There were doubts in my head about a week before our Los Angeles trip, with this main pressing concern—the chance that we would find ourselves inside the St. Bernadette Church. To have this rare opportunity on my birthday is a gift that would have an impact on my spirituality. I have never been to a church in her namesake. To be in the presence of her relics makes the gift many times special. I said, "St. Bernadette is making a move that we would meet each other in this life, closest to meeting all of her!" However, that thought became bleak. All of a sudden, what once was jovial was being replaced with a dreary one—it was easy to get discouraged. I have reasons why this was my reaction.
The articles that featured the relics of St. Bernadette strongly recommended that visitors take public transportation or carpool to get there as parking was limited, which posed a hurdle for us. It was like one of those scenarios when we say, "We will see when we get there!" for we knew that taking public transit was not an option for us. So, what to do, right?
From the online images and the map of the area provided by Google Maps, Saint Bernadette Church is not in the city center, so the odds of locating public parking garages were slim to none—it broke my heart.
Though becoming a challenging feat, I knew we should still at least try. I kept my focus on getting there, constantly telling myself that God only wants us to give it our best in every situation, and then He will pick up from there and handle the rest. Still, it was like going there blindly, so best to have a plan—my husband would drop us off, look for parking, and hope there was one within proximity. In other words, we will cross the bridge once we are there because it is that important.
We planned our vacation around venerating the relics. It carried so much weight because I invoked St. Bernadette's intercession in the final weeks leading up to my son's high school graduation. To venerate the relics on my birthday— and happening on the final leg of her US tour even, to me, was mind-blowing! I felt so loved, that I wanted to think that the stars in the vast skies were all lined up! I see how God arranges things so there can't be any mistaking that He was behind it all.
I say that with conviction because I stopped believing in coincidences, and that was for the lack of words to put it because I consider the relic veneration the next best thing to having gone to Lourdes. I have prayed the rosary with the Our Lady of Lourdes Hospitality North American Volunteers via zoom many times now. It was them who coordinated the US tour. I finally spoke with two of their members in passing on my birthday.
Back to the parking issues, to our great surprise, the parking on the back lot and to the other side of the Church had plenty of spaces available! Who knew it would be that easy? God did. He wasn't surprised at all. After all, St. Bernadette was expecting us.
We left the hotel early enough to beat SoCal's morning commute. When we got there, we headed straight to the altar for our turn to venerate the relics. I was very thankful that the front-row pew was unoccupied, except for the couple seated at the far end. This gave us the best seats in the house, nothing obstructing the reliquary, as if reserved for us. Amazing!
Thanksgiving danced in my heart and occupied my mind. It was easy to visualize St. Bernadette sitting across from me. Her interlaced fingers resting on her lap, very modest in her appearance like in the photo on the prayer card. Her smile was all aglow. Her eyes twinkled, bearing the look of a friend beaming with joy because we all made it there, everyone who took the time out of their busy schedule to be there. I could not help asking myself—was it us who visited her, or St. Bernadette made herself available so we could all gather around her, and in my case, on my birthday?
We stayed there for a while, and there, nearly an hour later, an influx of visitors explained the two tourist buses parked on the street side when we left. So many of them had candles and personal articles they wanted to be placed near the reliquary that contained the relics.
To sum it up, it was the best birthday gift, a rare blessing I have ever received on my birthday, and I've been around for quite a while now. I got a bottle of the Lourdes water and a St. Bernadette prayer card, as did everyone. I said to the Our Lady of Lourdes Hospitality North American assisting at the altar that it was my birthday. He greeted me in front of St. Bernadette's relics. I thought that was the cherry on top— it was perfect!
Now is your turn to share your stories ingrained with a heavenly touch. Shoot me a message, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Many blessings!
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