France: SSPX Pilgrimage to Lourdes

Nearly five thousand faithful traveled to Lourdes in the south of France on October 21-22-23, 2017 for the Society of St. Pius X’s annual pilgrimage in honor of Christ the King. Our Lady appears in Lourdes in 1858 to Saint Bernadette. She gave her name: the Immaculate Conception and requested to pray and do penance.
The theme of this year’s pilgrimage was to give thanks for having received and kept the Faith in today difficult times, and to pray for the grace of remaining faithful to the combat of Tradition: “For the reign of Christ the King, for the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the Holy Roman Catholic Church”.
Saturday, October 21, 2017
The pilgrimage began with a Solemn High Mass in the underground basilica of St. Pius X, celebrated by Fr. Patrick Troadec, Rector of Saint Cure of Ars Seminary in Flavigny, France. Then the Way of the Cross: one for the sick and invalids on the prairie, the other following the life-size Way of the Cross all the way up the mountain of the Espélugues. Even the pouring rain was unable to quench the zeal of the pilgrims, who had come in droves to answer Our Lady’s call to St. Bernadette “Penance! Penance! Penance!”
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The clergy and faithful gathered once again after sunset for a candlelight Rosary Procession. Thousands of candles formed an interminable chain of light that snaked around the prairie and past the grotto as the Aves and Glorias rang out under the clear night sky. During the whole night a prayer vigil took place at the Grotto.
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Sunday, October 22, 2017
The pilgrims returned to the basilica for Sunday Mass celebrated by Fr. Emeric Baudot, First Assistant of the District of France and prior at Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet in Paris. All then processed to the grotto to recite the Rosary and renew the consecration of the Society of St. Pius X to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
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In the afternoon, solemn Vespers were sung, followed by a procession of the Blessed Sacrament in honor of Christ the King. The procession ended with what is truly the heart of this beautiful annual pilgrimage: Jesus Himself, carried by one of His priests in the monstrance, comes down the steps from the altar and stops to bless each sick person, one at a time. The Little Sisters of St. John the Baptist, who care for all the sick and invalids who participate in the pilgrimage, and the entire congregation present join with the sick for the traditional invocations recited during these moving blessings: “Lord, that I might see! Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst heal me! Lord, may Thy will be done!” Not all return home healed, but all leave Lourdes with renewed strength, deeper hope, and hearts refreshed by the consolation of this privileged encounter with their Divine Master.
Monday, October 23, 2017
A third solemn high Mass was celebrated by Fr. Philippe Brunet, Superior of the Autonomous House of Spain and Portugal, and the faithful had the privilege of hearing the Little Singers of St. Joseph contribute to the beauty of the liturgy with several splendid pieces.
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As the Solemn High Mass came to a close, one final procession returned to the grotto for the Rosary that would close the pilgrimage with the renewal of the Consecration to Christ the King read by the District Superior, Fr. Christian Bouchacourt with his two Assistants, Frs. Emeric Baudot and Loïc Duverger.
Eventually the District Superior thanked all those who had helped to organize the pilgrimage and invited the faithful to come back next year, but above all to return home with renewed zeal and unfailing fidelity to Our Lady’s simple and ardent requests, repeated both in Fatima and in Lourdes: “Recite the Rosary! Do penance!”
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FSSPX.News - 10/24/17