracles attributed to their intercession.

And so, as I take the train from Lisieux to Paris to fly home, I am filled with hope and deep gratitude to the Good Spirits and all who have helped me on this pilgrimage. On return I will be dedicating my efforts to planetary transformation through this work.

Namaste