Saint Mary Magdalene Novena Pilgrimage – July 2014

Paula Lawlor is pleased to be able to offer the Novena Pilgrimage again this year, from July 19-29, 2014 over the Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene.

Itinerary

Day 1 — Saturday, July 19, 2014

Transport from Marseille Airport to Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume, where we will stay in a Provence apartment close to the Basilique Sainte-Marie-Madeleine. After lunch we will begin our Novena to Saint Mary Magdalene. We will attend the opening of Adoratio2014—“Divine Mercy and Eucharistic Adoration” at the school of Mary Magdalene at the Basilique Sainte-Marie-Madeleine. The opening evening 6 pm Mass will be celebrated by His Excellency Dominique Rey, bishop of Fréjus-Toulon. After dinner with others attending Adoratio2014 we will participate in the solemn procession of the relics of Saint Mary Magdalene through the town of Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume accompanied by singing and prayers.

Novena to Saint Mary Magdalene – Day 1

 

Day 2 — Sunday, July 20, 2014

After breakfast at the apartment we will attend the 10:30 am Solemn Mass for the elevation of the relics of St. Cedonius, whom according to tradition is the man born blind and healed in Chapter 9 of the Gospel of John. Bishop Dominique Rey will preside and preach the Mass. After lunch with others attending Adoratio2014 we will drive to the Hostellerie-de-la-Sainte-Baume and check in. This hostellerie, which is run by the Dominicans, will be our home for the next six days. We will have a little tour of the hostellerie, chapel, bookshop, cemetery and the grounds. Later we’ll meet behind the hostellerie and together we will pray our Novena to Saint Mary Magdalene. We will have dinner at the hostellerie restaurant and then early to bed.

Novena to Saint Mary Magdalene – Day 2

 

Day 3 — Monday, July 21, 2014

Breakfast at the hostellerie restaurant and then drive to Marseille where we will have a panoramic view of the city and the port from Basilique Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde. Visit Abbaye de Saint-Victor where St. Lazarus preached and heard confessions and stop at Four des Navettes—for 200 years they have been making the specialty “Navette,” a hard biscuit in the shape of a boat, flavoured with orange blossom. We’ll have lunch at Au Vieux Clocher in Le Panier (the old city) and then walk to Place de Lenche, where Lazarus was imprisoned and beheaded, and then to Trieze Cantons where Mary Magdalene first preached in Marseille. We’ll visit Cathédrale Sainte-Marie-Majeure to see Lazarus’ skull. We will visit Savonnerie Marseillaise de la Licorne and see how they make the famous “Marseille soap” with olive oil. We’ll have a light dinner and then attend the 6:30 pm Mass at Église Saint-Vincent-de-Paul – hopefully celebrated by Fr. Michel-Marie Zanotti-Sorkine, and then drive back to the hostellerie after Mass.

Novena to Saint Mary Magdalene – Day 3

 

Day 4 — Tuesday, July 22, 2014 — Feast Day of Saint Mary Magdalene

We will climb the mountain through the forest to La Sainte-Baume, the Cave of Saint Mary Magdalene, with several hundred pilgrims in a special Feast Day Procession led by the Dominican brothers who will carry the relics (her tibia & hair) with them. In 1295 Pope Boniface VIII entrusted the Dominican Order with the care of the relics and the Dominicans took Saint Mary Magdalene as co-patroness of their Order. The Dominicans have guarded these relics ever since. After the 11 am Mass in the Cave we will come down the mountain to have a picnic lunch served outside on the prairie. There will be some time to relax in the afternoon on the grounds of the hostellerie and then have dinner at the hostellerie restaurant.

Novena to Saint Mary Magdalene – Day 4

 

Day 5 — Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Breakfast at the hostellerie restaurant and then drive to the Basilique Sainte-Marie-Madeleine at St.-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume for 11 am Mass presided by Fr. Florian Racine. the pastor and also founder of Missionaries of the Most Holy Eucharist. We’ll have lunch with those attending Adoratio2014 and then return to the basilique at 3 pm for the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. After the Chaplet there will be a special teaching on Divine Mercy and Healing by Sr. Briege McKenna (from Ireland). Fr. David Nugent, a Missionary of the Most Holy Eucharist will teach Divine Mercy and the Sacrament of Confession and Sr. Briege McKenna will lead a Prayer for Priests. We will have dinner with the Adoratio2014 group and after dinner enjoy an Evening of Mercy by Sr. Briege McKenna. Then we will drive back to the hostellerie.

