Lourdes by plane

Departure from Lviv, crossing the Polish border.

Arrival in Krakow, flight to Lourdes.

Transfer to the hotel. Hotel check-in, introductory tour of the Sanctuary. Participation in the candlelight procession. Overnight stay.

In February 1858, in Lourdes, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to 14-year-old peasant girl Bernadette Soubirous, who was gathering firewood in the forest. The “Lady” appeared to the girl in a nearby cave and said to her: “Go to the priests and tell them to build a chapel here, for I want it to become a place of grace for people… Don’t stop praying and tell others to pray… Go and drink from the spring and sprinkle yourself with water from it…” Much time has passed, and Lourdes – a small town at the foot of the Pyrenees – has become a world-famous pilgrimage site, visited by millions of pilgrims from around the world every year. They come to visit this place of the Virgin Mary’s apparition, immerse themselves in the intense prayerful atmosphere of this place, visit the baths where water from the mentioned spring is supplied, seeking physical, mental, and spiritual healing.

Maria Bernadette was born into a large family of an impoverished miller. For the first ten years, Bernadette lived an ordinary carefree childhood life. However, when her parents’ mill went bankrupt, due to the family’s poverty, the girl had poor health and was constantly ill. Her family was forced to settle in a former prison cell, which was so damp, cramped, and unfit for living that it wasn’t even suitable for a prison. Under these difficult circumstances, she experienced the apparition of the “Lady”.

Liturgy. Breakfast. Opportunity to visit Lourdes Castle and the Pyrenees Museum located there, and the funicular on the outskirts of Lourdes.

Liturgy. Free time. Day. O

pportunity to visit the Bétharram Caves (Grottes de Bétharram), one of the most beautiful caves in Europe. 

Opportunity to collect water from the spring at the Sanctuary.

The ninth apparition of the Virgin Mary on February 25, 1858, was pivotal: that morning, several hundred people went with Bernadette to the grotto. As they watched in amazement, thinking her mad, the girl began to scratch the muddy ground at the back of the grotto, then scooped up the resulting mixture of water and mud with her hands and drank it. She also washed her face with it. “Go, drink from the spring and wash yourself there,” – this was the instruction given by the Lady and heard by Bernadette herself. After this discovery, people came to the spring to drink the water and wash with it. In the following days, the first miraculous healings occurred. The Lourdes spring itself became a place of pilgrimage and gave new hope to millions of sick people around the world.

17:00 Transfer to the airport.

Arrival in Krakow. Travel to the border. Border crossing. Arrival in Lviv. You can visit independently: