If there is one place in the world where it's worth spending the Aug. 15 feast of the Assumption at least once in a lifetime, it's the Marian shrine of Lourdes. The national pilgrimage to Lourdes is currently underway -- Aug. 12 to 16, attracting a record number of pilgrims.
The French national pilgrimage is organized by the Assumptionists -- a congregation whose priests and brothers are known in France for publishing the biggest daily Catholic newspaper, La Croix.
"There was a great momentum in 2023, given the 150th anniversary" of the pilgrimage and the newspaper, David Torchala, director of communications at the Lourdes sanctuary, told OSV News. "This momentum continues this year, with a particularly high number of pilgrims," he said.
"I can see them from the bridge over the (River) Gave, where I am right now. We are talking about 20% more than last year. There are (already) around 7,000 of them. That is a lot of people," he told OSV News Aug. 14 -- with the expectation many more pilgrims would be present in Lourdes Aug. 15. "Unfortunately, it is raining! The weather is not with us," Torchala said.
"In addition to them (at the national pilgrimage), thousands of pilgrims come, especially on August 15," Torchala added. "In total, between 15,000 and 20,000 people attend the Assumption Mass, on the sanctuary's large meadow," but the number of unexpected pilgrims can be even higher.
Torchala emphasized that feast day Mass is broadcasted live by numerous television channels "so that it can reach … the sick and frail, who could not make it."
The big news of the 2024 pilgrimage is that the Lourdes baths, closed due to the pandemic, are now fully reopened. "The pools had already reopened in 2020. But bathing was no longer possible as before due to health regulations," Torchala said, adding that now they're back to pre-COVID-19 time, when the shrine had to introduce restrictions.
"During this (pandemic) period, we had offered pilgrims a gesture that came close to what Our Lady had asked to do during the ninth apparition on February 25, 1858," Torchala explained. "That day, she had asked Bernadette to wash her face with the water collected in her hands. We suggested that pilgrims collect in their hands the water poured by the hospitaliers, near the sanctuary baths, to do the same. It was a meaningful gesture."
St. Bernadette Soubirous witnessed 18 Marian apparitions beginning on Feb. 11, 1858, and people of her time witnessed first physical and spiritual healing miracles after visiting the shrine or drinking or washing in the spring Our Lady pointed Bernadette to in an apparition. To date, dozens of miracles have been confirmed by the special medical commission permanently working at the shrine.
The sanctuary's spokesman added that during the pandemic, they offered a few exceptions where they "had been able to bathe patients who had come from very far away, and in emergency situations, with special authorization from the shrine's rector. But now, from July 15, five baths are open to all again. We have been experimenting with this new situation for a month now."
The shrine, however, had to start with only opening five out of 17 baths due to dilapidation and other problems caused by them not being used. "We had to make repairs," Torchala said, adding the shrine invested $220,000 to renovate the water filtration system for the first baths that were reopened. "We have also reviewed the protocol for welcoming people, to better guarantee health safety for all," Torchala said.
The pandemic face-washing has remained as a regular shrine habit. "The gesture of washing one's face with water, however, had moved the patients very much," Torchala pointed out. "So we continue to offer it to patients. They can choose between total immersion or this gesture."
Over the course of the week, Masses, prayers and processions follow one another, along with catechism classes and conferences. In 2024, it was Bishop Jean-Marc Micas of Tarbes and Lourdes himself who presided over the pilgrimage.
"It is exceptional for him to do so, since he usually celebrates the August 15 Mass in the diocese, and not at the shrine. But this year, he is the special guest," Torchala said.
"Actually, it is not the personalities who come that make the pilgrimage important," Torchala said. "Our VIPs are the sick and disabled. Our special guests are the frail: They are the ones who are placed in front, who are at the heart of our attention."
In Lourdes these days, the mosaics by disgraced Slovenian artist Father Marko Rupnik, a former Jesuit, are no longer in the spotlight, literally. The spotlights that were used to highlight the artwork of the priest accused of serious sexual and spiritual abuse have been removed.
His mosaics have been on display on the facade of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in Lourdes since 2008, and after a year of consultations, Bishop Micas announced in a press release July 2 that they would not be dismantled for the time being, but that the spotlights would be removed immediately.
"They are no longer lit up in the evening by the light effects that used to illuminate them," Torchala confirmed. "They go unnoticed, and to tell you the truth, they are forgotten. That is not the point these days. The sick and the frail are in the spotlight. It is to them that we turn at every moment," he said.
"However, we have also defined more precisely the gestures to be performed in the pools, for the baths, to better protect the sick in their nudity," Torchala explained. "The abuse crisis has forced us to redouble our vigilance to ensure, even more formally, that patients are perfectly protected in their nudity," he said of a process where a pilgrim bathes naked in the Lourdes spring water, covered with thick white sheets, and helped to walk by volunteers to avoid slipping. Those that are unable to walk themselves are carried into the water.
"The baths are now available all year round," Torchala concluded. "So we need hospital workers all year round! This week, 400 people came to volunteer with the national pilgrimage and that is a lot. But the baths will continue to be open. So we are appealing to volunteers who would like to come and discover and learn this beautiful service to the sick," he encouraged.
