TIME, as we all know, is of the essence. The latest news from Lourdes would have us believe that even Our Lady is carrying a stop watch and that pilgrims had better come equipped with skates, electronic time keepers and pep pills as well as their rosary beads.
Stations of the Cross at the famed Marian shrine now have to be booked in advance, and, according to instruction leaflets, must keep within a three minute limit: this includes, according to the aforementioned pamphlet, pilgrims' moving from one station to the next.
But some grumbling has been heard amongst the hordes of the faithful who travel yearly to this most popular of shrines: will the tempo prove too fast-paced for the thousands of sick who come to Lourdes?