Led to the priesthood through the waters of Lourdes
February 9th, 2011
By Cameron Faller

To say my vocation is a Marian vocation is an understatement. In fact, the only reason I am in the seminary is because of the intercession of Mary and my experience in Lourdes, France.

In 1858, the Blessed Mother appeared to St. Bernadette in the city of Lourdes and miraculously opened up a natural spring. During these apparitions, Mary called for people to come in procession to Lourdes so that they could drink and wash themselves in the water. Over the past 150 years, there have been 67 officially declared miracles and countless other nonofficial or unknown physical and spiritual healings. So now, every year, millions of pilgrims journey to Lourdes in search of healing.

Through the amazing generosity of Barbara McCullough, I was blessed to go on a pilgrimage to Lourdes in 2007 with a group of students from Marin Catholic High School. Under the direction and guidance of Father Tom Daly and Charlotte Kiesel, our group went to Lourdes in order to serve the sick pilgrims and to grow in our prayer life. As one pilgrim stated, “Lourdes is the world turned upside down.”

Despite so many sick pilgrims, Lourdes is a place of peace, hope, and joy. It offered us the opportunity to serve the less fortunate, but, at the same time, it provided us with the solitude necessary to grow in our relationship with Christ. The sick pilgrims we served came to Lourdes with so much hope of a cure; but unfortunately, most returned home bearing their same condition. However, I was always amazed by the happiness and peace they displayed after emerging from the water. Their reaction helps reveal the true nature of the Lourdes’ water.

Through washing in the water, Mary calls pilgrims to remember their baptism by acknowledging their sins and their complete dependency on Christ. By putting their lives in Christ’s hands, pilgrims leave Lourdes with a new sense of hope and peace and with a new found ability to embrace and bear their sufferings. Mary calls for us to wash in the water at Lourdes because she deeply desires for us to grow closer to her son. Interestingly enough, the majority of the officially declared miracles in Lourdes have not been caused by the water. Rather, they have occurred during the Eucharistic healing service, thus showing that through the water Mary is simply trying to lead us to her son. This is clearly evident in my own Lourdes’ experience.

Before going to Lourdes, I had a stagnant faith, and I had absolutely no desire to become a priest; in fact, it was the last thing I ever wanted to do. Mary called me to descend into the waters of Lourdes because I, like the sick pilgrims, needed to put my life in God’s hands and to acknowledge my complete dependency on him. Through serving the sick and taking time for prayer in Lourdes, the Blessed Mother slowly opened my eyes to the fact that I had never considered God’s will for my life. As she drew me closer to her son, I began to realize that I had never been open to hear a call to the priesthood due to my own iniquities and fears. The moment Mary unexpectedly opened my eyes to this reality; I was petrified to even think about becoming a priest. The responsibilities and life of a priest seemed so foreign and daunting that I felt completely inadequate to consider this call. However, through prayer to the Blessed Mother and through listening to the Lord during eucharistic adoration, I slowly felt more and more pulled to the priesthood, and so I decided to enter the seminary six months after returning from Lourdes.

During my experience in Lourdes, like a true mother, Mary slowly guided me and gave me the openness necessary to hear her son’s call, and she has continued to form me into the man I need to be in order to accept and fulfill his calling. As I continue on my journey toward priesthood, I like to picture myself in the arms of the Blessed Mother, and I pray that Mary will continue to form me into the image and likeness of her son.

Cameron Faller, a first-year student for the Archdiocese of San Francisco at St. Patrick’s Seminary & University in Menlo Park, wrote this reflection to note the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, Feb. 11. He received a bachelor’s in philosophy from Gonzaga University last May.

From February 11, 2011 issue of Catholic San Francisco.
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