The Pilgrimage of Lourdes
In 1854, in Lourdes, a small village in the Hautes-Pyrénées, the Virgin Mary appears to a young girl, Bernadette Soubirous, eighteen times over six months. The young Bernadette came from a very poor family and was illiterate. As the apparitions progressed, the number of believers increased. The grotto where the Virgin appeared quickly became a place of pilgrimage.
A chapel was then built, which would become a basilica. 70 miraculous healings have taken place at the spring discovered by Bernadette Soubirous. This is one of the reasons that attracts all these pilgrims. They can pray near the Grotto of Massabielle, in the sanctuary or in the basilicas of the Immaculate Conception or of the Rosary. Lourdes is located at the foot of the Pyrenees.
Indeed, it is the first and largest French Catholic pilgrimage, Lourdes welcomes between 4 and 6 million pilgrims each year. Christians flock to touch the grotto where the holy Virgin Mary appeared, to pray to her for her graces, or even to bathe in the waters of the spring uncovered by Saint Bernadette Soubirous at the request of the Savior's mother. Going on a pilgrimage to Lourdes is therefore a truly personal journey.
The Different Pilgrimages
Pilgrimage of the Alliance
"Many people feel isolated in their situation. Married, then separated, they nevertheless seek to move forward with the Lord. They choose to remain alone, but wonder about the sacrament they received and God's action in their lives. In Lourdes, these people seeking, these pilgrims, will move, let Providence work, see their hearts open to rediscover the beauty and graces of the sacrament of marriage which gives life and connects them with the Lord," says Emmanuel Houssin, director of the first Pilgrimage of the Alliance, which took place from April 6 to 8, 2024. This pilgrimage gathered 150 people in a marital breakdown. This first national Pilgrimage of the Alliance had the theme "The Lord always remembers His covenant" (Psalm 104).
The Pilgrimage of the Alliance will take place from March 28 to 30, 2025.
Pilgrimage of the Order of Malta
The Order of Malta exercises its vocation, summarized in its motto "Defence of the faith and assistance to the poor," in more than 120 countries around the world. The Order's pilgrimage gathers 44 nationalities from 5 continents. Fervor, joy, prayer, and recollection are systematically present at this gathering of several thousand pilgrims.
The pilgrimage will take place from May 2 to 6, 2025.
The International Military Pilgrimage
Each year, in May, the Bishop to the French Armed Forces gathers at Lourdes the great international military family, the "sentinels of peace" according to Pope Saint John Paul II.
Three days of pilgrimage are organized for personnel of the Ministry of the Armed Forces and their families. They are invited to come and meet Christ through the Virgin Mary. It is an opportunity for many soldier-pilgrims to receive the sacraments of reconciliation, the Eucharist, confirmation, the anointing of the sick, and sometimes even baptism.
The 65th International Military Pilgrimage will take place in Lourdes from May 16 to 18, 2025.
Pilgrimage of Motorcyclists
The sanctuary and the city of Lourdes welcome each year the pilgrimage of motorcyclists. This gathering is both a time of conviviality and fraternity and a time of prayer and recollection for the families and loved ones of motorcyclists. In 2024, the 32nd edition of this pilgrimage took place, gathering thousands of motorcycles.
The pilgrimage will take place on June 14 and 15, 2025.
Pilgrimage of the Assumptionists
During the 151st national pilgrimage, which took place in 2024, more than 7,000 Christians gathered. The next one will have the theme "Look at the star". This theme, which is fully anchored in the theme of the jubilee year of hope, is an invitation to follow Mary's path, to observe this star full of hope and love.
The national pilgrimage is for everyone. Indeed, there are organized groups for children and teenagers, others for the sick and people with disabilities, and others for parents or adults. It is also possible to participate in this pilgrimage as a helper (hospitalier), by serving as an aid for the sick or people with disabilities.
Pilgrims over 18 years old can also register for a pilgrimage with their region, for the mosaic pilgrimage, or for the pilgrimage of Eastern Christians. There is also a pilgrimage called "pélé Espoir" designed for adult pilgrims with a mental disability and also a pilgrimage set up for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
The pilgrimage will take place from August 11 to 16, 2025.
Italian National Pilgrimage
This national pilgrimage is organized by the Italian association UNITALSI and presided over by Archbishop Rocco Pennacchio, Archbishop of Fermo. Coming from all regions of Italy, this pilgrimage brought together about 4,000 people in September 2024. This pilgrimage has been taking place for 120 years.
UNITALSI is an association of Christians who have agreed to develop the spiritual life of its members and to set up an action of evangelization and apostolate for and with the sick and people with disabilities, through the work of volunteers.
Pilgrimage of the Rosary and the Gardians
For more than 115 years, the Pilgrimage of the Rosary offers, for three days each year, the grace of a powerful time of prayer and faith in their lives to thousands of pilgrims. It is a time of renewal for their spiritual life, a resurgence of fervor in their devotion to Our Lady.
The pilgrimage will take place from October 1 to 4, 2025.
Prayer of Pope Pius XII for the Pilgrims of Lourdes
"Docile to the invitation of your maternal voice, O Immaculate Virgin of Lourdes, we hasten to your feet near the humble grotto, where you deigned to appear to point out to the lost the path of prayer and penance and to dispense to the afflicted the graces and prodigies of your sovereign goodness.
Receive, O compassionate Queen, the praises and supplications, which peoples and nations, oppressed by bitterness and anguish, confidently raise to you.
O white Vision of Paradise, chase from minds the darkness of error with the light of Faith! O mystical Rose Garden, relieve souls overwhelmed by the heavenly perfume of Hope! O inexhaustible source of salutary water, revive arid hearts with the floods of divine Charity!
Grant that all of us, who are your children, comforted by you in our sorrows, protected in dangers, sustained in struggles, may love and serve your sweet Jesus so well that we may deserve the eternal joys near your throne in heaven. Amen."
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