Along with conjuring quicksand beneath their neoprene boots in the Mont-Saint-Michel Bay during their guided walking tour, the Canadian Catholics on a familiarization (FAM) tour through the Normandy region of France are also weaving meaningful bonds of fellowship.

Notably, seven of the 12 pilgrims on this journey, organized by Connaissance Travel and Tours, are priests.

For Fr. Marc-André Campbell, the pastor of St. Isaac Jogues Parish in Pickering, Ont., the highlight four days into the pilgrimage has been cherishing the adventure together with his fellow priests and the lay members of the group.

Advertisement

“You can travel on your own, or you can travel with friends, but coming together as a group that does not necessarily know each other intimately, and finding commonalities, bonding and sharing experiences (is special),” said Campbell. “The pilgrimage is not just a tourist experience or going from one place to another. The journey is a pretext, and it leads to interior discoveries as well.”

Fr. Carlo Diaz, associate pastor of St. Michael’s Parish in Oakville, Ont., is also appreciating the opportunity to get to know more about both the priests and the non-priests on this trip. Additionally, the cleric ordained nearly three years ago is savouring the unexpected gift of gaining wisdom from the more veteran priests in his midst.

“I’m learning from their experience as priests, and that is something I really see as a blessing I’m receiving freely,” said Diaz. “It is not something that I was seeking. Well, I was seeking, like desiring in my heart, but it was not something I thought I was going to find here.”

Day three of the pilgrimage, Feb. 6, began with a visit to the Museum of Fine Arts and Lace in Alençon for a tour and lace-making demonstration. The skill required to make Alençon stitch lace became so renowned over time that the rare technique was inscribed onto UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity representative list in 2010.

Diaz’s interest in the demonstration stemmed in part from memories of his grandmother and mother lacing during his childhood in Mexico before moving to Canada when he was in Grade 6. He knew that his grandmother’s grandfather was French, so he pondered if there was a French connection to why she began this craft.

Humourously, the various designs showcased during the visit made such an impression that Diaz — and a couple of his fellow pilgrims — were seeing things that reminded them of lace for hours after they left the museum.

Advertisement

“After seeing all the different patterns so close, I was able to see it like ‘oh, my goodness, this looks like lace, that looks like lace,' ” said Diaz. “And the one that was really funny was the black piece in the dessert.”

Other activities on day three included a tasting of Norman Calvados and gin at the Domaine du Coquerel distillery and a visit to the Scriptorial Museum of Avranches, the sole museum in all of France dedicated to the preservation of ancient manuscripts. The crown jewel of the collection is the manuscripts of the Abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel.

The final day three experience was a visit to the Treasury of Saint-Gervais Basilica to behold the relic of St. Aubert, a bishop of Avranches during the eighth century.

In 708, Aubert received a vision in which the Archangel Michael bid him to build an oratory in his honour on Mont Tombe, a rocky island at the mouth of the Couesnon River. Aubert initially dismissed the vision as a dream. Aubert hesitated when he experienced the vision a second time, so on the third night, in apparent exasperation, Michael poked him in the head and ordered him to complete the task. There is a hole in Aubert’s skull where the archangel touched him.

Visiting the abbey and village of Mont-Saint-Michel was anticipated by many of the pilgrims on the trip. The experience did not disappoint the first timers like Diaz or returning visitors such as Campbell.

“It is better to visit as a group when there are fewer people around compared to when I came in May a couple of years ago, when it was high season,” said Campbell. “I don’t recall that we had a guide. We did more of a self-tour. Having a guide who shares the history and gives the inside perspective is useful.”

The tour guide offered compelling information about the lifestyle of the monks and sisters who have graced Mont-Saint-Michel, provided interesting facts about the religious statues and overviewed how the usage of the abbey and the tidal island as a whole has changed throughout history. For example, it served as a fortress that withstood a siege of 30 years from English forces during the Hundred Years War (1337-1453), and in the years following the French Revolution (1789-1799), until 1863, it functioned as a state prison. For a time, Mont-Saint-Michel became known as Bastille des Mers (Bastille of the Sea).

Diaz, who studied environmental science at the University of Windsor before answering the call to the priesthood, was fascinated by the architecture.

Advertisement

“I was really surprised that you couldn’t really see the rock in a natural state, and it was already built in the church form,” said Diaz. “It was like it was carved out of the rock, but I don’t think it was carved — it was just built, bits and pieces. I was (also) surprised by how it was the same material, but it was built throughout centuries. It was the progress of humanity with nature.”

The bay itself provided environmental wonders for Diaz and the pilgrims to explore during the guided walking tour. They observed tidal patterns, flora and fauna and enjoyed watching the experienced bay guide, Anne-Laure, extricate herself from quicksand almost up to her knees.