Notre Dame de la Guarde

Pam read to me from her app on things to do in the city as Pam and I sat on the bus to Marseille. Apparently there was this big church on a hill that would be cool to visit, along with the Old Port area and did you know that  it's the second largest city in France after Paris and the third largest metropolitan area after Paris and Lyon and therefore, I've been to the three biggest cities in France? Yeah, France planning win.

So we decided that we'd venture up to the church on the hill and walk around the Vieux Port and just in general see what was up in Marseille. It'd been warm in the south of France so armed with nothing more than our water bottles, sunglasses and purses, we began our walk around the city, following signs and tramping through backstreets and alleys to begin the climb up the hill.

You can see the church on the way into the city. In fact, you can see it forty miles out to sea. You can definitely see it from the islands in the bay of Marseille, because Alexandre Dumas talks about it on the first page of the Count of Monte Cristo. The big thing you think is maybe a cross from far away becomes Mary and Jesus, waving people into the city, blessing all who call on them.

That's a big church on a hill. It's funny how this...

turns into this.

And from what I can read of Our Lady of the Guard, it's been a spot for many people to come and be blessed. There are ships, many ships, people and football teams that all have left their thanks to Our Lady of the Guard along the walls of the church. 

It's also a place of pilgrimage on the day of the Assumption, which is in August, I think. (All of these sainty-festivally-feasty things will be categorized and clarified [or at least linked to] in a future post, I promise.) It's a pretty cool church even without all of the remembrances of the people who've past inside. It's in the Neo-Byzantine style, which means it takes elements from the eastern church into its design. I notice Byzantine things the same way I notice Moorish influences- the striped arches, though these don't look like they came from Agrabah. The golden domes are a pretty good giveaway as well. The crypt, though, is Romanesque. 

Gasp! Not pointed arches! It... it can't be Gothic. How will I know what it is???

I thought I had pictures of the crypt, but that's actually Notre Dame de Fourviere in Lyon, another church on a hill with a big statue of Mary on it. See? See how confusing it is?

I don't even know where I am anymore and Jesus is picking Mary's nose! What is the world coming to?

It was a pretty cool church, with plenty of nautical themed decorations in the interior and exterior.

This is awesome. I've seen it in other places as well, but it is still awesome here.

We walked around the outside to view the city and then up to the gift shop because, hey, why not. Also, they might have water there. And, as if just to disprove my righteous disapproval of gift shops, I had a moment flipping through the prayers on the tall turning card holder more profound than any moment in the crowded basilica.

I ran across the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi. It was in French, but I ran down the lines of the familiar prayer, not needing a translation. 

Seigneur, faites de moi un instrument de votre paix.
Là où il y a de la haine, que je mette l'amour.
Là où il y a l'offense, que je mette le pardon.
Là où il y a la discorde, que je mette l'union.
Là où il y a l'erreur, que je mette la vérité.
Là où il y a le doute, que je mette la foi.
Là où il y a le désespoir, que je mette l'espérance.
Là où il y a les ténèbres, que je mette votre lumière.
Là où il y a la tristesse, que je mette la joie.
Ô Maître, que je ne cherche pas tant à être consolé qu'à consoler, à être compris qu'à comprendre, à être aimé qu'à aimer, car c'est en donnant qu'on reçoit, c'est en s'oubliant qu'on trouve, c'est en pardonnant qu'on est pardonné, c'est en mourant qu'on ressuscite à l'éternelle vie.

It's a prayer to which I've always been partial, words that I've often thought were the best prayer I could pray. Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. Where there is hatred, let me bring love. Where there is injury, let me bring pardon. Where there is discord, let me bring union; wrong, truth; doubt, faith; despair, hope; darkness, Your light; sadness, joy. Grant that I might not seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love because it is in giving that we receive, searching that we find, in pardoning that we are pardoned and dying that we are given eternal life. It throws me back to a different faith than the one I hold right now. And it's not often that one climbs up a hill to only find themselves at the top. 

So we walked back down the hill past scenes from the gospel carved into the stone of the wall down the sidewalk. Pam made up a song about our trip to the church on the hill in Marseille and I thought about the other people we've been that we meet on mountaintops, and the people we leave behind. And I don't need a card to remember a prayer. But it helps.