Everything you need to know about the pilgrimage to Mont-Saint-Michel 2026

This is a pilgrimage that seems to be on track! More than 500 pilgrims responded, in 2025 at the same time, to the first edition of the “Pilgrimage of all France to Mont-Saint-Michel”, to complete the 70 kilometers that separate Saint-Malo from the Norman sanctuary.

This national event is happening again this year, from May 8 to 10, 2026, for St. Michael’s Day. “In preparing the founding edition, I believed that pilgrims would come to the Mount, an emblematic place that makes people dream,” comments Brieuc Clerc, president of the lay association created for this occasion, with the support of the diocese of Coutances and Avranches, the sanctuary of the Mount and the Hozanna network.

“In fact, they came because they had a devotion to Saint Michael. They came because their families or their parishes nourished this devotion. They came because they carried heavy or important intentions for a member of their family. They wanted the intercession of Saint Michael and his power, even without always knowing its contours. »

A very positive outcome

“The results of the first edition are very positive,” continues Brieuc Clerc. The pilgrims came from the four corners of France (from Normandy, of course, but also from Brittany, the North, the East, the South-West, the South-East, the Paris region)… and even from Martinique, Canada and Italy! A good number of them came outside of any established group (parishes, families), and knew no one. They integrated very quickly, because there was a magnificent climate of solidarity and charity among the pilgrims. »

This is evidenced by numerous returns of miquelots, reported by the organizers. “How many graces received and exceptional moments experienced all together! », exclaims Briac. “An incredible pilgrimage, extremely well thought out and designed, very well managed, with joy, smiles and good humor,” adds Marie. “I was touched by the variety of people present, going up the column of pilgrims to confess,” remarks, for his part, one of the priests, Don Emmanuel Rousselin.

Some figures

A pilgrimage is not defined solely by numbers, but they are nevertheless eloquent: among the 500 pilgrims, 2 bishops, 8 priests, 9 speakers, 13 seminarians; 17 intergenerational chapters, from 9 to 72 years old; 15 hours of confession per day, 500 Saint Michael medals distributed to passers-by, 250 villagers and tourists met by the missionary chapter; without forgetting the 1,000 caramels and pancakes offered, and the 2,200 liters of drinking water… “And zero drops of rain but a rain of graces! », Add the organizers.

More than 700 pilgrims registered in 2026

As the old saying goes, “you don’t change a winning team.” So, this year, the forty volunteers gathered around Brieuc Clerc continued the course that had been set from the conception of this event: bringing together Catholics from all states and all religious sensibilities (early Christians, newbies, catechumens, people in search).

For these Christians united in their diversity, the organizers have concocted a program just as attractive as last year. On Friday May 8, 2026, a departure mass will be celebrated around 8 a.m. in Saint-Malo, then the pilgrimage will reach the priory of Ardevon in two days. During these days, a balance will be respected between walking times (25 km / day), prayer times and fraternal moments at the bivouacs.

A new feature: in homage to the pilgrimages of the shepherds (children who wandered towards the Mount in the Middle Ages), a “family” branch has been added, with an adapted itinerary and program (15 km / day). “And one month before the pilgrimage,” notes Brieuc Clerc, “we have more than 700 registered people. There will therefore be many more of us than for the first edition! »

At the school of the Desert Fathers… and Leo XIV

“Habemus Papam!” »: in 2025, one of the highlights of the pilgrimage was to witness the election of Pope Leo XIV live on screens. The pilgrims were marked by his first speech, during which the pope hammered home this affirmation: “God loves us, God loves you all, and evil will not prevail! » This is therefore the theme that will guide the prayer of pilgrims for the 2026 edition, thus responding to the Pope’s call to move forward together on a path of hope.

For this spiritual guidance, they will be accompanied by Mgr Bozo (Bishop of La Rochelle and Saintes), present throughout the pilgrimage; Mgr Grégoire Cador (bishop of Coutances), on Sunday; and Don Pierre Doat (rector of Mont-Saint-Michel and chaplain of the “Pilgrimage of Saint Michel” association). Finally, thanks to the presence of Brother Abiel (hermit-monk of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem), this pilgrimage will also learn from the Fathers of the Desert.

Saint Michael and spiritual combat

The archangel Michael is often represented as a warrior: in allusion to the episode of the Apocalypse where he wins victory against Satan, he brandishes a sword, slaying a dragon. “We must of course see it as an allegory of spiritual combat,” comments Don Pierre Doat, chaplain. Along with the unity of the Church, this is one of the two permanent themes of this event. »

Each year, new witnesses are invited to illustrate it. For the 2026 edition, there will be five: Anne-France de Boissière, coach and trainer in pastoral care (“Spiritual combat in right love of self”); Thomas and Victoire, witnesses in the film One flesh (“Spiritual combat, for two?”); Florian Dosne, author of My life at two extremes (“The spiritual combat in illness”) and Henri, criminal lawyer (“The spiritual combat between justice and charity”).

Two other workshops will be offered with Father Jean-Baptiste Golfier, canon of Lagrasse (“Know the angels better to love them better”) and Nolwenn Lacombe, of Anuncio (“Evangelize: a fight for the souls of my brothers”).

Arrival, an apotheosis

After two days of walking, the pilgrims will bivouac at the priory of Mont-Saint-Michel in Ardevon, five kilometers from Mont. “On Sunday, at daybreak,” underlines Mathilde Deneck, responsible for pastoral care of the pilgrimage, “we will have the privilege of being welcomed into the abbey church, before it opens to the public, for the closing mass presided over by Mgr Bozo. At the end of the service, pilgrims will receive a lead, a pilgrimage sign stamped with the effigy of Saint Michael, like the miquelots of the Middle Ages, and they will be able to pray in front of the statue of the archangel. »

This arrival at the top of the mountain, blue banners and standards with a white cross at the head, will surely be one of the highlights of the pilgrimage. Isn’t Mont-Saint-Michel, like all pilgrimage sanctuaries, a metaphor for the celestial Jerusalem?

Before resuming their daily lives – apparently the same but internally deeply shaken – the pilgrims will meet at the foot of the Mount for a last convivial lunch. They will undoubtedly never forget these three days lived outside of time, between Heaven and Earth: three days of friendship and fraternity, of fervor and grace, under the benevolent gaze of the archangel who, too, must rejoice to see the rebirth of this pilgrimage which we thought buried in the limbo of the past!