The Moving Prayer Leo XIV Will Recite Before Our Lady of Lourdes – Translated into English

(ZENIT News / Paris, 09.23.2026).- On the evening of Saturday, September 26, before the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes at the Grotto of Massabielle, the Holy Father will recite a moving prayer for France and French families. After a few moments of silence, the Pope will pray at the site of the Marian apparitions and then approach the rock to touch it. He is expected to be offered a glass of water from the miraculous spring and a candle, which he will place in a candle holder. We present the English translation, prepared by ZENIT, of the beautiful prayer that Leo XIV will recite before the image of the Blessed Virgin.

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Oh Our Lady of Lourdes, Immaculate Conception, in this blessed place where you spoke with such sweetness and tenderness to Saint Bernadette, humble daughter of the French people, to deliver to the world a luminous message of prayer, conversion, and hope, we turn to you with confidence, for you are the Mother Jesus gave us, and you are attentive to all our needs.

We pray to you, Lady, for France, of whom you are the Patroness and whom you have surrounded with your protection for so many centuries. Obtain for its people the gift of fraternal harmony. May they build a harmonious society, banishing all violence and hatred, and allowing everyone to work, raise a family, and live their lives in peace and serenity. May the most disadvantaged and the poorest always receive support.

Obtain for France wise and generous leaders, willing to make sacrifices, capable of facing challenges, and dedicated to the common good. May they maintain the nation at peace among the nations. May they raise their voices to promote the defense of fundamental human rights and world peace, rejecting the logic of war forever.

Most Holy Virgin Mary, we present to you the People of God journeying through this land so deeply marked by your presence. Renew the faith and fervor of Christian families, so dear to you, that they may live daily in the presence of Jesus, in His grace, and sustained by His support amidst difficulties. May they open themselves generously to life, and may God raise up vocations among them, especially to the priesthood and religious life. Grant that your Church in France may show, particularly to the young, the luminous path of the Gospel, so that they may build the just and fraternal society for which they long.

Finally, most loving Mother, we entrust to you our most urgent personal intentions, especially those of the sick and the suffering, as well as those who care for them, who have come seeking strength and healing at the Spring of Massabielle. We commend our loved ones and our deceased to you. We pray that you remove all obstacles keeping us from your beloved Son, and that He may reign in every heart. Amen.