After being closed for two months due to confinement, the sanctuaries of Lourdes (Hauts Pyrenees) are gradually resuming their activity. Ace parties
After being closed for two months due to confinement, the sanctuaries of Lourdes (Hauts Pyrenees) are gradually resuming their activity.
Assumption celebrations typically draw up to 25,000 pilgrims to Lourdes, one of the world’s top Christian pilgrimage sites, but this year access is limited to 10,000 people, masks are mandatory and many patients have given up. do the trip
“We will be able to receive 5,000 pilgrims in the Basilica of Saint Pius X and 5,000 in other sanctuaries,” says Vincent Cabanac, director of the National Pilgrimage, due to the Sars coronavirus pandemic. On the other hand, the cave is still accessible, “since it’s big, you can walk around normally,” he says.
The highlight of the pilgrimage, the holy mass at 10:00 a.m. in the basilica, had to be broadcast on giant screens for the faithful who could not access this underground church, 200 meters long by 80 meters wide, with capacity for 25,000 people. in normal times.
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After being closed for two months due to confinement, the sanctuaries of Lourdes (Hauts Pyrenees) are gradually resuming their activity. But large contingents of foreign pilgrims are missing and many hotels and souvenir shops remain closed.
“This is a very important festival for the Church, which celebrates the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. A difficult life. We do not forget those affected by the coronavirus and other suffering in our world, I am thinking especially of Lebanon, let us pray for them,” said the rector of the Lourdes sanctuaries, Monsignor Olivier Ribadeau Dumas.
the right hand of the pope
Pope Francis sent his right hand to Lourdes on a pilgrimage, rare, the Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, who presides over the celebrations, “support in a difficult context”, greets Archbishop Ribadeau Dumas.
Since Friday, the port mask is mandatory at the shrines and on the streets located near the temple fence. And the rules are strictly followed.
along the river Gave, the river that passes in front of the cave, pilgrims fill the fountain with their canteens of Lourdes water, a souvenir of the Marian city.
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This year the special of the 147th edition of the pilgrimage to Lourdes will be absent, which talks about the miraculous cures of contingents of patients who come by train to receive medical attention, often elderly and in poor health.
“It is heartbreaking not to receive these patients, the trains had to be cancelled. But they would not be forgotten. Even if it is broadcast widely, on the radio, on TV, on the Internet, this is not a virtual pilgrimage, it is real. They are trying to make a link between Lourdes and those who cannot come this week”, says the director of the National Pilgrimage, which organizes the commemoration of August 15 of each year.
untouchable walls
Among other changes, pilgrims will not be able to ask for a hand or kiss the stone walls of the Cave where, according to Catholic tradition, the Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette Soubirous in 1858. Nor can they bathe or dive into the pools, in search of miraculous cures.
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Candle in hand, the pilgrims attended the lighting of the torches on Friday night, which was held statically, and the image of Mary walked among the almost 5,000 pilgrims who sang and prayed.
Olivia Ndari has been here a dozen times already, but she is excited to be back in Lourdes. “I am happy, I was baptized here 25 years ago. It is a balm for the heart, our faith was put to the test this year”, says the young Baller. “You live only (e) your faith, it is difficult, here we feel galvanized.”
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At the entrance to the sanctuaries, the screen shows the number of pilgrims simultaneously present in the temple grounds, up to exceeding the limit of 5,000. On Friday, 22,000 entries were registered, distributed throughout the day, which did not exceed 5,000, at the same time.
Date Updated: August 15, 2020, 1:58 PM
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: newstars.edu.vn