Recently I went on a four day pilgrimage to Lourdes, a Catholic Marian shrine located in the foothills of the Pyrenees in the south of France, where the Virgin Mary appeared eighteen times in 1858. Since the apparitions to Bernadette Soubirous in 1858 at the Grotto of Massabielle, pilgrims from all over the world have flocked to Lourdes to experience the grace of this special place.
The Sanctuary is above all a place of fraternity and healing for the pilgrims who come to pray humbly to Our Lady of Lourdes, the one who revealed her name to Saint Bernadette: “I am the Immaculate Conception”. What makes Lourdes particularly unique is that 72 healing miracles of pilgrims who have visited the sanctuary and were immersed in the spring of water that St. Bernadette uncovered at Mary’s request have been officially recognised by the Catholic Church.
This was my third pilgrimage to Lourdes. I went there initially with my diocese in 2004 and 2006 when I was part of the youth group. That period of time had been difficult for me as I was dealing with the new realities of being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and going to Lourdes helped me to come to terms with the diagnosis of this long-term mental heath condition and the fact that I would have to manage it for the rest of my life.
Even then, when I was only in my early twenties, there was something special I experienced about Lourdes that gave me interior peace and a sense of calmness. I liked the uplifting liturgies with thousands of international pilgrims present, connecting with other young people in my diocese and bringing sick pilgrims from the Accueil Marie Saint-Frai, a medical centre in the grounds of the shrine, to the liturgies.
There was something about those five day pilgrimages that lifted my spirits and rekindled my joy. We sang, walked, talked and prayed but it wasn’t all about the practice of faith as there were always great social events in the evening time to relax, unwind and recollect the experiences of the day. I have often reminisced on these pilgrimages, aided by a good collection of photographs stored away in my attic.
I wasn’t planning a pilgrimage to Lourdes in 2025, nineteen years after my last visit, but God had other plans. A few of my friends from Liverpool were going on a group pilgrimage and I was invited to go as a volunteer. Although it wasn’t possible at short notice I was able to plan a private pilgrimage for four days to coincide with their pilgrimage. It was such a joy for me to reconnect with Lourdes, visit the grotto, participate in candlelight procession, and immerse myself in the miraculous waters of Lourdes.
This ritual of being immersed in the water that comes from the spring which Saint Bernadette drank from was an experience of healing. I found it a very moving experience to go to the piscines [baths] to take part in this ritual. While I was waiting in the queue I struck up conversation with the mother of a young family from Spain. Meeting a devout Croatian prayer guide who accompanied me in the ritual was a profoundly humbling experience and her prayerful disposition helped me experience the interior peace of God.
I also took part in the Stations of the Cross around the foothills of the mountains, a pilgrimage in itself. It was a very special and intimate experience as two seminarians led the liturgy with just myself and a pilgrim from Keyna in accompaniment. This reminded me of universality of the Catholic Church and during my days in Lourdes I was particularly struck by the charismatic joy of a group from Nigeria who brought great life to the sanctuary, I certainly found it uplifting and it challenged me to rejoice in my faith.
Meeting with the pilgrimage group from Liverpool was also a very enriching experience. It was great to be able to reconnect with my friends and make new connections. I am so grateful to God that I was able to go to Lourdes this year. It was the last of my short summer holidays – and indeed it was also a holiday – as I arrived there during the European heatwave and the radiant sunshine also brought an interior radiance to my soul. I emerge from this pilgrimage with gratitude in my heart. Deo gratias!