Novena to Saint Mary Magdalene – Day 5

 

Day 6 — Thursday, July 24, 2014

After breakfast we’ll drive to the fabulous market in Aix-en-Provence, first stopping by Librairie le Blason to visit Rita in her lovely book store. Then we’ll visit Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur, which was built in the twelfth century on the site of an ancient temple dedicated to the sun god, Apollo. Saint Maximin and Saint Mary Magdalene erected a small chapel on this site dedicated to Jesus Christ (Saint-Sauveur). The baptistry in the Cathédrale, built in the fourth or fifth century, is one of the oldest in France. Hopefully we will make it to the 12:05 pm Mass at Saint-Jean-de-Malte (24 Rue d’Italie, 13100 Aix-en-Provence). A good map of the center city of Aix is provided in the art book you will receive – Love Affairs of Provence. After Mass you are free for a few hours to have lunch at the restaurant of your choice and enjoy the fabulous market. We’ll try to visit L’Église de la Madeleine where Paul Cézanne was baptized (if open – it has been going through renovation for years). Visit the grounds around Paul Cézanne’s house – Jas de Bouffan. Then we will drive back to the hostellerie for dinner.

Novena to Saint Mary Magdalene – Day 6

 

Day 7 — Friday, July 25, 2014

Breakfast at the hostellerie restaurant and afterwards we will spend a little time in the hostellerie gift shop. Drive to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, the place where the boat carrying Mary Magdalene and her companions landed in 47 AD. We’ll have a tour of the parish church where St. Mary Salome and St. Mary Jacobe lived (in the crypt) and see their relics along with those of St. Sara. We’ll dine at Brasserie Le Belvédère by the sea and then walk across to the Mediterranean Sea and put our feet in the water – imagine being there when Mary Magdalene’s boat landed. There is a little time for shopping in the village and then we will ride up the Rhône in a boat to get a nice view of the Camargue. In June 1888, Van Gogh took a 30-mile stagecoach ride from Arles to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer for a week long trip to recover from health problems. He made paintings of the seaside, of fishing boats, and of the village that you may know. We will go to the 6 pm Holy Mass in the Sanctuary of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer and then go to a pizzeria restaurant, L’Esperado, and have dinner, and then drive back to the hostellerie.

Novena to Saint Mary Magdalene – Day 7

 

Day 8 — Saturday, July 26, 2014 — Feast Day of Saint Ann

Today is a day of contemplation, prayer and solitude—nothing in particular is planned. We will have breakfast at the hostellerie restaurant and attend the 11:45 am Mass in the Chapel of the hostellerie. Then we’ll have lunch at Brasserie “La Terrasse,” next door. You may want to spend the afternoon in the Chapel of Saint Mary Magdalene, joining the Dominicans in their seven daily prayers—Matines, Laudes, Mass, Eucharist, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Vespers and Complines. Or you could walk the grounds of the hostellerie and visit the cemetery and the lower forest. You may want to wander in the forest or go back up to La Sainte-Baume to Mary Magdalene’s Cave for a more quiet, personal visit with her… and go all the way up to Chapel St. Pilon, where Mary Magdalene was raised up seven times a day by angels. We will have dinner at the hostellerie restaurant and pack our bags so we are ready to leave in the morning.

Novena to Saint Mary Magdalene — Day 8

 

Day 9 — Sunday, July 27, 2014 — Saint Mary Magdalene—Feast Day Mass

After breakfast at the hostellerie we’ll drive to Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume to take part in the welcoming for the feast and the procession into the Basilique for the 10:30 am Feast Day Mass. After Mass we will celebrate with the people of the town in front of the Basilique, then check in to our same Provence apartment in the center of town and have lunch. We’ll return to the Basilique for a talk on the “Life of Saint Mary Magdalene” and then follow the procession of Saint Mary Magdalene and the Saints of Provence through the streets of the town. At the end of the long day we will have a nice Provençal dinner.

Novena to Saint Mary Magdalene — Day 9

Feast Day celebration

Saint Mary Magdalene’s skull in a gold reliquary

Les Saints de Provence

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Day 10 — Monday, July 28, 2014

If there is an early Mass in the basilique we will go, and then have an early breakfast in our Provence apartment and drive to Tarascon and begin our tour at the statue of La Tarasque—according to legend, St. Martha was able to tame this beast that lived by the Rhône and had been terrorizing the people. Holy water and a crucifix were her only weapons. Then we’ll visit Collégiale Sainte-Marthe where the remains of Saint Martha are kept. Across the street is King René d’Anjou’s castle. We’ll drive to Arles and have lunch and stop by Le Café Van Gogh (Vincent Van Gogh painted the café in 1888). And we’ll visit the Primatiale Saint-Trophime just around the corner. Then we will take the Van Gogh walking tour. We will see many different places that he painted. We’ll have a little time for shopping in Arles and then we’ll drive back to our Provence apartment in Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume where we will have our last dinner together.

 

Day 11 — Tuesday, July 29, 2014 — Feast Day of Saint Martha

We’ll have breakfast at our Provence apartment, then pack our bags, check out of the apartment and drive to the hostellerie for the 11:45 am Mass in the Chapel of the hostellerie. Then we’ll have lunch at Brasserie “La Terrasse,” next door and then take some time to say our goodbyes to La Sainte-Baume from the prairie below. We will drive to the Marseille Airport in the afternoon to fly home. Our Novena Pilgrimage has come to an end. We are sure you have gotten to know Saint Mary Magdalene in a very special way, and hope you have also enjoyed the Saints and traditions of Provence.