Pilgrimage to Lourdes

Every year this Marian shrine at the foot of the Pyrenees draws millions of pilgrims to the Grotto of Massabielle where, in 1858, the Virgin Mary appeared to a local girl named Marie-Bernarde Soubirous. She was canonised as St. Bernadette in 1933 and the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes was erected in recognition of the eighteen apparitions she experienced of Our Blessed Mother.

Lourdes has been a focal point for Christian pilgrims for the last 150 years, especially popular among the sick and the disabled due to the Sanctuary’s excellent facilities and traditional healing baths.

Much of this 7-day itinerary is based in the Sanctuary, exploring the history, tradition and Christian significance of the apparitions of Our Lady, Saint Bernadette’s experience of them and what her life was like before and after the apparitions.

Your hotel will serve breakfast and dinner (please note that first meal is evening dinner and last meal is breakfast) and is located nearby the Sanctuary, meaning convenient, short walks between meals and Sanctuary group activities. Daily Mass will be arranged when not joining international Mass in the wonderful Pius X Basilica. Free time is also included so that individuals can pursue their own interests in the Sanctuary and around Lourdes.

• Visit the Grotto and touch the rocks around the cave of apparitions
• Pray the Rosary right across the River Gave with our group
• Bathe in the Sanctuary’s marble baths filled with water flowing from the spring that Saint Bernadette drank from at Our Lady’s request: “Go drink at the spring and wash yourself there”. The water is said to have special curative effects (you can also collect and take home the holy water).
• Stations of the Cross can be followed along the High Mountain, Lower Stations, or the Way of the Cross for the disabled and sick.
• Light candles and attend, individually or as a group, the daily Candlelight Procession, Blessing of the Sick and the Blessed Sacrament Procession.
• Visit the Upper Basilica, the Crypt, the Rosary Basilica and the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament as well as many other holy sites in Lourdes.
• Enjoy a group video presentation in the Sanctuary theatre, featuring the life of Saint Bernadette and the apparitions.
• Participate in the International Masses at the Pius X Basilica which is held every Wednesday and Sunday.
• Outside of the Sanctuary, visit Bolly Mill where Bernadette was born and lived with her family, and The Cachot where Bernadette’s family lived during the time of the apparitions.

Bartres – Bernadette lived here for a few years when she was a young child.

Pyrenees Mountain/Gavarni – beautiful mountain scenery and more

Cost depends on the number of participants.

If you require wheelchair assistance at the airport this can be arranged. Please request this in writing prior to booking as airlines limit the number of less able pilgrims on each flight. The Sanctuary itself is very well equipped for disabled visitors.