Fr. Barron visits Lourdes: Mary, the Immaculate Conception

The following comes from Ellyn von Huben at the Word On Fire blog:

Today we celebrate Our Lady's appearance to a young peasant girl, Bernadette, in 1858 in Lourdes, France. Through a set of private revelations, Mary revealed herself as "the Immaculate Conception." What does this title mean, and what should we know about Our Lady of Lourdes? Ellyn von Huben explains.

1. The Story of St. Bernadette is Not Just for Girls

Bernadette is a perennial favorite when young ladies chose their confirmation names. And girls certainly do love watching the film version of “The Song of Bernadette”. (Winner of the very first Golden Globe award for best motion picture, by the way!) I wouldn’t say that watching this movie was the thing that led to my conversion…but it sure didn’t hurt!

Our Lady did not appear at Lourdes just to touch the hearts of tween girls throughout the ages. There is, indeed, much that speaks to the heart of the young girl. But anyone, of any age or gender can find in the story of St. Bernadette a story that will resonate truth within their hearts.

The appearance of Our Lady at Lourdes was not just for Bernadette – it could be heard by all; a sign for all pointing to Our Lady’s son, Jesus Christ.

2. This Great Saint was a Product of ‘Poor Catechesis’

Much is being discussed on Catholic internet sites regarding the state of modern catechesis and how it should be improved. St. Bernadette could be called a product of poor, minimal catechesis. But Bernadette started her faith life the best way possible – whether for a provincial child of the 1850s or a very modern, prosperous young person. She was the product of a strong “domestic Church”.

She had the minimal schooling of a poor girl of her time, compounded by missing lessons due to ill health and the fact that she was needed at home to help care for siblings. To the chagrin of the teaching Sister preparing her for her First Holy Communion, Bernadette was a technically abysmal Catechism student. But she received the most important preparation – that which can hardy be replicated in a classroom – being raised in a family whose greatest riches were their faith. There is profound understanding in this heart which would one day write, "I was nothing, and of this nothing God made something great. In Holy Communion I am heart to heart with Jesus. How sublime is my destiny."

It was the young Bernadette’s lack of schooling which made her testimony regarding the apparitions all the more believable. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception had been defined by Pope Pius IX just four years before Bernadette’s visions. The quote “I am the Immaculate Conception” coming from the lips of a young, rural girl possessing minimal scholarship had an indisputable veracity.

3. Belief in the Apparitions at Lourdes are not an Article of Faith for Catholics

The appearance of Our Lady to Bernadette is considered to be private revelation and adds nothing to the public deposit of faith – and so no Catholic is obligated to believe. The millions of believers, Catholic and non-Catholic, who visit Lourdes each year are, though, a testimony to the fact that those who do not believe in Our Lady’s appearance at Lourdes must be something of a minority.

4. “The Song of Bernadette”

A variety of authors wrote about St. Bernadette and the apparitions at Lourdes. But 20th century cultural popularity of St. Bernadette owes much to “The Song of Bernadette” and the efforts of its author. Franz Werfel, a Jewish German writer found himself in Lourdes while trying to escape to Portugal after France fell to the Nazis. Families who took in Werfel and his wife told them the story of Bernadette and her visions of Our Lady. Werfel vowed that if they should be able to escape, he would write the story of St. Bernadette. True to his promise, his first task when arriving in the United States was to write the beautiful work of historical fiction (which is more historical than fictional), The Song of Bernadette. An interesting bit of trivia: the structure of this bestseller is itself a reference to the holy rosary – five sections of ten chapters each.

5. Pope Benedict XVI

Lourdes has had a special place in the hearts of many popes in the past 156 years. Blessed Pope John Paul II made three pilgrimages to Lourdes. He also proclaimed February 11, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, as World Day of the Sick.

Lourdes and St. Bernadette also figure prominently in the life of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. He was born on St. Bernadette’s feast day of April 16 in 1927. In his Angelus address on the first Sunday of Lent in 2008 – the 150th anniversary of Our Lady’s first appearance at Lourdes – the Holy Father reminded us of its enduring significance , “The message that Our Lady continues to spread in Lourdes recalls the words that Jesus spoke at the very beginning of his public mission, which we hear several times during these days of Lent: 'Repent, and believe in the Gospel,' pray and do penance. Let us accept Mary's invitation which echoes Christ's and ask her to obtain for us that we may 'enter' Lent with faith, to live this season of grace with inner joy and generous commitment.”

