Lourdes: a fascinating experience that speaks to the heart of the youth

Experiencing Lourdes speaks to young people, says Archbishop Bruno Forte, of Chieti-Vasto, Italy, in a talk he gave in 2017:

"I witnessed this when I took a hundred young people from the diocese on a pilgrimage there. They were all moved by Lourdes. Why is that? I can highlight three reasons: 
The first is the extraordinary experience of personal and common prayer at Lourdes: the beauty of the liturgy and songs, the evocative power of the afternoon Eucharistic procession and evening candlelight procession, the number of people from all over the world united in prayer and in prayerful silence before the grotto...all these things speak to the hearts of young people with a touching intensity.

Alongside prayer, there is the encounter with the sick, which stirs young people and literally transforms them: at Lourdes, the usual social order is overturned. The weak and the infirm take first place, and everything revolves around the loving service rendered to them: it's impressive to see how young people grasp this message and feel attracted by this reversal of the logic that the dominant consumerism and hedonism tend to impose.

Finally, at Lourdes, young people realize that they are brothers and sisters with the whole of humanity, of all cultures and walks of life: the skin colors of many pilgrims truly represent the human family in its diversity and common dignity as human persons, who are all children of the One God. At Lourdes, the folly of racist and xenophobic ideologies is revealed in its cultural and spiritual poverty, while we feel the importance of unity at the side of the Eternal God, and the importance of caring for others. 

A school of faith and service to others, Lourdes is also a great school of humanity carried out according to the plan of God, the Father of all."

Adapted from: A talk on Lourdes by Bruno Forte, archbishop of Chieti-Vasto, given on August 6, 2017

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