the 2026 mass at the sanctuary highlights tradition and choral voices
Each year the Lourdes sanctuary entrusts its musical director with the composition of a mass serving as a common thread for the pilgrimage season. For the third time, this honor falls to the Italian Isaia Ravelli, appointed titular organist of the sanctuary in 2024 and chapel master the following year. The album, soberly titled Songs 2026, brings together the scores and recordings of the thirteen titles designed for the use of pilgrims, in resonance with the pastoral theme of the year, the Annunciation, illuminated by the words of the angel: “Hail, Filled with grace” (Lk 1, 28).
An international opening
The disc opens with the theme song of the year, Ecce Ancilla Domini (“Behold the servant of the Lord”), and continues with the songs of the ordinary of the mass (Kyrie, Gloria). The responsorial psalm and the communion song, Ego Sum Panis Vivus (“I am the living Bread“) are highlights. The Alleluia and the Agnus Dei are based on compositions written by Isaia Ravelli in 2025 for the centenary of the beatification of Saint Bernadette.
“These are simple melodies to remember, to allow the people of God to address Mary with accessible words,” explains the composer, concerned with widely shared music. It is naturally he who plays the organ, accompanied on trumpet by Marcello Manfredi Bassi. The booklet demonstrates a desire for international openness, with the translation into five languages - Italian, Spanish, English, German and Dutch – of texts signed by the author specializing in liturgical chants, Marie-Antoinette Noury.
Bright sounds
The recording, made at night in the choir of the Parisian church of Sainte-Rosalie, renowned for the quality of its acoustics, particularly highlights the choirs. The three cantors of the sanctuary were joined by around twenty members of the Lourdes Singing Route. Founded in 2008, this association brings together chorister pilgrims from the Ile-de-France region who each year carry out a dual mission: walking in the Pyrenees and serving the sick, while leading the services upon their arrival in Lourdes. “It is to honor their constant commitment that I chose to highlight their voices,” underlines Isaia Ravelli.
The album thus deploys sounds that are both humble and luminous. “When the trumpet and the organ interact with the voices, they announce the presence of God,” concludes the Lourdes chapel master. These songs called to punctuate the celebrations of the year in the Marian city have all the ingredients to musically accompany the entry into Lent.
