motorcycle madonna

From this evening's news:

Last week, thousands of American motorcyclists descended upon the town of Sturgis, South Dakota, for the largest motorcycle rally in the United States. Today in France, more than 20,000 French motorcyclists gathered in the Breton town of Porcaro to ask for protection from the Virgin Mary. Gathered around her statue, priests blessed the people as they processed on their bikes, just as they have done for nearly 30 years. The tradition was started by a priest who was a motorcycle enthusiast, and introduced "Madonna of the Motorcyclists" ...

In the French Pyrenees, 30,000 pilgrims of the more traditional sort gathered today in Lourdes to drink or bathe in the spring water there. It's famous for its miracle cures. Most of the pilgrims are Catholics, and many of them are ill and/or disabled. The Lourdes story begins in 1858, when a poor 14-year-old French girl saw a ghostly woman in white, in a shallow cave near the town. Over a month, Bernadette Soubirous saw the woman eight times. The vision said she was the Virgin Mary, she said she wanted a chapel built on the site and for people to come in procession, and she revealed that spring. From the very early days, the spring water showed miraculous qualities. First, a woman with a paralyzed had was healed. This was followed by more cures, and the crowds haven't stopped since.

Curiosity has me wishing I'd been at both places today.