Culminating his years as Pope, serving with “inner joy and generous commitment”, it was on February 11 of last year (2013) that he took the unprecedented (in modern times) step of announcing his stepping down from the papacy.

6. Lessons of Humility

Those who are looking for lessons in humility - and shouldn’t we all? - can find multiple examples in the story of St. Bernadette. From Bernadette and her humble, devout family, to the Church and civic officials, all the way to her teacher – who learned her lesson rather late – there is great food for contemplation in the stories of those characters who surrounded the young saint. Be they actual persons or fictionalized composites, they are all studies in growth in humility.

7. There is Nothing in the Water

The spring at Lourdes was uncovered by St. Bernadette at the command of Our Lady, who asked her to drink of the as-yet-unseen spring and wash in it. Since then, millions have imbibed and bathed in the water of Lourdes. Early on, some entrepreneurial sorts had hoped to find particular properties in the water which could turn Lourdes into a popular spa destination. But the water was found to be only pure and potable. Faith is the ‘secret’ ingredient. As Bernadette said, “One must have faith and pray; the water will have no virtue without faith.”

8. St. Bernadette Did Not Avail Herself of the Waters at Lourdes

Never in good health, St. Bernadette suffered greatly, and with silent good nature, in the final years of her life. She held fast to Our Lady’s promise that she wasn’t promised “happiness in this world, but in the next.”

When she was 22, she joined the Sisters of Charity of Nevers. She was content to be apart from public life, regarding herself as a tool, such as a broom, which had served its purpose and then “the broom placed behind the door once it has been used.” The teacher who had been harsh to her in her student years was to be her novice mistress and as harsh to the young sister as she had been to the student. It was not until this nun realized the sanctity with which Bernadette was bearing her final affliction of tuberculosis of the bone that she realized what a truly holy young woman she had been privileged to teach and guide. Despite her agony, Bernadette declined the opportunity to revisit Lourdes in search for a miraculous cure.

9. There is Independent Medical Evaluation

Pope Saint Pius X established the Lourdes Medical Bureau to investigate cases of medical miracles. This Medical Bureau is a medical institution and not under Church supervision. Over 7000 people have asked to have their cases declared as miraculous cures, yet fewer than 70 been signed off on by both the Church and the Lourdes Medical Bureau as being cures with no scientific explanation. Because this system for rigorous investigation was established early and openly, verified miracles from Lourdes are considered to be the most reliable and least controversial.

10. You, Too, Can Go to Lourdes

If you are suffering or merely curious, a pilgrimage to Lourdes may be just what you are looking for. Volunteers of all sorts, not only medical professionals, are needed to help in a variety of ways, including helping the sick prepare for their opportunity to bathe in the water of Lourdes. A week of time given in love brings its own miraculous gift to the hearts of those who spend time with the ‘malades’ on their pilgrimages. 

Litany of Our Lady of Lourdes

Litany of Our Lady of Lourdes

Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy.

Christ hear us. Christ graciously hear us.

God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.

God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.

God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.

Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, pray for us.

Holy Mother of God, pray for us.

Mother of Christ, pray for us.

Mother of our Saviour, pray for us.

Our Lady of Lourdes, help of Christians, pray for us.

Our Lady of Lourdes, source of love, pray for us.

Our Lady of Lourdes, mother of the poor, pray for us.

Our Lady of Lourdes, mother of the handicapped, pray for us.

Our Lady of Lourdes, mother of orphans, pray for us.

Our Lady of Lourdes, mother of all children, pray for us.

Our Lady of Lourdes, mother of all nations, pray for us.

Our Lady of Lourdes, mother of the Church, pray for us.

Our Lady of Lourdes, friend of the lonely, pray for us.

Our Lady of Lourdes, comforter of those who mourn, pray for us.

Our Lady of Lourdes, shelter of the homeless, pray for us.

Our Lady of Lourdes, guide of travelers, pray for us.

Our Lady of Lourdes, strength of the weak, pray for us.

