“The most astonishing of miracles”, by Marie-Yvonne Buss

I fled the sanctuary of Lourdes for a long time. I imagined having to jostle among the souvenir sellers to hope to see the cave of apparitions. The plastic statuettes of the Holy Virgin, the vials of water from the spring: very little for me! This disdain collapsed like a house of cards at the dawn of fifty. The Pilgrim sent me to give conferences there as part of the National Assumption Pilgrimage. And it was a divine surprise.

Certainly, there was a plethora of stores with enticing neon lights, but once through the door of the sanctuary, the commercial activity stopped abruptly. In this vast space of 52 ha lulled by the continuous murmur of the Gave, only prayer has the right to be heard. Do you know that even in the middle of 20,000 pilgrims, we can meditate in peace? An off-center chapel, a shaded corner on the edge of the forest or, for night owls, a solitary meditation under the Moon are all refuges for the tired soul. Getting to know the resources of this unique site better is the purpose of the file that we are offering you this year.

But Lourdes is also and above all the diversity of the people of God. Rich and poor, healthy and crippled, all converge on the grotto of Massabielle with the same plea: “Mary, be my shelter in the storms of life. » Among these pilgrims from the four corners of the globe, many have a vibrant faith, others a nascent spiritual quest, some even profess a different religion. But no one leaves unchanged from this special place which, thanks to the work of the 350 employees and the dedication of the hospital staff, allows the most astonishing of miracles: a city where the sick are king.

On September 26, 2026, at the end of the day, Pope Leo will begin his visit to the Pyrenean sanctuary with a prayer at the grotto. There is no doubt that he will be able to entrust to the “Beautiful Lady” the people weakened by the illness that he will meet the next day. A gesture also accomplished by John Paul II and Benedict XVI, but which should carry particular weight when the French law on assisted dying will undoubtedly have been promulgated. In this sensitive context, may Peter’s successor have the time to experience what countless visitors experience: Lourdes, this receptacle of so much pain, is also a mecca of sweetness.