The Sanctuary of Lourdes invites you to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes at the Grotto of Massabielle. Thousands of pilgrims are expected to gather to celebrate and pray to Our Lady of Lourdes. Come and experience this wonderful festival in a place where the sick are always at the forefront.
In this year when pilgrims from all over the world converge on Rome to pass through the Holy Door, the Sanctuary of Lourdes invites you to participate in a pilgrimage under the watchful eyes of Mary Mother of Hope, Mary Mother of the Church. It’s a year in which we can pray for the Church, for the world, for peace, and for all the visitors and pilgrims to the Sanctuary, united in hope, faith and charity.
11th February: World Prayer at Our Lady of Lourdes
11th February marks the date of the first Apparition of the Virgin Mary to Bernadette Soubirous. In 1992, Pope John Paul II declared this day World Day of the Sick.
As every year, the Sanctuary of Lourdes is inviting the whole world to pray to Our Lady of Lourdes, in a worldwide call to prayer. The World Day of Prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes, invites everyone to unite in prayer with all the pilgrims who will be present in the Sanctuary or joining us from their homes.
Programme:
10.00am International Mass at the Basilica of Saint Pius X presided over by Mgr. Jean-Marc Micas, Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes
12 noon Angelus at the Grotto and account of the Apparition
3.00pm Rosary at the Grotto and account of the Apparition
4.15pm Talk by Don Anne-Guillaume Vernaeckt: ‘With Mary, pilgrims of hope.’
5.00pm Adoration and blessing of the Blessed Sacrament at the Basilica of Saint Pius X
8.30pm Torchlight procession
“Shrines are special places, where the holy faithful people of God gather to pray, to be consoled and to look to the future with greater confidence.”
(Pope Francis 2nd International Meeting of Rectors and Agents of Shrines)
The Jubilee Way, a new feature for the Jubilee Year in Lourdes
From 11th February 2025, pilgrims in Lourdes will be able to follow the Jubilee Way. This route will be open at weekends until the opening of the pilgrimage season, and then every day during the season and school holidays.
Two time slots will be available: 9.30am and 2pm.
Pilgrims can conclude their spiritual journey by going to Mass at 11.15am in the Rosary Basilica or by praying the rosary at the Grotto at 3.30pm.
Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes from 3rd to 11th February 2025
Blessed Virgin Mary, under your tutelage,
Bernadette entered into a relationship with the Holy Trinity through the sign of the Cross.
By teaching her prayer and penance for sinners, you showed her the joy of salvation.
You revealed to her the beauty of your most pure heart when you told her, “I am the Immaculate Conception”.
With Bernadette, we turn to you full of trust in your maternal intercession.
Accept the intentions that we carry in our hearts during this novena of prayer (especially for…)
Our Lady of Lourdes,
We pray to you especially for our own conversion and that of all sinners.
Watch over all those who suffer in body or soul.
In the hope that Life will triumph over death, we want to sing with you, here and now, the glory of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!
Every day: 1 Our Father, 10 Hail Marys,
1 Glory be to the Father.
Confession and communion are particularly recommended during the novena.
XXXIII WORLD DAY OF THE SICK
Illness and suffering can sometimes turn our lives or those of our loved ones upside down. To encourage us to give of our time, to support the sick and to be attentive to their needs, a World Day of the Sick was established in 1992 by Pope John Paul II. It is celebrated every year on 11th February, the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes.
In this Jubilee Year, Pope Francis is inviting the whole world to come to Rome to pass through the Holy Door. This jubilee event is also open to all the sick, health professionals (doctors, nurses, nursing staff, healthcare volunteers, hospital chaplains, etc.) and their families, on 5th and 6th April 2025.
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes has also been designated as the place where the faithful who are unable to travel to Rome will be able to receive the grace of a plenary indulgence during the Jubilee Year, under the watchful eyes of Mary, Mother of Hope.
The “Lourdes February Days” for pilgrimage organisers
On the 9th and 10th February, the “Lourdes February Days” at the Sanctuary will bring together more than 850 international pilgrimage organisers (pilgrimage directors, hospitality presidents, Sanctuary partners, etc.).
The Lourdes February Days is an annual event that is eagerly awaited by all those involved in international pilgrimage, at the Sanctuary’s invitation, around the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.
For the first time, from 10th to 12th February 2025, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes is offering a series of days dedicated to tourism professionals to enable them to visit the Sanctuary, learn more about its history and, later, encourage others to discover it too.
These days provide an opportunity for discussions, catechesis and workshops to prepare the 2025 pilgrimage season in the best way possible.