Our Lady of Lourdes, refuge of sinners, pray for us.

Our Lady of Lourdes, comforter of the suffering, pray for us.

Our Lady of Lourdes, help of the dying, pray for us.

Queen of Heaven, pray for us.

Queen of peace, pray for us.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, spare us O Lord.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

Christ hear us, Christ graciously hear us.

Let Us Pray: Grant us, your servants, we pray you, Lord God, to enjoy perpetual health of mind and body. By the glorious intercession of Blessed Mary ever Virgin, may we be delivered from present sorrows, and enjoy everlasting happiness. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

As I Kneel Before You (from the Grotto at Lourdes)

Fr. Robert Barron visits Lourdes: Mary, the Immaculate Conception

Nutella and Our Lady of Lourdes

The following comes from Aleteia:

This Saturday afternoon in Monte Carlo, after a months-long illness, Michele Ferrero, 89, founder of Nutella, died. His company, founded in 1946 in Italy, produced the popular hazelnut chocolate spread along with Mon Cheri, Kinder Eggs, Ferrero Rocher, Fiesta and Pocket Coffee treats. 

As Michele Ferrero said at the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the company: “The success of Ferrero we owe to Our Lady of Lourdes; without her we can do little.” And indeed, a small statue of the Virgin is present in each of the Ferrero establishments worldwide.

Michele Ferrero was the richest person in Italy, with a net worth, according to Forbes magazine, of $23.4 billion. He was a man endowed with a strong faith who spent his life away from the spotlight and the tabloids. Each year he went on pilgrimage to Lourdes, taking his top manager. He also organized a visit to the French shrine for his employees.According to The Guardian UK newspaper, which published a profile of him in 2011, the company’s Rocher pralines are rumored to have been inspired by the craggy rock grotto, called the Rocher de Massabielle, at the shrine in Lourdes.

Rocher praline courtesy of Freepik

Rocher de Massabielle at Lourdes

He built his empire valuing the best of Italy with quality products and innovation. But his greatest talent was knowing how to involve employees and show special attention to employees when training them. “My only concern,” he once said, “is that the company is increasingly solid and strong to guarantee all workers a secure place.”

Under his leadership, his products were available in 53 countries. He had more than 34,000 employees, 20 production facilities and nine agricultural enterprises.

Song of Bernadette

Hat tip to Ed at In God's Company 2:

The Church recalls Our Lady of Lourdes apparitions

The following comes from the CNA:

On Feb. 11, the Catholic Church celebrates the liturgical memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes, recalling a series of 18 appearances that the Blessed Virgin Mary made to a 14-year-old French peasant girl, Saint Bernadette Soubirous.

The Marian apparitions began Feb. 11, 1858, ended July 16 that year and received the local bishop's approval after a four-year inquiry.

Coming soon after the 1854 dogmatic definition of her Immaculate Conception, the Virgin Mary's appearances at Lourdes turned the town into a popular travel destination. Thousands of people say their medical conditions have been cured through pilgrimage, prayer and the water flowing from a spring to which Bernadette was directed by the Blessed Virgin. Experts have verified 67 cases of miraculous healing at Lourdes since 1862.

St. Bernadette also has her own liturgical memorial, which occurs Feb. 18 in France and Canada and April 16 elsewhere. Born in January 1844, the future visionary was the first child of her parents Francois and Louise, who both worked in a mill run by Francois. Their family life was loving but difficult. Many of Bernadette's siblings died in childhood, and she developed asthma. Economic hardship and an injury suffered by her father cost them the mill in 1854.

Years of poverty followed, during which Bernadette often had to live apart from her parents and work rather than attending school. In January 1858 she returned to her family, whose members were living in a cramped single room. Strongly committed to her faith, Bernadette made an effort to learn the Church's teachings despite her lack of formal education.

On Feb. 11, 1858, Bernadette went to gather firewood with her sister and a friend. As she approached a grotto near a river, she saw a light coming from a spot near a rosebush. The light surrounded a woman who wore a white dress and held a rosary. Seeing the lady in white make the sign of the Cross, Bernadette knelt, took out her own rosary, and began to pray. When she finished praying, the woman motioned for her to approach. But she remained still, and the vision disappeared.

