Benedict XVI – Pastoral Journey to Lourdes (September 12-15, 2008): 150th Anniversary of the Apparitions

From September 12 to 15, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI made his apostolic journey to France, dedicated principally to the 150th anniversary of Mary’s apparitions to Bernadette Soubirous at the grotto of Massabielle (Lourdes). It was the tenth international journey of the pontificate and the only one specifically dedicated to a Marian shrine. The addresses and homilies delivered during the visit are collected in Enchiridion Vaticanum vol. 25 (2008), paragraphs 1491-1700+.

Itinerary of the Journey

September 12, 2008 – Paris

• Arrival at Orly airport
• Meeting with President Sarkozy at the Élysée
• Address to the world of culture at the Collège des Bernardins
• Vespers with clergy and religious at Notre-Dame de Paris

September 13, 2008 – Paris-Lourdes

• Meeting with the Jewish community of Paris
• Solemn Mass on the Esplanade des Invalides (Champ-de-Mars) with 250,000 faithful
• Flight to Lourdes
• Torchlight procession at the shrine

September 14, 2008 (Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross) – Lourdes

• Penitential act at the grotto of Massabielle
• Solemn Mass on the Esplanade of the Shrine: “Per crucem ad lucem” (Through the cross to the light)
• Address to the bishops of France in the “Saint Bernadette Hemicycle”

September 15, 2008 (Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows) – Lourdes

• Mass for the sick: homily centered on “Mary, Mother of the Sick”
• Visit to the Notre-Dame Hospital
• Meeting with the hospitaller sisters
• Celebration of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick
• Farewell and return to Rome

Address to the bishops of France, nn. 1491-1495

This is the first time since the beginning of my Pontificate that I have the joy of meeting you all together. I cordially greet your President, Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, and I thank him for the kind and profound words that he addressed to me in your name…

Je me réjouis d’être parmi vous ce soir dans cet hémicycle “Sainte Bernadette”, qui est le lieu ordinaire de vos prières et de vos rencontres, lieu où vous exposez vos soucis et vos espérances…

English: This is the first time since the beginning of my Pontificate that I have the joy of meeting you all together. I cordially greet your President, Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, and I thank him for the kind and profound words he addressed to me in your name…

I rejoice to be among you this evening in this “Saint Bernadette” hemicycle, which is the ordinary place of your prayers and your meetings, a place where you set forth your concerns and your hopes…

Homily on the esplanade of the shrine (September 14, 2008), key excerpt

“The Message of Lourdes is not essentially different from what all Marian shrines say. It is essentially a call to conversion to Christ. Mary shows nothing but Christ. Her words to Bernadette, ‘Penance, penance, penance!’, are not a punishment but an invitation to the joy of a renewed encounter with the Lord. The Immaculate One who appears at Lourdes is the Mother who leads to Christ. Every pilgrim to Lourdes is first of all a pilgrim to Christ, through Mary.”

Homily for the sick (September 15, 2008), Maria iuxta crucem

“Today we contemplate Mary standing beside the Cross (Stabat Mater), an image that is profoundly liturgical and existential. The bride of the Holy Spirit thus becomes the Mother of the sick throughout the world. Suffering, when united to that of Christ, becomes redemptive, and Mary, who suffered more deeply than any other creature beside the Cross of her Son, is close to every sick person, to every person who carries a heavy cross. Lourdes is the privileged place where the Mother of the sick awaits us to console us and to heal us, spiritually always, physically when Providence permits it.”

Message for the Universal Church

Benedict XVI’s journey to Lourdes in 2008 confirmed for the universal Church:

1. Conciliar continuity: Lourdes embodies the Mariology of the Second Vatican Council, Mary as Mother of the Church, model of faith.
2. Pastoral care of the sick: the Church must always be present where human suffering grows more intense.
3. Conversion: the apparitions are not a magical spectacle but an existential call to conversion.
4. Mercy: Mary, mother of mercy, manifests herself at Lourdes in healings and in conversions of the heart.

Comparison with Other Papal Visits to Lourdes

Spiritual Legacy

Benedict XVI’s visit to Lourdes in 2008 was the culminating moment of the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the apparitions. The addresses and homilies delivered took their place within the great tradition of the Marian Magisterium on Lourdes, begun with the encyclical Le Pèlerinage de Lourdes of Pius XII (1957) and continued by John Paul II in his two visits (1983, 2004).

Further reading

Pius XII – Le Pèlerinage de Lourdes 1957 | Indulgence for the 150 Years of Lourdes | Marian Apparitions | Salvifici Doloris | Spe Salvi (Benedict XVI)

See the complete list of Marian apparitions recognized by the Church.