Pilgrims have long believed that it would not take place this year. More than just a meeting, the pilgrimage to Lourdes is a tradition for 8000 people every summer. During confinement, the beehive-like sanctuary teeming with worshipers remained closed for almost three months, creating a financial loss of 8 million euros in 2020 on an annual budget of 30 million euros. After long hesitation to guarantee the safety of all and especially of the most vulnerable, " the pilgrimage takes place but differently this year ", explains Father Vincent Cabanac, director of the National Pilgrimage, organized in Lourdes every August 15 to celebrate the feast of the 'Assumption.
Lourdes masked and without patients
The sanctuary, the grotto, the basilica, the baths, without forgetting the crowd gathered around the Virgin. This is the usual flavor of the pilgrimage to Lourdes. With the health measures, the 2020 edition promises to be special. Each pilgrim should wear a mask, wash their hands and respect the distance of two meters from their neighbors.
Against 8000 faithful usually, " a delegation of 500 people will be present to pray for all those who will not be able to come ", explains Hélène de Place, in her thirties invested in the pilgrimage. " The most painful thing for us is not to welcome the sick, who are the heart of Lourdes, " she adds. However, the shrine has imagined a solution so that they can also experience their pilgrimage.
“The most painful thing for us is not to welcome the sick, who are the heart of Lourdes”.
Hélène de Place, volunteer for the national pilgrimage to LourdesTo read also: Empty of pilgrims, Lourdes keeps hope
“ 1000 patients have requested support. They received a kit with an action to be carried out every day such as lighting a candle or reciting a rosary at the same time as us ”, continues the volunteer who has already completed twelve pilgrimages. The young woman is delighted to follow a fragile person who would have liked to be present in Lourdes: " I will not be there for myself but for them ". Like her, they are a thousand “ guardian angels ” responsible during the five days of the pilgrimage to visit the sick in nursing homes, hospitals or isolated houses throughout France and then pray for them.
Another symbol of Lourdes are the swimming pools in which millions of people bathe every year in the hope of being healed under the action of the miraculous water. “ Obviously, no pool this year for health reasons ,” Father Cabanac resolved. “ But we have implemented the ritual of water. Instead of being completely submerged, the pilgrim will be able to wash their face with the water from the spring ”. The torchlight vigil will also be done differently. To avoid a mixing of groups as much as possible, the faithful will not follow the procession with the Virgin but will be divided into several points of the sanctuary and the procession will move in stages. As for the services, conferences and testimonies, they will be filmed and broadcast on radio, television or on the Internet.
E-pilgrimages, the rescue of technology
As in Lourdes, for believers who cannot gather on site, the Hautecombe pilgrimage in Savoie travels to each of the festival-goers thanks to the internet. “ We organized three days of online pilgrimage to allow all those who could not be physically present to follow us despite the distance, ” reports Sister Priscilla, communication manager for Chemin Neuf, a new ecumenical community that welcomes 2,000 young people every year.
On the strength of their technological innovations acquired during confinement, the community is very present on social networks. “ It allows us to reach more people and a wider audience, ” Sister Priscilla enthuses. After offering Lent online, the religious created an “ e-pilgrimage ” to follow the highlights offered.
This year the program - spiritual times, lectures and nature activities - has not changed, only the numbers. They were ten times less numerous to gather from August 2 to 9 in Saint-Pierre-de-Curtille.
" Mini-pilgrimages " to better meet each other
" People are looking for places where they can be well received, they are reassured not to be drowned in a crowd ", testifies Thibaud de Solages, Nantes organizer with his wife of a gathering of 300 Catholics in Paray-le-Monial. Since 1985, the city of Saône-et-Loire has welcomed several thousand faithful from the Emmanuel community. " It is true that seeing the empty field is a shock ", says Anne, Thibaud's wife, " necessarily a little disappointed ". This year, the community decided to organize 75 regional sessions between 40 and 250 people. " They are full of mini-pilgrimages, close to home, easier to get around and find accommodation, " adds the couple, organizer of such an event for the first time.
Masks, social distancing, mandatory gels, festival-goers have been tasked with ensuring the safety and proper application of these barrier gestures. “ Nobody wants to be unreasonable and create a cluster, people thirst for calm after the frenzy that has reigned since the start of the Covid ”, explain Anne and Thibaud.
"Nobody wants to be unreasonable and create a cluster, people are thirsty for calm after the frenzy that has reigned since the start of the Covid".
Anne and Thibaud de Solages, organizers of a session in Paray-le-Monial for EmmanuelThe observation is the same at Mont-Saint-Michel. Sister Claire-Annaël, nun of the Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem, also noted a transformed atmosphere. More presence at religious services but less along the cobbled streets. " Foreign tourists were unable to come, " notes the nun. “ More families and groups of friends are coming to Mt. They are reassured to find an emblematic monument and have an inner thirst to offer the height of their lives after these months of tumult. "
Mont-Saint-Michel is the second most visited monument in France with 1.5 million tourists in 2019. Volker Loche - stock.adobe.com
Taking to the open sea and crossing the bay at low tide is an unmissable stopover for any pilgrim to the Norman abbey. Even if the large gatherings were canceled, the faithful did not leave the rock. " The month of August is normally calm but this year, there are twice as many groups ", reports Christophe Pailley, guide for spiritual journeys.
Read also: The end of the quay: feast on the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel
Calmer, more relaxed with a thirst for freedom and escapades in the heart of nature, tourists from the Mount " want to have good times together, meet new people and take back the place ". The guide takes advantage of the privacy of the small groups to “ hang out ” and “ play with the children ”. A more demanding summer in terms of workload and more peaceful even if the fear of a resumption of the epidemic remains in people's minds.
Stay cautious without giving in to fear
" Of course we think about it ", answers Thibaud, organizer of a session of Paray-le-Monial, to the question if he is thinking of the evangelical gathering in Mulhouse. Designated as one of the events at the origin of the coronavirus epidemic in eastern France last February, it brought together 2,500 faithful for five days of prayer and fasting.
Read also: Covid-19: is the religious gathering in Mulhouse responsible for the epidemic in France?
" We have all done so that this does not happen but there is no zero risk ," reports the Nantes resident. For each gathering, drastic measures were taken with volunteers responsible for ensuring that they are respected. " And if ever, we were at the origin of a new cluster ... " worries Sister Priscilla of Chemin Neuf. A concern shared by all festival-goers " but we don't want to think about it too much, we try to make the most of it anyway ," says Margaux, a student from Lyon, enthusiastic about her week of pilgrimage to Hautecombe.
"To live permanently in fear is not healthy, you cannot be in apnea all your life, you have to control your breathing to fill up with fresh air once it is possible".
Father Vincent Cabanac, director of the national pilgrimage to Lourdes“ We know what to do, ” continues Father Vincent Cabanac, responsible for the national pilgrimage to Lourdes. “ Our watchword is responsibility in the face of health rules and hope that this epidemic will end one day. Living permanently in fear is not healthy, you cannot be freediving your whole life, you have to control your breathing to fill up with fresh air once possible ”.
M de Marie
Crossing France in a horse-drawn carriage to draw an M by connecting the various places of Marian apparitions, such is the somewhat crazy bet of the M de Marie. This long 107-day procession over more than 2000 km at the pace of two horse-drawn carriages carrying a statue of Notre-Dame-de-France left from Lourdes and La Salette. Two processions of several hundred pilgrims take turns on small sections of the route passing through Pontmain, Paris and Pellevoisin.