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I read a very 😀 nice article in a French newspaper about Sister Clarissa who organized the first pilgrimage by bicycle and it was a Huge Succes. I myself am not religious, but I do love these kind of stories and initiatives. You can't buy happiness but you can ride a bicycle ! Enjoy this story about
Sister Clarissa sets off every summer to cycle alone for 7 to 10 days and has now organized the first womens pilgrimage.
She is 52 years old young and has cycled thousands of kilometers. This energetic nun from the Congregation of the Apostolic Sisters of Saint John loves her bicycle, which she likes to use whenever she can. "I ride to all my appointments in town and when I speak at the prayer school in Beaugency. On Mondays, my day off, I sometimes take my bike." A passion she shares with six of the eight sisters who live with her at the Maison de Béthanie in Saint-Jean-le-Blanc, France.
"My father was very sporty. When I was young, I played ping-pong, competitively, football, I swam and cycled. And when I was working (before entering the priesthood), I cycled 20 to 30 km a day. But it wasn't until I was 35 that I enjoyed cycling. It's no longer speed that counts, but endurance. The bicycle I ride was a gift from a friend. I don't want an e-bike because I want to be independent, to capture nature, to observe it, to smell the air : it's my relaxation !"
But it is also a time that nourishes her relationship with God: "In the summer, we always have a week of silence. I asked permission, 7 or 8 years ago, to do it by bike, alone. I went to the Netherlands, to Italy as far as Assisi, to Austria, to Germany and to Brest to the Mont Saint-Michel."
With her special outfit and helmet she for sure raises a few smiles. She believes in God, and in a good bicyclelock.
Her bicycle enjoys the rides to.
On a Saturday she and her group of female cyclists started for the first women's cycling pilgrimage. They headed for Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire, then cycled to Bouzy-la-Fort where they spent the night. On the sunday they returned via Combleux, along the canal, always cycling on safe roads. They made some 100 kms over the weekend.
But the question 🤔 that remains is : how 🤔 does she 🤔 manage to keep her habit 🤔 out of the chain 🤔 and gears ???
⏫