FRANCE (OSV News): “We are gathered this evening to respond to the request that Our Lady addressed to the priests through St. Bernadette: ‘People should come here in procession.’ How moving it is to see the faithful, from one generation to the next, respond with love and trust to the tender invitation of the Virgin Mary,” Pope Leo XIV said when he led tens of thousands of people in a candlelight rosary procession on September 27 in the Marian shrine of Lourdes, saying that he had come as “a pilgrim among pilgrims.”
The pope said, “I give thanks to the Lord that I, too, may respond this evening to the call of our mother, becoming a pilgrim among pilgrims.” he added
As the “Ave Maria” was sung between mysteries, all the pilgrims in the square in front of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary lifted their candles high in the air, creating a sea of lights.
“The light that guides us and draws us onward is the light of hope, which never abandons us even as we journey through this life—a life often marked by trials, yet already filled with the joy of knowing ourselves to be children of God, loved and saved by Jesus,” Pope Leo said.
“Those who are sick are privileged witnesses to this transfiguration of our lives through faith and love of God and neighbour,” the pope said.
He encouraged the sick to keep St. Paul’s words in Romans 8:18 constantly in their hearts, “The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.”
The pope said, “Dear brothers and sisters, pilgrims and all who are ill, you have come from France and throughout the world to take part in this fervent and peaceful procession of light. Let us bring our dearest and most urgent intentions, and present them to Our Lady,” the pope said.
Earlier in the day, Pope Leo met with Catholic bishops, celebrated Mass, met with staff and sick at the Accueil Notre Dame centre, and met privately with victims of clergy sexual abuse.
No human law should ever make you lose the certainty of your dignity. On the contrary, it is precisely in the name of this inalienable dignity of the human person that we must reject the temptation to cause death under the guise of false compassion
Pope Leo
At the centre, the pope told patients and caregivers, “Dear brothers and sisters who are sick, I want to tell you that you are not a burden. You are the beating heart of our humanity and a precious treasure for the Church.”
“No human law should ever make you lose the certainty of your dignity. On the contrary, it is precisely in the name of this inalienable dignity of the human person that we must reject the temptation to cause death under the guise of false compassion,” Pope Leo told them, emphasising, ” What is legal is not necessarily moral.
In the face of current trends that seek to redefine the value of human life in illness, suffering and old age, the grotto of Massabielle stands as a place of Christian hope. Here, no one is turned away due to their frailty,” the pope said.
Prior to Lourdes, Pope Leo was in Paris and on September 26, his second day in there, 800,000 people line the Champs Elysees from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde where Pope Leo celebrated Mass.
“Seeing you gathered here, my brothers and sisters, heirs to France’s long and beautiful history of faith, I say to you: drink from the source that is the pierced heart of Jesus. Yes, you thirst for God, for life, for truth, for unity, for peace, for communion and for happiness,” the pope said in his homily.
Do not keep this faith in Jesus Christ to yourselves. Let it overflow, so that those you meet may be refreshed and their thirst satisfied
Pope Leo
Pope Leo urged the people gathered to look within their hearts and ask, “What is my deepest thirst? What am I really seeking in life?” adding, “we all long for happiness, love and fulfillment, but from what source do we seek to quench our thirst?”
He said, “It is Jesus Christ, through his Incarnation, who comes to meet every person in the midst of his or her own story, and reveals himself as the true source of living water capable of quenching our thirst.”
Earlier that day, at a charitable centre dedicated to the assistance of refugees in the neighbourhood of Montmartre and met with some of France’s newly baptised.
“Do not keep this faith in Jesus Christ to yourselves. Let it overflow, so that those you meet may be refreshed and their thirst satisfied,” he urged Parisians.
Pope Leo concluded his trip on September 28 with a visit to Metz in northeastern France—a region whose history has been marked by war and division.
Dear brothers and sisters, pilgrims and all who are ill, you have come from France and throughout the world to take part in this fervent and peaceful procession of light
Pope Leo
Thousands lined the streets waving as the pope passed by in his popemobile. Later, celebrating Mass at the Cathedral of St. Stephen, he said that Jesus’ call to turn the other cheek may seem to some as “a sign of weakness, or a concession to evil, but that is not the case.”
He stressed, “It is not true that those who refuse to yield are stronger than those who seek reconciliation. It is not true that those who walk away are stronger than those who face the challenge of walking together.”
Local authorities said an estimated 35,000 people attended the Mass “in the cathedral and in the surrounding streets and areas.”
French president, Emmanuel Macron, and his wife, Brigitte, were also present at the Mass.
“Peace, a gift from God, requires a response from human beings through combined effort. After all, a home is more than just a stone structure; it is a place of human presence and love,” Pope Leo said.
