In Lourdes the Virgin is so close to us!

On February 11, 2017, Cardinal Parolin, sent as papal legate in Lourdes, France, for the Day of the Sick and explained what a ‘papal legate’ is: "It is the highest way to represent the Holy Father. In legal terms, it is as if the Pope himself were visiting a place."

Pope Francis, Cardinal Parolin stated, "is especially close to the sick." In Lourdes, he said, "what strikes me is to see the faith of people; that is what has always struck me here. In addition to healing, the ill people ask to be able to accept the situation of frailty that they are experiencing, and offer it up. It is the summit of the Christian experience ... to be like Jesus on the Cross."

The message of Lourdes, he added, is "the message of closeness to the person who suffers": "The Virgin who is close and who invites us to be close to all people who are sick (including) those who suffer from mental illness." It is a "closeness to sinners" because "the most serious illness is sin."

Zenit