After four years of closure, the Lourdes Sanctuary intends to reopen access to its swimming pools for pilgrims.
Newsroom (7/03/2024 20:00 Gaudium Press) After four years of closure, the Lourdes sanctuary plans to reopen access to its pools for pilgrims. Since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, the ritual of bathing in the waters of Lourdes has been stopped and replaced by a simpler ceremony.
However, the Marian Shrine has announced that it intends to reopen the pools so that pilgrims can bathe again. To this end, the shrine has announced some renovation work on the bathing facilities and plans to reopen the pools by the end of 2024.
The Lourdes swimming pool building is located behind the Marian shrine at the Massabielle Grotto. The rector of the sanctuary, Michel Daubanes, explained to a French newspaper that the facilities were a little outdated and that the maintenance work is intended to renovate the building and increase the sanitation of the pious custom: “The water circulation and treatment system needs to be improved, and that’s what we’re doing.”
Daubanes explained that work has begun, but it isn’t possible to set an exact date. It is the intention to open access to bathing by the end of 2024.
During all these years of closure, the ritual of bathing in the waters of Lourdes has been replaced by what pilgrims call the “water gesture”. They can wash their faces and hands and drink the water.
Several pilgrims have already expressed their excitement at the news. In fact, the rector of the shrine commented that bathing in Lourdes is an important stage for many pilgrims, and the fruits of spiritual renewal, conversions and confirmation of faith of the many people who have lived this experience are well known.
The Lourdes sanctuary is also studying the number of pilgrims who can be welcomed for the bathing ritual. In 2021, around 420,000 pilgrims made the “water gesture” and around 3 million passed through the Massabielle grotto. (FM)
With information from France Bleue.
Compiled by Florence MacDonald
