Recently I have had the joy of visiting Lourdes, the holy place where Our Lady appeared to Bernadette Soubirous for 18 times. One of the few excursions I booked was an interesting visit to Cité Saint Pierre, a hill which is situated outside Lourdes. Since its foundation by Mgr Rodhain in 1955, the Cité has welcomed more than 900,000 pilgrims.

This huge number of pilgrims came to Lourdes to seek some peace and hope in the presence of Mary by the intercession of Saint Bernadette. Irrespective of their hardship, suffering and loneliness, these people are our dear brothers and sisters. Inspired by the words of Jesus, “as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me” (Matt 25, 40), the Secours Catholique of Cité welcomes and journeys with these least of Jesus’ brethren in order to help them find the real meaning in their lives.

In the words of Jean-Claude Lebrun, the director of Cité Saint Pierre Secours Catholique, Caritas France, “the mission of the Cité is… to offer a high quality welcome to pilgrims: accommodation and meals in leafy surroundings. It is also to put at their disposal facilities to allow them to express themselves: to describe their lives, to express their talents and to pray and celebrate”. Lourdes is a prominent place where every one is invited to discover once again the basis of the Gospel: love your neighbours as yourself.

Lourdes acts as a catalyst towards the building of a fraternal world based on justice and solidarity. The world’s future resides in promoting the cause of the most vulnerable and side by side with them searching for signs of hope. The four cardinal values which are at the heart of the Cité are welcoming, listening, praying and sharing.

The Bible tells us that in welcoming one another we welcome God. “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Heb 13, 2). Welcoming means listening to the pain the afflicted ones carry in their hearts. “Then the Lord said, ‘I have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters; I know their sufferings’” (Exod 3, 7). Listening is brought to its fruition in prayer; the space where we meet God with our and other’s hurts to redeem us.

Prayer is the place when we come to know God’s faithful love for us, especially when we are downtrodden as the psalmist says: “Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!” (Psalm 66, 20). Prayer is celebrated when we share with one another the remembrance of what the Lord has done for us, how he has saved us when we felt ourselves enslaved in our valleys of darkness. Sharing creates community life. As Saint Paul says in his first letter to the Thessalonians: “So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us” (1 Thess 2, 8).

Thanks to the last mentioned four attitudes, Cité Saint Pierre teaches that suffering becomes the vehicle for communion with God, others and oneself. Thus, the spiritual fruitfulness of Lourdes becomes more Marian when it creates the ecclesia, the Church, the community of love and service.

Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap

San Gwann