Cracked heels, hands screwed on their walking sticks and despite the grueling heat that fell on them all weekend, the 16,000 pilgrims joined Chartres and its cathedral, this Monday, May 29, not without pride.
Leaving from the Saint-Sulpice church in Paris, the thousands of faithful made their way to the cathedral, after a bivouac stop near Rambouillet, as part of the 41st Pentecost pilgrimage, one of the largest in Europe. western according to the organizing association, Notre-Dame de Chrétienté.
Departing from Le Mans (Sarthe) and beyond the spiritual retreat allowed by these three days closer to their faith, Bertrand and Stéphanie had something else to celebrate this year. “My husband celebrated his 50th birthday yesterday and it was important to him that I accompany him this year, it was a bit of his gift”, smiles Stéphanie, her hand in a visor on her forehead to protect herself from the rays of the sun.
“We are still happy to have arrived and the shower that awaits us this evening will also be one of my gifts”, jokes Bertrand.
Placed under the theme of the Eucharist, this 41st Pentecost pilgrimage brought together, for this edition, 267 chapters, including 28 foreigners, from all over the world.
If Jeanne and Hortense did not arrive from South Africa or Gabon, the two Auvergne high school girls, who have known each other “since kindergarten”, were keen to share this rich experience together.
Pentecost pilgrimage: record attendance with 16,000 walkers at Chartres Cathedral
Transcendence
For Jeanne, it was a first. “I admit that my feet could be better, but this effort strengthens our faith,” she says.
“It shows that we have no limits and that with faith and hope, we really can do anything.”
Lying on the ground with a sweatshirt as a makeshift pillow, Marie and Daniel came as a family, with their two children, from Normandy. “We used to walk in pairs, but this year, for the first time, we took the children on board with us on the adventure”, explains the father of the family. “It was essential for us to live this moment of communion at four.”
16,000 walkers on the road for the Chartres pilgrimage: “Youth thirsts for religion”
Their already bruised legs, just like those of the thousands of pilgrims gathered around the cathedral, never ceased to lower themselves to the level of the gravelly ground of the forecourt. Sore legs, alternating between kneeling and standing, as the clergy pass in procession, before the start of the long-awaited pontifical mass celebrated by Archbishop Thomas Gullickson, archbishop and nuncio emeritus of American nationality.
“I admired your enthusiasm”
It was the rector of Chartres Cathedral, Emmanuel Blondeau, who first addressed the faithful with a word of welcome, assiduously followed on the giant screens installed near the building. “This pilgrimage is physically and spiritually demanding, the walk is long and the fatigue is there, but here you are at last in Chartres”, he declared enthusiastically.
A physical test also underlined by the bishop of the diocese of Chartres, Mgr Philippe Christory, who spoke a few moments later.
“While sharing a few hours with you yesterday, I admired your enthusiasm, which was never altered by the pain in your feet and the heat of the sun.”
Mgr philippe Christory (bishop of the diocese of Chartres)
Departing to return home or after deciding to extend their stay in the capital of Beauce by a few hours, the tight ranks of some 16,000 worshipers thinned out, gradually at the end of the afternoon, before their return l ‘next year.
Limited access. In view of the high attendance, the prefecture of Eure-et-Loir and the police have taken restrictive measures to limit access. “The cathedral forecourt can accommodate 3,000 people, no more. When this gauge was reached, we blocked the entrances”, explains Françoise Souliman, prefect of Eure-et-Loir. The faithful wishing to follow the mass were redirected to the Butte des Charbonniers.
Laura Alliche
Video: Stéphanie Zeimet
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