Lourdes

Pope Leo XIV prayed with the sick at the Lourdes grotto in the Vatican Gardens on Feb. 11, asking Our Lady of Lourdes to accompany all those who suffer in the world.

“Bernadette, the Musical” promises to bring to life the story of Bernadette, a poor, uneducated teenager in 19th-century France who endured skepticism and ridicule after witnessing Marian apparitions.

Archbishop Malcolm McMahon of Liverpool, a seaside British city, officially announced on Dec. 8 that the 71st miracle had been granted to a British soldier, wounded during World War I.

During the Marian month of May, some time could be spent not only praying the Rosary, singing Marian hymns, and crowning images of Our Lady, also but reading about and reflecting on Mary’s appearances here on earth.

Kamil Cierniak vivió con atrofia muscular espinal, una enfermedad terminal, durante 26 años. Era frágil, hablaba con voz delicada y débil, y manejaba su silla de ruedas eléctrica usando un solo dedo. Pero tenía algo que era imbatible en su vida: su fe. Fue esta fe la que lo llevó al Santuario de Lourdes, en Francia, en mayo de 2015. A pesar de ser discapacitado, el joven estudiante polaco dirigió un documental sobre otras personas discapacitadas que viajaban a Lourdes para la peregrinación anual de mayo con la Orden de Malta.

Kamil Cierniak lived with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a terminal illness, for 26 years. Despite the disease, he studied in multiple departments of Krakow’s universities in Poland. In 2015 Kamil was asked to become a director of the documentary on the international pilgrimage of the Order of Malta to Lourdes sanctuary.

In focus: Assistance for pregnancy help centers, hate crimes up in Canada, possible eucharistic miracle in Hartford

In this documentary, to be rereleased in theaters Feb. 8 and 9, filmmakers Alban Teurlai and Thierry Demaiziere present a moving portrait of one of the world’s most popular pilgrimage sites and of the suffering people who are drawn to it.