Prayer Intentions Presented to Pope Leo XIV at Lourdes
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
On September 27, 2026, at 9:15 p.m., my colleague Emma Mc Intosh and I, as members of the Family of Our Lady of Lourdes, presented the prayer intentions, including those of the US Relic Tour, to Pope Leo XIV.
Having first joined the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes as Sacristan in March 2026 and then having been called to the role of Pastoral Development Officer on July 23, 2026, I have the grace of leading the journey of the relic of Saint Bernadette to the United States, in collaboration with the team in the United States, and of welcoming Pope Leo XIV to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes.
The visit of Pope Leo XIV, from September 26 to September 28, is a foundational event, both professionally and personally, for me and also for the mission I carry out within the Sanctuary.
Having been closely involved in organizing the Pope's visit, I found that organizing the sequence of his arrival for the prayer at the Grotto on September 26 was a memorable moment. The next day, taking part in preparing the Marian procession at the Grotto of Massabielle, the place where the Virgin Mary appeared 18 times to Bernadette in 1858, marked the opening of a new cycle, and the embodiment of the Message of Lourdes in my Life.
Since the Marian Procession of September 27 at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, following Our Lady of Lourdes and Pope Leo XIV, as Pastoral Development Officer of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, I have been on a journey full of Grace.
"Mary is the first on the path and leads us to say our yes to God's unexpected ways"
As in the well-known French hymn "La première en chemin, Marie" ("Mary, the first on the path"), I followed her as a pilgrim of Hope, in the footsteps of Saint Bernadette, Pope Leo XIV, and all the clergy, as the first lay person in the procession, together with Emma. To follow her, first on the path, is a responsibility. It is also an immense honor. Each day, I strive to help the Message of Lourdes grow and reach a wider audience throughout the world, with the support of the entire Welcoming Community of the Sanctuary. That evening, September 27, I was able to embody the Message in action and live the apparitions.
In memory of February 11, 1858, we prayed the Rosary
Like Mary during the first Apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes to Saint Bernadette, we prayed the Rosary with Mary through the Glorious Mysteries. By meditating on the Resurrection of Jesus, His Ascension, Pentecost, the Assumption of Mary, and her Coronation, we were able to experience a deep inner renewal of our Faith. In asking for a renewal of Faith, for trust, and for a steadfast hope in the words of Jesus, we fully welcomed Mary as a maternal presence who guides our steps, and as Queen, so that the Kingdom of God may be realized on Earth in a Pentecost of Love for the world. Through the Marian procession, I myself was able to enter into the prayer of the Rosary more personally. In this month of the Rosary, praying the Rosary has since become a daily prayer for me, following Pope Leo XIV and in response to the repeated request of Our Lady of Lourdes.
In memory of Friday, February 19, 1858: we came with a light.
During the 4th apparition, Bernadette came to the Grotto with a blessed, lit candle. This gesture gave rise to the custom of people carrying candles and lighting them before the Grotto. On September 27, 2026, at 9:00 p.m., in prayerful silence, we were present at the Grotto of Massabielle, lit candles in hand, to welcome the Pope. He lit a candle at the Grotto and then set off in procession.
"Let people come here in procession" (13th Apparition, Tuesday, March 2, 1858)
Following Pope Leo XIV, the members of the Sanctuary's Welcoming Community and their families were able to process from the Grotto of Massabielle, each with a candle in hand. That evening, we were in communion of prayer with Pope Leo XIV; the Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes, Bishop Micas; Father Daubanes, Rector of the Sanctuary; Father Jamet, parish priest of Lourdes; the chaplains of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes; and the priests of the Diocese of Tarbes and Lourdes, in procession, moving as one behind the statue of the Virgin Mary, surrounded by thousands of pilgrims. Emma and I were the first two lay people behind them. On a personal level, September 27 marks, as I approach my 33rd birthday, the beginning of a walk behind Mary and behind the Pope, following in their footsteps.
"Pray to God for sinners!" (8th Apparition, Wednesday, February 24, 1858)
If Emma and I walked ahead of the lay faithful in the procession, behind Mary, the Pope, and the assembled clergy, it was because we were carrying the prayer intentions to Mary. Hundreds of intentions had been placed in these metal bowls, among them those of the participants of the USA Relic Tour, together with all the prayer intentions of the Sanctuary and my own. Emma and I each presented a bowl of prayer intentions to Pope Leo XIV. The two bowls gathered this diversity of requests and appeals into a single unity of prayer, now bound in Heaven through the action of Pope Leo XIV. The Tour of the Relic of Saint Bernadette in the United States is now linked to the story of Pope Leo XIV's visit to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in September 2026. In communion of prayer with the United States and the whole world, this Marian procession was a foretaste of paradise, so that the Kingdom of God may grow and every sinner may come here in penance and find, in this Sanctuary, the "gate of Heaven," the Way of Heaven on Earth, through Mary.
Now that you are fully living Our Lady's call, I hope you will continue to live the Relic Tour, which runs until summer 2027, in this Joy and in communion with the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes. Prayer continues at the Sanctuary of Lourdes, notably through the Family of Our Lady of Lourdes, an Archconfraternity founded on December 8, 1872, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, only 14 years after the Apparitions at the Grotto of Massabielle. You too can join us and become a member of the Archconfraternity to support the world through prayer, wherever you are, in union with Our Lady of Lourdes (Click here for more information).
Delphine Isenbart
Another testimonial
Click here to read Emma Mc Intosh's testimonial
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