Her companions had seen nothing. Bernadette described the lady in white to them, demanding they tell no one. But the secret came out later that day. The next Sunday, Bernadette returned to the grotto, where she saw the woman again. The identity of the apparition, however, would remain unknown for several weeks.

Some adults accompanied Bernadette on her third trip, on Feb. 18, though they did not see the vision she received. The woman in white asked the girl to return for two weeks. “She told me also,” Bernadette later wrote, “that she did not promise to make me happy in this world, but in the next.” A group of family members and others went with her to the cave the next day, but only the young peasant girl saw the woman and heard her words.

Over the next few days, the number of people in attendance at the cave swelled to more than 100. A parish priest, Father Peyramale, became concerned – as did the police. On Feb. 24, 250 people saw Bernadette break into tears, but only she heard the woman’s message: “Penance! Penance! Penance! Pray to God for sinners. Go, kiss the ground for the conversion of sinners.”

A larger crowd was there on Feb. 25 – but they were shocked to see Bernadette drinking from a muddy stream and eating weeds. The apparition had told her to drink the water, and the weed-eating was a penitential act. Onlookers, meanwhile, saw only the girl’s unusual behavior, and popular fascination turned to ridicule and suspicion.

On Feb. 27, Bernadette made a joyful discovery: the spring from which she drank was not muddy now, but clear. As the crowds continued to gather, this change was noticed, and a woman with a paralyzed arm came to the water hoping to be healed. Four years later, her case would be recognized as the first miraculous healing at Lourdes. Public interest continued, and Bernadette heard a recurring message from the vision: “Go, tell the priests to bring people here in procession and have a chapel built here.”

While others were quick to conclude that Bernadette was seeing the Virgin Mary, the visionary herself did not claim to know the woman’s identity. As she conveyed the repeated message to Fr. Peyramale, the priest grew frustrated and told Bernadette to ask the woman her name. But when she did so, the woman smiled and remained silent. Her identity remained a mystery after the initial two-week period.

Three weeks later, on the Feast of the Annunciation, Bernadette visited the cave again. When she saw the lady, she kept asking to know her identity. Finally, the woman folded her hands, looked up and said: “I am the Immaculate Conception.” The seer, devout but uneducated, did not know what these words meant. She related them to Fr. Peyramale, who was stunned and informed his bishop.

Bernadette saw the Blessed Virgin Mary two more times in 1858: on the Wednesday after Easter, and on the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. In 1862, the local bishop declared the apparitions worthy of belief.

St. Bernadette left Lourdes in 1866 to join a religious order in central France, where she died after several years of illness in 1879. By the time of her death, a basilica had been built and consecrated at the apparition site, under the leadership of Fr. Peyramale.

Loving Mother in Heaven

A Prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes

O ever immaculate Virgin, Mother of mercy, health of the sick, refuge of sinners, comfort of the afflicted, you know my wants, my troubles, my sufferings; deign to cast upon me a look of mercy. By appearing in the Grotto of Lourdes, you were pleased to make it a privileged sanctuary, whence you dispense your favors, and already many sufferers have obtained the cure of their infirmities, both spiritual and corporal. I come, therefore, with the most unbounded confidence, to implore your maternal intercession. Obtain, O loving Mother, the grant of my requests. I will endeavor to imitate your virtues, that I may one day share your glory, and bless you in eternity. Amen.

Pope Benedict: When I Run Out of Words

“When speech can no longer find the right words, the need arises for a loving presence: we seek then the closeness not only of those who share the same blood or are linked to us by friendship, but also the closeness of those who are intimately bound to us by faith. Who could be more intimate to us than Christ and His Holy Mother, the Immaculate One? More than any others, they are capable of understanding us and grasping how hard we have to fight against evil and suffering.”

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

Basilica, Our Lady of the Rosary

Lourdes, France

Miracles at Lourdes

In Lourdes, how a cure is proven to be a miracle

Another Miracle of Lourdes: The cure of Sr. Luigina Traverso FMA

The following comes from the Salesian News Agency:

45 years after the event, the International Medical Committee of Lourdes (CMIL), (CMIL) has been recognised as “unexplained at the present state of the sciences” the cure of Sr Luigina Traverso FMA. Now it is up to the Bishop of Casal Monferrato, Mons. Alceste Catella, to give his interpretation of the facts and eventually to express his opinion regarding the miraculous cure.

