Today marks the one week countdown until my concert at All Saints Episcopal Church in Kapa‘a, Kaua‘i with the Kauai Chorale, directed by Shane Morris Wise. First, however, I have to get through a weekend with four services beginning tonight with a Procession and Solemn Mass for the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. I’m playing a prelude on “A maiden most gentle” by Andrew Gant, the tune of which I’ve known for years because of the choral arrangement by Andrew Carter.

Then, last year while I walked in the procession at Lourdes with my sister Doris MacDonald and friend, Bill Potter, we sang the “Ave Maria” and raised our candles:

Here’s what I wrote about the Lourdes experiences last October:

The most memorable part of the day, however, was the Marian torchlight procession which takes place every night from April to the end of October. (Whew, we just made it!) I tried to find out how many people nightly make this procession, but couldn’t find a number—I would take a wild guess and say there were about 10,000 people here tonight.

The prayers and the rosary were said and music was sung throughout the procession, which lasted a little more than an hour. There were soooo many people (!) and it seemed like it took forever to walk around the basilica. Several times the crowd raised their candles and torches high (“Ave, ave, ave Maria… ave, ave, ave Maria”). At one point, we walked in figure eights, back and forth, winding our way back into the large square. Many languages were spoken, Spanish and French, of course, but also German, Italian, Russian, and several others I couldn’t identify.

Here’s what I found on the internet: If you come to Lourdes, you have to do the Marian torchlight procession. Ever since the apparitions, crowds have flocked to the Grotto with candles, responding to the Virgin Mary’s invitation to “come here in procession”. During this procession, there is a fervour, an impetus which arises from this ocean of light, from the presence of people from all over the world, who pray in different languages ​​to Mary. You have to experience it for yourself. The statue of Our Lady of Lourdes is carried in procession through the Sanctuary: each person implores her to watch over their family and loved ones.

Yesterday, I said ‘goodbye’ to this:

Yes … an ordinary paper cutter! But thirty-seven years ago, this is what I wrote in our annual Christmas letter:

“You say he has a WHAT on his finger??” the night nurse asked incredulously. Stephen Crosier, being a naturally inquisitive child, decided to put his middle finger in a small hole located in the metal handle of a paper cutter. His mother tried traditional home remedies such as soap, even ice, but the finger and screaming child would not budge. The boy was finally freed from the paper cutter with no bones broken, although the doctor insisted on xrays. Those wondering how the feat was accomplished may be relieved to learn that it took “a lot of Vaseline and a lot of force. (Ouch!)”

I had to throw out the paper cutter this week when I discovered it was full of termites and there were droppings underneath. Good riddance!