In Lourdes Pope Leo entrusts France to the Virgin Mary
By Olivier Bonnel in Lourdes
When the Air France plane carrying the Pope from Paris landed at precisely 7 p.m. at Tarbes-Lourdes Airport, the bells of the Pyrenean city began ringing loudly. Leo XIV was welcomed as he stepped off the plane by Bishop Jean-Marc Micas before taking his place in a Renault bearing the license plate SCV1. As he entered the city of Lourdes, the crowd grew denser behind the security barriers. Shortly before reaching the shrine, the Pope got out to greet the city's mayor, Thierry Lavit. From a bridge over the Gave de Pau, temporarily renamed the “Leo XIV Bridge” for the occasion, the Holy Father unveiled a statue and signed the visitors' book while a choir sang Pyrenean songs.
The Pope then completed his journey to the shrine in the popemobile, where the crowd's cheers turned into jubilation, accompanied by “Ave Maria” sung by the thousands of faithful present. The singing then gave way to an intense silence as Leo XIV knelt at the foot of the grotto, where Bernadette Soubirous first saw a “lady in white” in 1858.
“The gift of fraternal harmony”
Still accompanied by the Bishop of Lourdes, the Holy Father then touched the wall of the grotto and drank a glass of water from the spring, thus responding to the Virgin's instruction to Bernadette: “Go and drink at the spring and wash yourself there.” Like millions of pilgrims, Leo XIV became, from his very first moments in Lourdes, a “pilgrim among pilgrims.” He then read a prayer to the Virgin, weighing every word carefully.
“Our Lady of Lourdes, the Immaculate Conception, in this blessed place you spoke with such gentleness and tenderness to Saint Bernadette, a humble daughter of the French people, to convey to the world a radiant message of prayer, conversion and hope,” he said, praying to Our Lady “for France.”
In a supplication resembling a universal prayer, the Pope asked that the Virgin Mary to protect the people of her host country and enlighten its leaders, asking Mary to obtain “wise and generous leaders, ready to make sacrifices, capable of responding to challenges, and eager to serve the common good.” These words are consistent with the speeches he delivered in Paris.
Rejecting the logic of war
Pope Leo XIV also expressed the wish that the Virgin may enlighten French authorities and leaders so that they may "keep France at peace within the family of nations, and may they make her voice heard in promoting the defense of fundamental human rights and peace in the world, rejecting the mentality of war once and for all.” The Pope also asked that the prayers rising from the grotto might renew “the faith and fervor of Christian families.”
In his prayer, the Holy Father also gave voice to the prayers of people from around the world who come to kneel in Lourdes, "especially those of the sick and suffering, as well as all those who accompany them, who have come together to find strength and healing.”
This first solemn moment at the Shrine of Lourdes concluded with a gesture of devotion traditionally reserved for sovereign pontiffs: the presentation of a golden rose as a gift to the Virgin Mary.
On Sunday, Pope Leo XIV will continue his pilgrimage at the Shrine of Lourdes, where he will celebrate Mass and take part in the candlelight procession.