Born in 1934 at Novi Ligure, Sr Traverso found herself at scarcely 30 years of age completely paralysed after a number of operations on her vertebral column. She was suffering greatly, also because she saw herself unable to fulfil her educational mission..

In 1965 she asked for and obtained from Mother Angela Vespa permission to take part in a pilgrimage to Lourdes. Her community at Tortona ( Piedmont ) set themselves to pray more intensely for Sr. Luigina and promised to live according to the highest level of fraternal charity and total fidelity to the Constitutions in order to accompany their Sister's pilgrimage with the efficacy of their intercession. Everyone knew that only a miracle could cure Sr. Luigina who had made her perpetual vows the previous year.

She was in Lourdes between July 20 and 26 1965. She took part in all the celebrations lying on a stretcher, because she was unable to walk or even stand.

On July 23, during the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament , as the Monstrance passed close to her, she felt a strong sensation of heat and wellbeing and the urge to stand up. She immediately began to move her lower limbs which were paralysed and the pain that had caused her so much suffering for years disappeared.

The decision to open the file to examine the cure was taken on July 28, 1966 at the first meeting of the Bureau des Constatations Médicales . It was studied in depth by the same Bureau on July 31, 1984 and finally, on July 28, 2010, the cure was confirmed with a formal and unanimous vote, stating that “the way this cure took place remains inexplicable in the present state of scientific knowledge”.

In February the Bishop of Lourdes brought the news of the cure to the Bishop of Casale Monferrato

While pointing out that in order to speak about a miracle the definitive decision of the Church is required, Bishop Catella nevertheless said: “However, we have here the undoubted scientific basis on which to reach certainty in the matter.”

Sr. Luigina belongs to the St Joseph community of San Salvatore Monferrato, where she is a local councillor and bursar.

Pilgrims flock to Lourdes, France for 154th anniversary of apparitions

Archbishop Dolan: With the Blessed Mother in Lourdes

The following comes from the Catholic New York site:

Since 1972, when I was 22 and left home for the North American College in Rome to finish my last four years of priestly preparation, I have lived in the same area as my mom for only nine happy years.

Thus, for me, to go home—to mom’s house—is unfailingly a joy, something I always look forward to. There, I’m in very comfortable and familiar surroundings, with a woman who knows me better than anybody else. She’s been conscious of me a lot longer than I have of myself!

With mom, at her house, there is no need to impress anybody. Why even bother to try to impress the woman who changed my diapers? The place is familiar, the conversation natural, the thoughts go back to where I came from, the food tastes better, someone loves me unconditionally, and even my old ball glove is there. I always leave refreshed and renewed, wondering why I do not do it more often, and anxious about the sad day sure-to-come when mom will not be at home any more—at least in her earthly one.

To go to mom’s house is a blessing indeed, a gift, a renewal. I am reminded of who I am, where I came from, and where I’ve gone—right and wrong—since leaving there.

This week’s column comes from my spiritual mother’s house, at least one of her many...

I write from Lourdes, where I am on pilgrimage with the Knights and Dames of Malta, and hundreds of sick people from across our nation.

I’ve been here before. What visiting my mom back in Missouri does for me naturally, being with my blessed Mother, Mary, in this small mountain village in southwestern France, where she once appeared, does for me supernaturally.

I go to Lourdes because I owe my Blessed Mother a visit. She has never let me down, and I am in deep debt to her. She has gotten me out of jams, helped a lot of people I love and referred to her, and at times gotten me back on the right path. The conversation is great here, as I spend a lot of time talking with her and her son, Jesus, who is my best friend—as well as my Lord and my God.

She loves me unconditionally. She listens while I pour out my guts. She is not bored when I tell her what I’m worried about. She promises me she’ll help.

She washes me clean in cold, spring water, as I bathe in the miraculous waters and become once again like a baby at the baptismal font.

She catches me crying and asks what’s wrong. She listens as I tell her ways I’m afraid I’ve hurt her Son and her other children. She’ll encourage me to tell her Son “I’m sorry” in the sacrament of penance, and I stand in line with hundreds of others to do so in one of the dozens of languages He understands.

