Some 9,300 people took part in the traditional Marian torchlight procession on Saturday evening during the national pilgrimage to Lourdes, marked for the second year in a row by the health crisis.
Masked, the faithful recited several "
Hail Mary
" while raising their torches to the sky, with the sunset behind the Basilicas of Lourdes, noted AFP journalists.
Read also: Covid-19: in 2021, Lourdes is reinventing itself at a forced march
A procession crossed the esplanade carrying a statue of the Virgin in front of the faithful who were placed in groups of 50 people, a sanitary measure put in place for the pilgrimage.
But the sanitary pass is not compulsory in the sanctuary during this pilgrimage, since it is a place of worship.
“
This is the ninth time that I've come.
It's important to come back today.
I take my granddaughters for their communion, it's their gift,
”François Boisleux, from Arras (Pas-de-Calais), told AFP.
One million visitors in August
The faithful, fewer than usual due to the health crisis, are accompanying some 300 patients, who are making their return this year since the processions of people in search of a miraculous cure were absent last year in Lourdes.
The slightest influx is inevitably felt everywhere in the city: in August the sanctuary crossed the million-visitor mark.
Against around 3.5 million in a normal year.
To read also: Father Vincent Cabanac: "In Lourdes, rediscover the joy of meeting"
In the spring of 2020, the shrine had to close several weeks for the first time in its history and 85% of pilgrimages had been canceled that year.