This evening, Pope Leo arrived to Lourdes and his first engagement there was prayer. Just after arriving at the local airport, the Holy Father was taken to the grotto where Our Lady appeared to Bernadette.
Tens of thousands of people filled the streets around the sanctuary, giving an exuberant welcome. The Pope entered Lourdes via the "Léon XIV Bridge," which he officially opened, unveiling a statue to the strains of the Gloria, sung by a male choir. Then, as night fell, against the backdrop of the illuminated sanctuary and a full moon, he spent another quarter of an hour greeting the crowds from an open-top popemobile.
At the grotto, he spent several moments in prayer, kneeling in silence before the statue of the Virgin Mary. He also drank water from the spring -- the waters considered to be the channel through which God has worked countless miracles, officially just over 70 since the apparitions in 1858.
The Vatican Gardens, incidentally, have a replica of this grotto, and Leo XIV had already visited publicly on several occasions.
Finally, the Pope added a candle to those already burning on the large candelabra at the foot of the statue, before reciting a prayer in French.
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Here is a translation of his prayer:
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. We turn to you with trust, for you are the Mother whom Jesus has given, and you are attentive to all our needs.
We pray to you, our Mother, for France, for you are her Patroness and have protected her for so many centuries. Grant its people the gift of fraternal harmony, so that they may build a harmonious society that banishes all violence and hatred, and allows everyone to work, to start a family and to live life to the fullest in peace and serenity. May the most disadvantaged and the poorest always be supported. Obtain for France wise and generous leaders, ready to make sacrifices, capable of responding to challenges, and eager to serve the common good. May they 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.
Blessed Virgin Mary, we present to you the People of God journeying in this country, which you have so deeply marked with your presence. Renew the faith and fervor of Christian families, who are so dear to your heart, so that they may live day by day in the presence of Jesus, in his grace, and with his support through the difficulties they face. May they be generously open to life, and may God awaken vocations within them, especially to the priesthood and religious life. Grant that your Church in France may show, especially to the youngest among them, the luminous path of the Gospel, so that they may build the just and fraternal society to which they aspire.
Finally, Mother full of love, we entrust to you our most urgent personal intentions, especially those of the sick and suffering, as well as all those who accompany them, who have come together to find strength and healing at the spring of Massabielle. We entrust to you our living and deceased loved ones. We pray that you will remove all the obstacles that still separate us from your beloved Son and that he may reign in all hearts.
