On Saturday, July 16th, the Sanctuary in Lourdes hosted the 3rd Annual Virtual World Pilgrimage called Lourdes United In Prayer. July 16th is the anniversary of the 18th and last apparition, the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. On that day Bernadette could not go to the Grotto because it was fenced and it was forbidden.

The events included 16 hours of of live streaming, 3 international Masses, 4 international Marian prayers, and 8 rosaries in different languages. To share these pilgrimage events with the world, pilgrimage organizers set up 5 radio and TV studio sets around the sanctuary.

During the Lourdes and the Americas segment, Fra’ Alessandro de Franciscis, MD, hosted a panel of representatives. One of the representatives who joined Fra' Alessandro live on stage was Asher McInerney, KM from the Western Association. Dr. Dan Field, KM, Lourdes Medical Director of the Western Association, joined the panel virtually for an interview to discuss the challenges faced by the Western Association in making the pilgrimage to Lourdes in 2021 and 2022.

You can watch a replay of Fra' Alessandro's segment HERE.

*All photos courtesy the Lourdes Sanctuaire