We’re having a family reunion while I’m here at her house at Lourdes, as thousands will come, since May is her month, and I see the family in all its “catholic” diversity again, especially the sick and the searching. We recall all the times she was there with Jesus, especially Christmas, Cana, the cross, Easter and with the Apostles at Pentecost. We’ll gather in her home at the table of her Son, at the Holy Eucharist.

We get together and sing to her every evening as we carry candles and belt out her Rosary in half-a-dozen languages.

I go to Lourdes because she lives here. It was in 1858 that she appeared here to St. Bernadette Soubirous. She has other homes: Fatima, Czestochowa, Knock, Guadalupe, Pompei, Loretto, even here in New York in our parish shrines, in our backyard grottos, and under her image in our homes.

I go with the Knights and Dames of Malta, dedicated men and women devoted to Christ, His Church, His sick, and His mother, who try to make a pilgrimage here annually around the first days of May, the month devoted to her.

I go to Lourdes because I need it...I need to tell my Blessed Mother that I love her, I need her, I thank her, and that I always feel at home with her.

And you all are here with me!

Ave Maria!

Man with paralysed leg walks 1,000 miles after visit to Lourdes

The following comes from the Catholic Herald:

A man with a paralysed left leg has completed a 1,000-mile hike to Santiago de Compostela after being cured at Lourdes, it has been reported.

Television repair man Serge François, 40, said he felt a warm glow spread down his herniated leg during a visit to Lourdes in 2002.

He said he had been praying at the grotto where Bernadette Soubirous first had visions of the Virgin Mary in 1858, and all of his suffering suddenly disappeared.

After regaining the use of his leg, Mr François walked the Camino de Santiago de Compostela (the Way of St James), the pilgrimage route spanning France and Spain.

Mr François, from La Salle-et-Chapelle-Aubry in Maine, western France, reported what happened to the International Medical Committee of Lourdes and 20 doctors have now concluded that it was indeed “remarkable”.

Bishop Emmanuel Delmas of Angers said: “In the name of the Church, I publicly recognise the ‘remarkable’ character of the healing from which Serge François benefited at Lourdes on April 12, 2002. This healing can be considered a personal gift from God to man, as an event of grace, as a sign of Christ the Saviour.”

Bishop Delmas said the bureau of medical experts at Lourdes had concluded that the recovery was “sudden, complete, unrelated to any particular therapy and durable”.

The healing could be considered “as a personal gift of God for this man, as an event of grace, as a sign of Christ the Saviour”, he said, avoiding the word “miracle”.

More than 7,000 cases of unexplained healings have been recorded in Lourdes, but only 67 have been recognised as miraculous by the Church. The healing of Mr François may be the 68th.

Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes with Gregorian Chant

Closure of the 150th anniversary of the Apparitions at Lourdes

There were almost 30,000 pilgrims this weekend to walk the aisles of the sanctuary of Lourdes. 30,000 people came to celebrate with joy the end of the Jubilee of the Apparitions to Bernadette. A second or third visit of this jubilee year for some, for others it was the very first visit:

“It is a first visit. It is something I was waiting for with anticipation... it was really a joy to be here .. I've never experienced such a joy."

"In this, the 150th anniversary of the Apparitions of the Virgin, we came to receive many graces because this moment of grace is particular to the occasion of this Jubilee."

"We are already receiving God through the Eucharist in our own churches, but in this place with all the faithful from all the nations, we feel that Christ is there with us every day. "

In Lourdes, the pilgrims are not only from France. English, South American, Spanish, the whole world is here. But the most committed to Lourdes by far are the Italians. 6000 of them had already booked their long pilgrimage to the shrine. Here they feel a little closer to God and can show their devotion to the Virgin Mary.

"... It is an experience that everyone should do because it's an experience that matures us, which strengthens us. "

"Just because the Jubilee ends it doesn’t mean we stop praying or coming to Lourdes. On the contrary, we must continue and draw strength from Mary and Bernadette forever. "

On Sunday evening pilgrims gathered for a large torch-lit procession, the light symbolizing their prayers and fervor. It was a moment of intense emotion for pilgrims who came to Lourdes this weekend for the closing of the Jubilee.