Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – September 12 – 15, the Holy Father Benedict XVI will make an Apostolic Journey to France, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary
of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Lourdes. The first two days, September 12-13, the Pope will spend in Paris, and on the afternoon of the 13th, he will travel to Lourdes, where he will remain until September 15.
The celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Lourdes began on Saturday, December 8, 2007, Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and will conclude on December 8, 2008. This Jubilee of 2008 is the third for Lourdes. The first two were held in 1908 (50 year anniversary) and 1958 (centennial). According to Bishop Jacques Perrier of Tarbes and Lourdes, it is part of “the new evangelization,” because “the shrines and pilgrimages today play an important role in religious life...The shrines are sites for a silent evangelization.”
For celebrating the Jubilee Year of Lourdes, 12 themes (or missions) – one per month – have been established through various initiatives. These “12 Missions of Lourdes” are:
- The Church in Mission with its volunteers, in the service of others
- The Church in Mission with Mary
- The Church in Mission with Young People
- The Church in Mission for Christian Unity
- The Church in Mission in the Call to Conversion
- The Church in Mission with the Sick
- The Church in Mission with People with disability
- The Church in Mission between Nations
- The Church in Mission for Peace
- The Church in Mission, Nourished by the Eucharist
- The Church in Mission for Inter-religious dialogue
- The Church in Mission with the Marginalised
For the pilgrims who journey to Lourdes, there is also a “Jubilee Path,” divided into four parts, from Baptism to Eucharist: the parish church where Bernadette was baptized, the poor “house” of the Soubirous family (the “Cachot”), the Grotto of the Apparitions, and the chapel where Bernadette received her First Communion. During his visit, on the afternoon of the 13th, the Pope will visit the first three sites, and on the 15th, the last one.
The Pope’s visit to Lourdes is as following: he is scheduled to arrive at 5:45pm on Saturday, September 13; there he will visit the first three sites of the “Jubilee Path” (the Parish Church of the Sacred Heart, the “Cachot” of Bernadette, and the Grotto); at 9:30pm, the conclusion of the Marian Procession “aux flambeaux” (candlelight). On Sunday, September 14, the Pope will celebrate a Mass at 10am, in honor of the 150th anniversary of the apparitions followed by the Angelus. In the afternoon, he will meet with the French Bishops and preside the conclusion of the Eucharistic Procession. On Monday, September 15, after visiting the “Oratorie de l’hôpital of Lourdes” (the hospital chapel), the fourth and final part of the “Jubilee Path,” the Holy Father will celebrate Mass at 9:30am for the sick, at the Sagrato of the Basilica “Notre-Dame du Rosaire,” and will administer the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. At 12:30, he will depart for the Tarbes-Lourdes- Pyrenees Airport, from which he will fly to Rome.
Benedict XVI has declared that a special plenary indulgence will be obtainable for the 150th anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Grotto of Massabielle, in Lourdes, to Saint Bernadette Soubirous. The Apostolic Penitentiary has published a Decree to this effect, establishing that “a daily Plenary Indulgence is granted to the Christian faithful who, from 8 December 2007 until 8 December 2008, devoutly and in accordance with the established conditions, visit the Grotto of Massabielle.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 11/9/2008)
