Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine in France shut down due to COVID-19, CBCP report says

For the first time in over a century, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in France is being closed due to the threat of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The French government has imposed new restrictions as a crowd control measure in efforts to slow down the spread of the virus.

An article posted on the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines website, also said that Catholics in France have started a novena following the closure of the shrine.

“For the first time in its history, the sanctuary will close its doors for a while. Pray with us the novena to the Immaculate,” Mgr. Olivier Ribadeau Dumas, rector of the Lourdes sanctuary announced March 17.

No public Masses will be offered in the sanctuary due to national measures announced by French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron on the evening of March 16, according to the article.

France is the third European country to enact a mandatory national quarantine in response to the growing number of cases of COVID-19. Italy and Spain have both imposed nationwide lockdowns, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis have also announced bans on all religious services in their countries.

Restrictions in France include limiting citizens’ movement outside of their homes for the next 15 days to grocery shopping and essential movement, as well as the closure of all schools, restaurants, cafes, and most businesses.

French Auxiliary Bishop Antoine Hérouard of Lille called on Catholics to participate in a novena to Our Lady of Lourdes from March 17-25 to pray for the sick who have been infected with the coronavirus, the article said.

March 25 is also the anniversary of the Virgin Mary’s 16th apparition at Lourdes in which Our Lady declared to St. Bernadette Soubirous “I am the Immaculate Conception,” it added.

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in southern France is built upon the site where the young Bernadette Soubirous witnessed Marian apparitions, beginning on Feb. 11, 1858. The shrine also holds a spring of water which is said to have miraculous healing properties. --LBG, GMA News