CT News
Feb. 12, 2026 : The Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes (Feb. 11) marks the World Day of the Sick, established by Pope St. John Paul II in 1992. Each year, the day is celebrated on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, whose shrine in France is dedicated to the compassionate accompaniment of the sick and suffering. The theme of this year’s World Day of the Sick is “The Compassion of the Samaritan: Loving by Bearing Another's Pain.”
Celebration in Vatican
On the feast day, Pope Leo XIV welcomed a group of sick people in front of the Lourdes Grotto in the Vatican Gardens, and reminded them that the Blessed Mother teaches us the meaning of suffering and love. The pope invited the sick to offer their suffering for world peace and to bear witness to faith, hope, and charity.
Celebration in Peru
Pope Leo has sent Cardinal Michael Czerny as his special envoy to his former Peruvian Diocese of Chiclayo to mark the 34th World Day of the Sick. The Cardinal Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development celebrated Mass on Wednesday at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Peace. In his homily, Cardinal Czerny recalled Pope Leo’s special bond with the Diocese of Chiclayo, where he served as Bishop from 2015 until 2023.
Origin of the celebration
The feast day marks the anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes to St. Bernadette Soubirous in 1858 in Lourdes, France. The 14-year-old girl saw the Blessed Virgin Mary standing in a small grotto. During a total of 18 apparitions over the course of six months, thousands of people gathered around Bernadette to witness these events. A new spring surged where Bernadette had been instructed to drink, and many miraculous healings occurred. Today, Lourdes is a Marian shrine visited by millions.
The Lourdes grotto in the Vatican Gardens dates back to Pope Leo XIII, who decided near the end of his life to install a reproduction of the Lourdes grotto in France. It was solemnly inaugurated in 1905 by his successor Pope Pius X.
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