It is a pilgrimage for those who usually organize them.

All year round, the organization Hospitalité Notre-Dame de Lourdes welcomes pilgrims to the famous Marian shrine in the south of France, with the help of hundreds of volunteers from over 90 different countries.

From April 5 to 6, a group of around 70 people from the Hospitalité is taking part in the Jubilee of the Sick and the Healthcare World in Rome.

“We are Mary’s arms”

For Daniel Pezet, President of Hospitalité, this is an extremely important event, as “the mission of the Hospitalité Notre-Dame de Lourdes is to welcome pilgrims to Lourdes, especially sick pilgrims”.

Pezet, originally from Paris but now living near the shrine, says that coming to Rome means plunging deep into his hope of faith and eternal life, in order to then witness it to the sick.

“Through our action, through our smile, through our presence, we enable them to hope, and to open a window on eternity,” Pezet explains.

“We are Mary's arms, Jesus' arms for them. We lend them our eyes, our smiles, to welcome them as best we can,” says Maider Urruty, a native of France’s Basque country, who helps disabled pilgrims immerse themselves in Lourdes’ waters. With Hospitalité, her “second family”, she has come to join in the Jubilee “simply as a pilgrim, as a Catholic”.

At Lourdes, among the 3.2 million pilgrims expected in 2024, some will be non-believers, she says: “We welcome everyone, of all faiths, even people who don't believe in anything, but who are often looking for hope”.

Helena Foy, an Irish woman from Dublin, another long-time volunteer, agrees. “Very often, patients are desperate. We have to try to give them a little hope and tell them: 'even when you're ill, you can live normally, you can carry on'”.

She is very moved to be coming to Rome for the first time, a way of marking the 140th anniversary of Hospitalité Notre-Dame de Lourdes.

Renewing the “soul of service”

Coming to Rome as a pilgrim for the Jubilee of the Sick? “It was a natural fit,” smiles Christiane Varachaud. A nurse, she felt “called” to serve the most vulnerable, both in Lourdes and at her job. Now retired and involved with the Society of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, she wouldn't miss the regular visits she makes to Lourdes for the world.

“The world changes, but I believe that in our hearts nothing changes”, she says, noting the growing number of people who ask her to pray for them in front of the grotto, or to bring them water from Lourdes.

Accompanying the group of pilgrims, Father Michel Daubanes, rector of the sanctuary, hopes that the hospitaliers on pilgrimage to Rome will be strengthened in their “soul of service”, i.e. “their availability to the little ones, to enable them to experience faith, friendship, spirituality and solidarity. These are extremely precious for people who are ill or disabled, but just as much for those who assist them”.

He is preparing for the busy months ahead, with pilgrimages to Lourdes starting this Saturday, April 5.

While waiting to return to Lourdes for their volunteering, the pilgrims from Hospitalité will take part in Mass in St. Peter's Square on Sunday April 6 at 10:30am for this seventh major event of the 2025 Jubilee Year.