Formation, Training, and Commitment

You don't need any special skills to do a stage, just a willingness to work, and a desire to enter into the 'spirit of Lourdes'. You don't have to be Catholic or Christian, though obviously stage work is a very practical way of living the Gospel; loving God and our neighbour.

It's not necessary to speak French, though a basic knowledge of that or any other language is of course useful. Any languages that you are confident about speaking can be indicated on your stagiaire's badge by flags. The groups you work in are international, and naturally English is an international language spoken all over Lourdes.

As well as spending our social time together, the men and women on stage are increasingly involved in joint work, such as directing and taking part in processions. During your first four years, stagiaires must take part in the formation (a type of stage training, formerly known as école) twice in the week. This provides both practical training, and an overview of the spirituality of Lourdes. The formation classes are taught in English, when an English speaking formateur is present (which is usually the case). There are no exams and plenty of opportunity for interaction and discussion. Usual topics for discussion include: our attitudes to the sick; the symbolism of the grotto and its water; a tour of the places where Bernadette lived; the history of the domain; Christian approaches to suffering; etc.

In recent years, after a campaign on our part going back to at least 1973, the Lourdes Hospitalité has a developed a course of training for stagiaires. In part, this includes, as it clearly should, technical training: how you lift a pilgrim, how to transfer them from a blue chaise to a voiture, or from a train to the platform. These are required for our old friends Health and Safety, and for insurance purposes (not to mention the comfort of sick pilgrims). Deeper than that, however, runs the training for those who do not really know Lourdes, or who need to understand it better; there are sessions for stagiaires in each of their first four years, appropriately graded. In the first year, they get the absolute basics: finding out where everything is (including the toilets – for you will be asked, several times a day, where they are), how the Hospitalité works, and an introduction to the spirituality of service that should animate us all. There are various expeditions, for example in the steps of that redoubtable figure Bernadette Soubirous, who said she saw the Lady in the rock. In subsequent years the work of formation takes stagiaires deeper into the mystery of Lourdes, building on what has gone before. This all reaches its climax on the Wednesday of each week, when those who are making their “engagement”, their definitive incorporation into the Hospitalité, make a prayerful retreat, assisted by their Formateurs, to ponder the step that they are about to undertake.

Your first stage is known as the anneé d’accueil (reception year). After this you become a hospitalier auxiliaire, for years 2, 3 and 4. After the reception year and three stages of formation Christians can apply in their 4th year to make an engagement into the Hospitalité. The following year (5th), after approval from the Council, you are presented with the silver medal on blue ribbon you may have seen, when you voluntarily make a promise to commit yourself to the service of the assisted pilgrims, specifically by coming on stage regularly (according to your possibilities). This medal is a dedication, not a decoration, and a sign that you are at the service of anyone who may call on you in Lourdes. This isn’t the end of your service, but the beginning of a deeper commitment. After a period of further formation‘titulaires’ can make an engagement into the church—a more spiritual commitment with no outward insignia.

One thing you learn from stage is the ability to adapt and change. The arrangements for accommodation, the masses, and how the HNDL functions, change year after year. The information in this letter is accurate to the best of my knowledge. One thing is always true however - no matter how much fuss and kafuffle there may seem to be sometimes, the desire to serve our sick sisters and brothers always remains the most important thing.

Once you’ve become a titulaire member of the HNDL, you are asked to pay an annual 15€ cotisation to help cover administrative costs and pay for the Lettre de l’Hospitalité (see further information in these pages) which you’ll receive three times a year. You may become a member of the Association of British Members of the HNDL, and be invited to an annual reunion in the winter.

Printable format