Lourdes 2026

It was lovely to find myself back in Lourdes  this summer, it is like coming home with Mary’s presence all around me. I try to spend some time in retreat in Lourdes each year.

Lourdes has always been a very busy place particularly over the summer months when all the big pilgrimages from diocese and parishes worldwide are there. Often it is difficult to find a quiet place to pray, but Mary always sorts that out.

Before Covid in 2020 I began to notice how the numbers were steadily decreasing in Mary’s shrine, maybe because there was a change in people’s priorities. Since Covid,  the numbers seemed to drop even further, maybe this was due to people’s fear of travel and large gatherings or  maybe people no longer valued this incredible place of prayer.  I think the increased cost of hotels and other accommodation in Lourdes is also a huge factor, but people will always find the time and the money to do something they really want to do.

This year, however, I really noticed a difference as the numbers of pilgrims seem to have vastly increased. For example,  on an ordinary Tuesday evening we took part on the torchlight procession and the numbers of pilgrims who took part were vast. You may expect this at weekends or for special feast days but not midweek. Mary asked during the apparitions that people come in procession and it is always a special  moment of connection with Our Lady, and on this night it was certainly a moment of deep prayer as we  processed to honour Our Blessed Mother. 

There were people from every race and nationality present, also from every age group from tiny children in buggies or in their parents' arms, to the aged and infirm in wheelchairs or walking with the aid of  sticks. As we walked I noticed in front of me a young man in his late 20’s looking extremely scruffy, as though he lived on the streets. As you are always warned of pickpockets in these gatherings I kept my eye on him whilst I prayed. What I noticed was the depth of his prayer as his fingers moved discreetly over a well-worn rosary ring on his finger. And when we sang he joined in with great enthusiasm and devotion. How wrong can your judgement of someone be!!!!

As the procession took place, the numbers walking and watching  grew,  so much so  that we completely filled the Rosary Square and people could be seen far back on the processional route unable to enter the square. I began to wonder if this increase in numbers of pilgrims was because Pope Leo had brought the place to people’s attention by his recent visit or was it because people have begun to return to the Church and their practise of faith. It’s hard to know the answer  but I suspect the later. Why ? Because the number of receptions of adults into the faith is growing worldwide, the numbers of young men offering themselves to test out their vocation in seminaries is growing. Something is happening in our church – a new spring , an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. People are now looking for something of depth that is missing from their lives. They have been through the materialistic  and relativism phases and are now seeking a deeper encounter with a higher power who totally loves them i.e. God.

It was lovely to walk the streets on our way to and from our accommodation and hear folk sing the tunes they had heard in Mass, or say the rosary in small groups as they walked along. It was great to see so many nationalities mingling peacefully alongside one another. The restaurants that spill out onto the streets were full. The increased numbers have even meant that the local council have made the old bridge pedestrianised, so it is much safer  for pilgrims to cross the river and not be mown down by the ever-larger coaches.

One day I sat across the river, opposite the Grotto where Mary appeared to Bernadette, which tends to be quieter as people sit in silence and come before Mary in prayer. There was a youth mass just finishing in the Grotto with beautiful singing, and another in the St Bernadette’s hemisphere behind me and yet there was space  for a quiet moment with Our Lady despite the hustle and bustle of life going on around. It was wonderful to have the opportunity to sit in this special shrine and just come before Our Lady and pour out my thoughts and then try to listen to her words to me.

During the following weekend we noticed that hundreds of young people had arrived, all in their late teens, and all dressed in similar outfits and they were helping with the sick and disabled or  carry candles or banners in the processions. They were engrossed during the times of prayer at Masses at the Grotto and in the basilicas or joined in the rosary in small groups dotted all over the domain. They also seemed to be having great fun as they moved around.

When asked what the organisation was, they explained they were from Madrid and were members of confraternities which was passed down through families. At home they prayed together and had  discussion evenings about their faith, and each year their role during their Lourdes pilgriamge was to help the sick, or help in the processions by carrying candles or banners. There were hundreds of them. I am sure not all are at Mass each week but what they experience through these confraternities, encouraged by families, keeps that tenuous thread to the Church intact. It is something they want to be part of, and who knows what God is saying to them though this. Their witness of the joy in their faith provides us all with hope for the future.