Spiritual Pilgrimage

Detail from Tympanum - pilgrims

We are now in Autun, a town that traces its origins back to the Romans who settled here at the time of Julius Caesar. We are in the heart of Burgundy. There are many Roman ruins here as well as remnants of the medieval city wall. The hotel where we are staying has a 350 year history, hosting Napoleon on four separate occasions.

Tympanum - Saint-Lazare Church, Autun

We began our morning at the L’eglise Réformée, which was built into a former guardhouse of the ancient Roman Wall. After an introduction to the Cathedral of Saint-Lazare, we proceeded to go there to take in the magnificent tympanum, carved by 12th C. sculptor, Giselbert.

A view of Autun

Creativity and co-creating with God was the main theme of today and seeing the art of Giselbert was a great example of artistic expression of theological themes. The great tympanum shows Christ at the Last Judgment.

Giselbert's "Eve" from Saint-Lazare

Many minutes were spent extracting details from the piece. Giselbert`s work was also throughout the interior of the Cathedral of Saint-Lazare on the capitols of the columns, depicting Biblical scenes.

Historically, there was an abbey surrounding the cathedral and the former chapter house now has a number of the stone carvings from the capitals displayed at eye level. We tried our own hands at drawing an image from the capitals, noting the shadings of the stone.

Reformed Church built into the Roman Wall, Autun

Many fine items from the cathedral and surroundings are housed in the Rollin Museum and there we were able to see a fine carving of Eve, about to pick the apple off the tree.

Roman sarcophagus with Christian symbols, Saint Irénée Church

After a day of enjoying Lyon on our own with museums, tours and shopping we traveled back in time to the second century CE with a visit to the church which is established on the site where Irenaeus, the 2nd C. Bishop was buried.

We met in the crypt but first we were given an introduction to history of the church and then were led down a passageway to the crypt by Madame Wyss, a scholar of Medieval English and a member of the Saint Irénée congregation. The passageway contained memorials from the 5th and 6th C. Madame Wyss showed us the charnel, containing the ancient bones that had been scattered in the 16th C. when the graves of the church crypt were broken.

Passage to Crypt with memorials, Saint Irénée

Worship in the Crypt of Saint Irénée Church

The crypt, at one time, contained the bones of Irenaeus as well as those of two martyrs, Alexander and Epipodias. Their bodies disappeared during the Religious Wars of the 16th C. Remaining is the altar below, which Irenaeus was thought to be buried.

The setting for Sunday worship was the crypt with its stone walls and memories of the Christians who built that community throughout the centuries. We sang lustily Charles Wesley`s `Love Divine“, leading one pilgrim to say that there were more than just our voices singing.

Being in the place where those who were only several generations away from the evangelists had lived, practiced their faith and died, all too often violently was an experience that opened up another view of how to see God.

After we emerged from the crypt, the service in the church above had concluded and wine was served to everyone in the courtyard. We are in France and discovering new ways of enjoying morning coffee after church.

The last word goes to Irenaeus, “The glory of God is a living person and the life of humanity is the vision of God.  If the revelation of God through creation already gives life to all living beings on earth, how much more does the manifestation of the Father through the son give life to those who see God.”

The door to a monk's cell

From the small village of Chambon-sur-Lignon in the mountains we travelled to the fourth largest city in France, Lyon. We are located in the centre of the city with all its delights close by.

The interior of Saint-Bruno's Church

The Baldachin from below, created from fabric coated with plaster.

Gerald and Lynne leading evening worship at Saint-Bruno

The exterior of the Church of Saint-Bruno

The theme of “seeing the invisible” continues as we visited the Baroque church of Saint-Bruno. The original church was was built in the 16th century by the Carthusians, a strict monastic order. Each monk was a hermit but came together for liturgy. Each one had their own chapel. They ate by themselves and said the offices by themselves coming together only for masses in the morning, mid-afternoon and just after midnight. When the monks did come together they pulled their hoods up over their heads so that they would not be distracted by anything or anyone. The order was founded by St. Bruno in 1084 and the church was dedicated to him.

In time between 1736 – 1750 the church was enlarged with the result being a baroque glory. Such a stark contrast from the very plain reform sanctuaries where we have been visiting.

Day nine (Saturday) is a day on our own to explore this very interesting ancient Roman city.

Pondering a question at the Reformed Temple, Chambon-sur-Lignon

Pilgrims crossing the creek in the forest

The theme today was Seeing God as our Neighbour and as the Stranger. Meeting at the Reformed Temple, we were greeted by Pastor Andreas Braun who shared some of the history and present day activities of the Protestant community in Chambon. In this part of France, the majority of Christians are Protestants. Pastor Braun explained that the French Protestants are distinctive in that they have experienced painful persecution throughout history and that experience is ingrained in the Protestants of today, whether practicing or not.

The chapel at Le Moutier Saint-Voy

The Interior of the chapel at Le Moutier Saint-Voy

During 1939 – 1945 there was a persecution of many people including Jews and homosexuals. The people in Chambon knew that they must assist the persecuted because of their own long history of persecution. That spirit is present today as they shelter those who require help.

The radical separation of church and state means that the state can say nothing to the church but also that the state does not listen to the church. This separation of church and state permitted a freedom that allowed that reception of Jewish children during WWII. It is estimated that three to five thousand children were protected by the community of Chambon. This spirit of helping the children spread throughout the plateau, even to German soldiers who were sent to this area to recover from war wounds. The pastor of the time would announce at the end of a service that he had an Old Testament for a particular person in the congregation. The Old Testament was the code name for a Jewish child. Occasionally, phone calls from a mysterious caller would simply say, “À demain” (tomorrow). This would be the signal to hide all the chldren. This afternoon we walked through the forest where the children would have been hidden. There are still some people living who helped at the time and when asked why they were willing to risk everything to help, their response is, “What else would you do?”

