Week of September 15, 2004

Priest urges those who cannot travel to make a spiritual pilgrimage

By Ed López

Although many of the Catholic faithful will not be able to make a trip to the Sanctuary of our Lady of Lourdes in France, Father Raymond Zambelli believes such a journey is possible in a spiritual sense.
“In matters of faith there is no time and there is no distance,” said Father Zambelli, the 15th rector of the Lourdes shrine, during a visit to Denver last week.
“People who wish to be unified in faith can make a pilgrimage to Lourdes in their hearts,” he added.
Speaking through an interpreter, Father Zambelli made his comments during a reception for volunteers who staff the Denver Lourdes Marian Center, 1155 S. Josephine St.
The center is one of only two sites in the world outside of Lourdes authorized to distribute water from the shrine, said John Botaish, president of the center’s steering committee. The other location is in Boston.
Prior to the reception, Father Zambelli concelebrated Mass at St. Vincent de Paul Church along with Father Michael Walsh, the pastor, and Father Gabriel Weber.
About 40 volunteers staff the Marian Lourdes Center, whose mission is to promote Marian devotion through prayer and penance. The center also serves as a meeting place for prayer groups, and to pray for specific intentions from the community.
At the conclusion of the Mass, Father Zambelli expressed sadness on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States that claimed many lives.
“Those events touched the whole world, including France,” he said. “We were all wounded in our hearts that day. May the world never see such a horror again.”
During the reception, Father Zambelli reflected on the reasons why Lourdes has such a power attraction for the faithful.
“The Blessed Virgin said, ‘I want people to come here,’” he noted. “For those who have faith, and believe that this woman is the mother of God, they cannot fail to respond to that invitation. It’s just like when the mother of family calls the family members together for something important.”
Father Zambelli, who has been rector of the Sanctuary of our Lady of Lourdes since June 2003, will journey to New Mexico to visit El Santuario de Chimayó in the Espanola Valley, which is often referred to as the Lourdes of America.
Father Zambelli noted the importance of the Denver Lourdes Marian Center, calling it similar to an “embassy” or “enclave” of the Lourdes shrine itself.
Alicia Ortega, a volunteer at the center, said she would like to eventually visit Lourdes, but for the time being derives great satisfaction from her volunteer time at the center. “I feel like the Blessed Virgin is there,” she said.