Nursing Students Have the ‘Experience of a Lifetime’ on Lourdes Pilgrimage

Nancy and Craig Gibson P '20

The Gibsons’ support for student nurses on the pilgrimage stems from their experience at Villanova in 2016 when their daughter, Caroline ’20 BSN, MSN, FNP-C, began her education at the College with then-Connelly Endowed Dean and Professor of Nursing M. Louise Fitzpatrick, EdD, RN, FAAN.

“Dean Fitzpatrick was incredibly helpful in Caroline’s journey at Villanova, and we talked with her about going to Lourdes,” said Nancy. “It was something Dean Fitzpatrick said she would love to do but was never able to get there.”

Having chaired the Order’s pilgrimage in 2017 and participated for many years, the Gibsons had seen a few other schools successfully integrate student nurses and believed it could work for Villanova.

“We knew this was of great interest to Dean Fitzpatrick,” said Craig, “and covering the students’ expense was an extraordinary way we could express our deep gratitude to the institution and to her—first in her honor and then in her memory [Dean Fitzpatrick passed away in 2017]—for all the good that she brought to Villanova.”

Madison and Kylie served as medical volunteers, spending each day from early morning into the evening with their malades (“sick person” in French), deeply involved in every facet of care as they assisted the medical team of physicians and nurses. Madison said she gained a profound and unique perspective of spiritual and physical healing from caring for her malade and learning from the medical team.

“This was truly the experience of a lifetime, uplifting my faith and inspiring my spirit,” she said, “I am so grateful for the opportunity.”

The weeklong schedule featured the signature events of a Lourdes Pilgrimage, highlighted by a visit to the Grotto of Massabielle, where the first of 18 apparitions of the Virgin Mary appeared in 1958 to a young woman who would go on to become St. Bernadette, as well as a stop at the Sanctuary Baths for the sprinkling of water and Anointing Mass. They also walked in the Candlelight Procession with thousands of other visitors as they came together holding candles while they processed around the sanctuary and recited the rosary. 

Caroline Gibson ’20 BSN, MSN, FNP-C

For the first time this year, Caroline, a nurse at South Boston Community Health Center, joined her parents and the Villanova Nurses on the Order’s pilgrimage, serving as a medical team member.

“This trip changed my life for the better, in ways I never could have imagined,” she said. “The ability to interact with the malades and their caregivers on such an intimate and personal level each day, while also being able to practice medicine in its original form—no charting, IV machines beeping, provider's orders or Pyxis machines to dispense medications—was a true blessing and an honor. I felt such a connection to my nursing career.

“The trip reminded me of why I wanted to be a nurse in the first place: to help others, to advocate for others and to be present with others at the most vulnerable times in their lives.”

Although they were assigned to different medical teams, Caroline and her parents checked in often with the Villanova student nurses.

“They were both fantastic—eager, kind, and caring,” said Caroline. “It was very evident that they were excited to be a part of the trip and were willing to lend a hand anywhere necessary. … It was a privilege to meet each of them and to be able to go through this experience for the first time together. I look forward to reuniting with them, and all the other student nurses, in the many years to come.”