I suppose many of the young people were often surprised by the differences of European culture. Tiny cars, tiny house, tiny bathrooms, tiny showers in tiny bathrooms, tiny rooms, extra long pillows in tiny rooms, etc… As De Tocqueville once remarked, you really learn about and appreciate your mother country when you leave it.
I hope our two weeks in France were simply not just naturally enlightening and fun (I wouldn’t mind another chocolate croissant right now) but a rich opportunity for the young people to experience a fuller meaning of our beautiful religion which was and still is present in a culture deeply influenced by Catholicism. France is the eldest daughter of the Church. I firmly believe that it is not enough to pass moral rules to our youth. Unless we stuff the imaginations and move the desires of our youth with many good and beautiful things, we will lose them. This comes about in art and its many forms such as music, painting, and architecture. Our young people must recognize the need to multiply these pleasant signs that teach and reinforce our Faith in our culture. The Chartres Pilgrimage Tour is one way of doing that (while walking and suffering with 10,000 other people who also happen to agree with you).
It was wonderful to see the Gothic churches, elegant yet massive, and all the art, sculpted figures, paintings, and stained glass that adorned them. These were constructed over hundreds of years to attempt to provide a fitting atmosphere for the Eucharist and the Mass. We saw this, even at Chartres, which was made as a fitting house for the veil of Our Lady.
In a certain sense, the first few days of the pilgrimage are perhaps the most important days of the entire two weeks since it is during the actual walking pilgrimage that the chapter develops its unity amongst its members. I was very glad to hear how well all the members of the KC chapter suffered. I hope this will not be the last Chartres chapter that goes from Kansas City.
Fr. Joseph Lee FSSP
