Adapting to Eternal Life

Pilgrims come from all over the world. From the North, South, East, West, other European countries, and even far away.

The Pilgrimages of Heaven in November

I discovered the Pilgrimage of Heaven at the Shrine in November, a few days before November 1st. It was a great discovery. My first question was: “What is the Pilgrimage of Heaven? Someone explained to me that it was a process offered to pilgrims to enable them to gather together, to pray, whether for a deceased person, for themselves or for the deceased in general, and above all for the neglected souls in purgatory, in order to allow them to gain access to eternal life.

Pilgrims come from all over the world. From the North, the South, the East, the West, other European countries, and even far away. I’ve greeted people from Los Angeles. As I speak English, I was able to converse with them. It was very moving.

I also learned a lot from the celebrations. I won’t go into details. Where I come from, we don’t celebrate Mass in Latin. I’ve learned it at the Shrine, and I celebrated the whole Mass in Latin. It’s a discovery. It’s a plus for me, to become a good priest – why not.

As a priest and as a Christian, my goal remains the same: to become holy. That’s why God created us. God’s glory is to see us walk towards that holiness. This conviction was with me in everything I did at the Shrine.

I lived on those lines for the the whole month of November, from November 1 to the end of the month. It was very intense. I was surrounded by Congolese, Beninese, Malians, Ivorians and Togolese and felt at home. This fraternal presence carried me. It gave me great inner joy.

People come to the Shrine to cry and find solace

What struck me, however, was the reason for which they came. People don’t come to the Shrine for miracles. They don’t come for powerful prayers, or any form of glory. They come to mourn. They come for their dead, for loved ones who are no longer here. So, above all, they seek consolation. They come with a hope, a thirst for eternal life. And we learn this simply by listening to them.

When I hear these people speak, I understand that they are very hopeful. They hope that life will go on differently. This hope was a great lesson for me. It also nourished the way I am a priest today and tomorrow.

Now, adapt

One of the things that struck me was the temperature. In Lomé, it was over thirty degrees. When I arrived at Roissy, it was thirteen degrees. It was a real shock. I said to myself: “You’re not at home anymore, so adapt.” I tried to adapt psychologically in the first place, and then my body followed. Then there were the people, the crowds, the travelling. It was my first time in France. I was on my own. I had to leave the airport, take the tube to Montparnasse, then the train to Nogent-le-Rotrou, the nearby train station. People were moving fast, from left to right. I suffered a bit. I wasn’t comfortable.

But I kept telling myself: “Frédéric, you’re no longer at home. When you leave your culture, everything changes: the weather, the geography, habits, relationships. It’s uncomfortable. So what do you do? Adapt. Learn to live as others live, eat what they eat.” For me, adaptation is a grace to ask for.

I believe that this ability to adapt prepares us for what lies ahead. No one has been able to see what eternal life is like. We read the Bible, we listen to spiritual testimonies, but we’ve never set foot in it. So asking for the grace to adapt to uncomfortable situations today is already preparing for that future reality. Eternal life is a good thing. So learning to adapt now is part of the way.

The Pilgrimages of Heaven take place every year in November

“Adaptation,
for me, is a grace to ask for.”