Rome Newsroom, Jul 14, 2020 / 05:00 am
As global coronavirus cases have surpassed 13 million, Lourdes is offering a digital pilgrimage this week to pray for the sick on the anniversary of its final Marian apparition.
The Marian shrine will livestream the rosary in 10 languages, Mass for multiple time zones, and a procession with the relics of St. Bernadette July 16.
Lourdes has been known as a sanctuary for the sick for more than a century. The shrine contains a spring which is said to have miraculous healing properties.
July 16 marks the 18th and final apparition at the Lourdes' grotto in 1858. St. Bernadette said of the event: "I saw only the Virgin. I have never seen her so beautiful."