Even though a pilgrimage peak is some months away, the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes celebrated its wintery feast day Feb. 11 with a number of pilgrims who flocked to the French holy site on the anniversary of the first apparition of the Blessed Virgin to St. Bernadette Soubirous in 1858.

The feast of Our Lady of Lourdes also marks World Day of the Sick, instituted by St. John Paul II in 1992. "It always attracts a lot of people to Lourdes," Father Michel Daubanes, rector of the sanctuary since 2022, told OSV News.

"It is winter at the moment, and the sanctuary is rather quiet and almost empty at this time of year. But in the afternoon and evening of February 10th, the crowds begin to arrive. Many people come from the surrounding area, or from nearby Spain and Italy," the rector said, emphasizing that Italians are "the most numerous" and "very attached to Lourdes," always coming in great numbers.

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"Paradoxically, there are almost no sick people in Lourdes for World Day of the Sick," Father Daubanes said. "The weather is very cold, and in recent days, I have celebrated Mass at the grotto in the snow. It is not reasonable to bring the sick here in these conditions. The high pilgrimage season will not resume until spring," he told OSV News.

Meanwhile, however, the sanctuary did play host to a thousand pilgrims from Feb. 9 to 11, for a three-day gathering specially designed for them. They were pilgrimage organizers who had come from all over the world, as well as the presidents of the "hospitalities," the groups that bring the sick and disabled to Lourdes as part of diocesan pilgrimages.

"These pilgrimage leaders are usually immersed in the many issues of logistics," the rector of the Sanctuary explained. "When they are with the pilgrims, they have neither the time nor the free spirit to experience a pilgrimage for themselves. That is why we organize these days especially adapted for them, so that they too can have time for reflection, spiritual retreat, or prayer at the grotto," he said.

Among the participants were the leaders of the Sovereign Order of Malta's famous international pilgrimage, which takes place every year in May and floods Lourdes not only with the sick from all corners of the globe, but also knights and dames in their traditional clothing.

The president of the Order of Malta American Association of the order, Kenneth Craig, came to Lourdes from New York City. He is the leader of one of the three American groups that bring the sick to the sanctuary every year, taking care of all the expenses."This year, the Order of Malta will gather 6,000 or 7,000 people in Lourdes from May 2 to 6, coming from about 22 countries," he told OSV News.

For Craig, this will be the 22nd pilgrimage of the Order of Malta in which he is participating.

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"Twenty two years ago, a priest friend asked me what I was doing to thank God for the wonderful life I was living," he told OSV News. "I asked him if he had any ideas for me. He told me about the Order of Malta, which was looking for young volunteers to accompany the sick to Lourdes. I signed up, and I went to Lourdes for the first time as a volunteer. This very first pilgrimage was very, very transformational for me. I then continued in this commitment, and over the years, I took on new responsibilities."

"Our pilgrimage to Lourdes has three dimensions," Craig explained. "Firstly, there is the spiritual dimension. The sick come to Lourdes to be transformed. Some hope to be physically healed. ... But most people come to heal internally, to find an inner, spiritual peace that will help them accept and live with what is happening to them."

Craig said a woman who was battling cancer some years ago comes to his mind often when he reflects on the power of Lourdes for those struggling with health issues.

"She had high hopes of being cured, and at first she was extremely disappointed that this was not the case. But after a moment of great disillusion, she suddenly received a real grace of peace and joy, while praying at the grotto. She left Lourdes telling everyone that she felt confident and happy, even though she knew she would succumb to her cancer," Craig said.

"The second dimension of the pilgrimage is that of service," Craig explained. "Our group from New York brings a little more than 50 sick people, from 4 to 98 years old! To look after them, a lot of people are needed: doctors, nurses, chaplains and numerous volunteers. In total, this represents almost 400 people from the East Coast of the United States, and around 1,100 if we include the other two American groups of the Order of Malta."

"The volunteers put themselves totally at the service of the sick," Craig said. "They help them at all times, to take care of travel, accommodation and meals. The sick must be driven so that they can go to confession, or receive the anointing of the sick. They must be helped so that they can bathe in the Lourdes pools. This requires a full-time commitment from volunteers."

And finally, he said, there is a social dimension. "In Lourdes, you find people who are all there for the same reason. They have all left their work, put their phones aside, given up their meetings. They are united in the same goal. This is an opportunity for very meaningful encounters."

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To prepare all this, Craig said, the Order of Malta national groups sign up for an enormous task of logistical preparation. "Therefore, it is a great opportunity for us to all meet here in person during those days organized by the sanctuary."

On Feb. 10, pilgrims participated in a torchlit Marian procession, and on the feast day, Mass was celebrated by Bishop Jean-Marc Micas of Tarbes and Lourdes, followed by a multilingual rosary at the grotto, drawing around 10,000 attendees.