Pope Leo XIV prays at Lourdes grotto for fraternal concord in France

The bells of the Pyrenean town rang out loudly as the Air France plane carrying Pope Leo XIV from Paris landed at Tarbes-Lourdes airport at 7 p.m. Bishop Jean-Marc Micas of Lourdes greeted the pope as he stepped off the plane, before he got into a Renault with the license plate SCV1. As the car entered the town, the crowd grew denser along the security barriers.

Shortly before reaching the shrine, the pope got out of the car to greet the mayor of Lourdes, Thierry Lavit. From a bridge over the Gave river, renamed the Leo XIV Bridge for the occasion, he unveiled a statue and signed the book of honor while a choir sang Pyrenean songs. He then completed his pilgrimage to the shrine in the popemobile, where the clamor of the crowd turned to cheering as thousands of the faithful sang "Ave Maria."

Prayer at the Grotto of Massabielle

The crowd fell silent as Leo XIV knelt at the grotto, where Bernadette Soubirous first saw a "lady in white" in 1858. With the bishop of Lourdes beside him, the pope touched the rock face and drank a glass of water from the spring, responding to the Virgin's call to Bernadette: "Go drink at the spring and wash there." Like millions of the faithful, Leo XIV was, from his first moments in Lourdes, a pilgrim among pilgrims.

Weighing each word, the pope then read a prayer to the Virgin, asking that people come to her with confidence in that blessed place where she spoke so gently to St. Bernadette and gave the world a message of prayer, conversion and hope.

Prayers for France and for world peace

Leo XIV prayed to Our Lady "for France," asking her to intercede "so that its people may receive the gift of fraternal concord." He prayed that the country "build a harmonious society, banishing all violence and all hatred, allowing everyone to work, to form a family and to live their life fully to the very end in tranquility and serenity." He also asked that the most unfortunate and the poorest always have support.

The pope asked the Virgin to protect the people of his host country and to enlighten its leaders. "Obtain for France wise and generous leaders, ready for sacrifice, able to face the challenges and eager to serve the common good," he prayed.

He asked that she enlighten the French authorities and leaders so that they "keep France at peace in the concert of nations. May they make their voice heard to promote the defense of fundamental human rights, as well as peace in the world, rejecting forever the logic of war." He also prayed that the prayers offered before the grotto renew "the faith and fervor of Christian families."

In his prayer, Leo XIV took up the prayers of all who come to kneel at Lourdes, and in particular "those of the sick and the suffering, and of all those who accompany them, who have come here seeking strength and healing."

A traditional gesture of devotion

This first solemn moment at the shrine of Lourdes ended with a gesture of devotion reserved to popes: the presentation of a Golden Rose as an offering to the Virgin Mary. On Sunday, Leo XIV will continue his pilgrimage at the shrine, where he will celebrate Mass and take part in the torchlight procession.