After the war, the citizens of Chambon, whether they were believers or not, who helped to protect and to save the Jewish children were recognized in Israel in the Book of the Righteous at Yad Veshem.

After walking about 8 kilometers this afternoon through the forest to Le Moutier Saint-Voy, we worshiped with the Protestant Diaconesses de Reuilly at their Thursday prayer service for Christian Unity. Their table was set with the empty plate and chalice, waiting for unity. The sisters are a small order whose vocation is to pray for Christian unity. Their service was beautifully sung and very moving with Gerald and Lynne participating by reading the scriptures and the pilgrim singing of “Day is Done”.

This was an inspiring and thought provoking day, indeed!

Today we moved from Arles in the lowlands to Chambon-sur-Lignon, on a high plateau, 1000 metres in altitude. The village lies between the valley of the Rhone and the Loire.

On the way we stopped for a look at the Roman Aqueduct, Pont du Gard. There was an excellent museum that described all aspects of building an aqueduct in the scale of the Pont du Gard.

On to Avignon where we danced on the bridge of St. Benezet, which spans the Rhone river. This is the bridge of the song, “Sur le pont d’Avignon, L’on y danse, l’on y danse”.

Along the way we stopped in to taste the venerable wine from Chateauneuf de Pape. We learned about the growing conditions necessary to produce such a complex wine and also how to taste and discern a fine wine.  Knowledge that all pilgrims need!

At Pont du Gard

Pont du Gard

Dancing on the bridge at Avignon

Tasting Chateauneuf de Pape

After a ride on a very twisty, curvy road we ended up at our destination, a delightful mountain village.

Saint Sarah

While based in Arles today, we traveled south to the Rhone delta region, the Camargue. This is a marshy area where more than 400 bird species are found, including the flamingo. White horses, cattle and wild boar roam freely. Rice is one of the main crops in this area.

Our destination was Saintes-Maries-de-la-mer. This is a seaside holiday town and the home of the church, Les Stes. Maries de la Mer. We were welcomed by the priest, Père Yves, who told us a bit about the history of the church. There is evidence of Christianity in this community since the first Century.

Pilgrims come to honour the relics of Mary Magdalen, Mary Salome, mother of James and John and Mary Jacobi, mother of James the Lesser and Joseph. These “Marys” are revered but not more than the relics of their servant, Sarah, believed to be from Egypt and black. Père Yves told us that Sarah`s devotion to the Marys was as strong as the Mary`s devotion to Christ. Sarah is a special saint for the Roma people who come in vast numbers in May to pay homage to her.

Briefly, the legend is that the three Marys were either cast out to sea from Egypt to die or set out without paddle or sail. Seeing this, Sarah, used her skirts to billow as a sail, was able to walk out to the boat and serve the woman while sailing to the shores of France. The plausibility of this myth does not take away from the strong affection the Roma people have for their Saint Sarah. More than 40, 000 descend on this community each May.

Père Yves guided us up a narrow, winding staircase to the roof of the church to a small chapel where the relics of the Marys and Saint Sarah rest. The tiny St. Michael Chapel was built in a guard house after it was no longer needed for that purpose. In the eighteenth century it was decorated in the French Baroque style and remains so until now. We also visited the crypt where there is a statue of the black Saint Sarah where we read a psalm amongst the forest of candles, lit in devotion to her.

Almost everywhere one looks a particular symbol is very apparent.  It is a anchor with a cross and a heart.  The meaning is faith, hope and charity.

Bell Tower - Les Stes. Maries de la Mer

Symbol of the Camargue

Our day in the Carmague ended with swimming, shopping for regional souvenirs and sitting at cafes enjoying a cold drink.

Church of St. Tropheme

Walking the Camino in Arles

We have traveled to Arles, famous for Van Gogh. For us, though, it is one of the beginnings of the famous pilgrim route, the Camino de Santiago di Campostella. We walked some of the route and recounted the steps of pilgrims both past and present.

Arles is also the site of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, The Church of St. Trophime. Trophime is found in the book of Acts and the site of the present church (11th C.) was where the first Archbishop of Canterbury was consecrated. There is a well preserved cloister next to the church.

We are still in the warmth and sunshine in Nice. Our day began on a return visit to the Temple Réformée where we sang a few hymns to the glorious accompaniment of Gerald playing the lovely tracker pipe organ. After lustily singing, we prepared for our visit to the cathedral of Saint Nicholas, a Russian Orthodox church, complete with typical tiled onion domes. We learned that icons are not meant to be realistic, nor to be adored. They are to be viewed as an invitation to the mystery of God. Our leader, Lynne McNaughton spoke about the spirituality of “gazing”. It is more about the icon gazing at you!

As often happens when one is on pilgrimage with Gerald and Lynne, serendipity occurs. We arrived at the church and were invited in as pilgrims, no charge! We were informed that the priest, Father Michael was about to perform a baptism and we were welcome to join the family for the service. The liturgy was rich with symbolism, scripture, prayer and creed. The wee babe was undressed and immersed three times much to her discomfort and surprise. We were warmly welcomed as part of the community sharing in the dedication of the infant to God.

After the baptism, Father Michael, gave us a very passionate and compelling talk about the meaning of the word, symbol. For example, he wore brocaded cuffs and a stole during the baptism, which he explained that he was wearing the mantle of God, for God’s purpose. It was not him, personally baptizing the infant but God through him doing the work, not Father Michael`s hands but the hands of God. I haven’t done Father Michael justice but you can imagine the richness of the discussion.