Pope Leo prayed in silence at the Grotto of the Apparitions in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes on Saturday evening during his first papal visit to France. He knelt before the Lourdes site where Catholics believe the Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette Soubirous in 1858. Pope Leo touched the rock of the grotto, drank water from the spring and offered a prayer to the Virgin Mary, asking for “fraternal harmony” in France and for support for the poor, sick and suffering. Leo also prayed for peace and urged the rejection of what he called “the logic of war.”
Lourdes is one of Catholicism’s best-known pilgrimage sites, drawing millions of visitors seeking prayer and healing. Leo is due to celebrate Mass at the sanctuary on Sunday (September 27) and join its traditional candlelight procession.
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