France: First digital pilgrimage hosted by Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine

As global coronavirus cases have surpassed 13 million, Lourdes Shrine offered a digital pilgrimage on July 16, 2020, to pray for the sick on the anniversary of its final Marian apparition.

The Marian Shrine livestreamed the Rosary in 10 languages, Mass for multiple time zones, and a procession with the relics of Saint Bernadette. Lourdes has been known as a shrine for the sick for more than a century. The shrine contains a spring that is said to have miraculous healing properties. July 16th marked the date of the 18th and final apparition at the Lourdes’ grotto in 1858. Saint Bernadette said of the event: “I saw only the Blessed Virgin. I have never seen her look so beautiful.”

After months without pilgrims, the Shrine is facing a forecasted loss of $9 million and is struggling to preserve the jobs of its 320 employees, who have already shortened their hours. Msgr Olivier Ribadeau Dumas, rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, launched an appeal upon the Shrine’s reopening.

“For 162 years, Lourdes has been a place of friendship centered on the poor and sick, an unparalleled school of life, service and prayer. It is a spiritual jewel that never ceases to give meaning and hope to our lives,” he said. “The resources of the Shrine are reliant on the pilgrims who visit the site. Without them, without their offerings and donations, Lourdes cannot exist… It is therefore a real call for help that the Shrine is sending out to all those who love Lourdes and who consider this place to be part of our spiritual heritage,” he said.

The Lourdes Shrine typically receives three million international pilgrims and visitors each year, including more than 50,000 sick and disabled people. All pilgrimages were canceled during the two months that the Marian Shrine was closed and safety measures and travel restrictions have limited the number of people able to visit last summer. 

“The countless testimonies and prayer intentions that have come to us confirm that the role of the Shrine is to be a beating heart of prayer for the world and with the world,” Msgr Dumas said.

Adapted from Catholic News Agency