--- title: Three Barcelona girls await Pope Leo XIV in Lourdes url: https://www.faithfulnews.com/en/three-barcelona-girls-await-pope-leo-xiv-in-lourdes published: 2026-09-29T21:50:46+00:00 language: en section: World Church source: https://www.religiondigital.org/leon-xiv/tres-chicas-barcelona-esperan-leon-lourdes-francia_1_1467795.html organizations: Hospitality of the Virgin of Lourdes of Barcelona, Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Terrassa, Lourdes, Pope Leo XIV, Virgin of Lourdes publisher: FaithfulNews --- # Three Barcelona girls await Pope Leo XIV in Lourdes Three Barcelona girls live Lourdes from the proximity of the sick, the service of the hospitalarians and prayer. They belong to the pilgrimage of the Hospitality of the Virgin of Lourdes of Barcelona, Sant Feliu de Llobregat and Terrassa, which has moved 720 Catalan pilgrims to the sanctuary. This Saturday, while waiting for Pope Leo XIV, their voices explained better than any official program what it means to live Lourdes from within. "This is a piece of heaven", says Gabriela with the naturalness of one who does not need to embellish what is being lived. It is her third year in Lourdes, a place that also gave her one of the most important friendships of her life: here she met Lucia and her mother. "It is a fantastic, inexplicable experience", she relates, grateful to have returned. And, while the Pope approaches the sanctuary, Lourdes seems even more extraordinary. Gabriela also speaks of the desire that this experience not remain reserved for a few. "Young people and not so young people have to live this experience", she affirms. In a world that perceives itself in need of hope, she considers that Lourdes can be a way to get closer to God. She says it with an expression that summarizes her mood: "Glory to God". Beside her is Lucia, who also lives her third pilgrimage. This year, the young woman says, it is "quite different", especially because of the activities and everything surrounding the papal visit. But the essential remains unchanged. "Both the sick and the hospitalarians are excited to receive the Pope", she states. The atmosphere is very good. Even the heat, which is uncomfortable, is pushed aside by a wait lived with "much happiness". "It will be very good for everyone", she says. And she returns to the expression of her friend Gabriela: Lourdes is "a piece of heaven". Three years after her first visit, Lucia contemplates the same sanctuary with renewed emotion, shared with hundreds of people who have come here to serve, pray and accompany. Carmen lives this day from another perspective, also very close to the sick. "I am excited to be here accompanying the sick and to see the Pope", she assures. She knows that the image of the pontiff in Lourdes can be one of those that remains stored forever. "Although I will see him only once in life...", she begins to say. But she immediately corrects herself, among smiles: "Well, once is not!". A waiting afternoon in Lourdes Meanwhile, Lourdes has transformed throughout the day into the stage of the arrival of Pope Leo XIV. The Pope had first passed through Paris, where he presided over several acts, and in the afternoon he set out for the Pyrenees. The papal plane landed at Tarbes‑Lourdes airport shortly after seven in the evening, where it was received by the authorities before heading to the sanctuary. During the journey, the Pope was able to greet the faithful who were waiting for him. The arrival occurred with a slight delay compared to the scheduled time, but the expectation did not diminish. Lourdes was waiting for the Pope and, among the crowd, also the Catalan pilgrims of the Hospitality, who had lived the last hours before the meeting with emotion for hours. At the Grotto of Massabielle the bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes, Jean‑Marc Micas, and the sanctuary rector, Michel Daubanes, were waiting. Before the image of the Virgin, Pope Leo XIV entered a long silence. He prayed without haste, concentrated, before approaching the rock of the grotto, drinking the water of the spring offered by the rector and lighting a candle. Prayer for France and for peace The Pope's prayer placed Lourdes before a reality that goes far beyond the sanctuary's borders. Before the Virgin, Pope Leo XIV asked for France and its people, invoking the "gift of fraternal concord" and a society "harmonious, free of any violence and any hatred", where every person can work, form a family and live with tranquility and serenity. He also prayed for the poorest and most disadvantaged and asked rulers "wise and generous", ready to sacrifice themselves, able to face challenges and determined to serve the common good. But in one of the most forceful expressions of his prayer, he demanded that their voice be heard in defense of human rights and peace, "rejecting forever the logics of war". The Pope's gaze also turned to the Church that pilgrimages in France. In this sense, he asked for the renewal of the faith of Christian families, a generous opening to life and new priestly and religious vocations. And he entrusted especially the young people with the path of the Gospel, so that they can contribute to building a just and fraternal society. But in Lourdes there could not be missing who gives meaning to much of the sanctuary's life: the sick. Pope Leo XIV presented before the Virgin his intentions, especially those of the sick people and of all those who suffer, as well as those of the people who accompany them. They are also the faces that Gabriela, Lucia and Carmen have before them these days. The Golden Rose at the feet of the Virgin At the end of the prayer, the Pope deposited at the feet of the Virgin the Golden Rose, one of the most significant gestures of this first visit to Lourdes. The papal gift, traditionally reserved for Marian sanctuaries, remained as a sign of Pope Leo XIV's devotion to Mary and as a reminder of a pilgrimage that will continue this Sunday. The day ends there where the illusion of the three young women began: at the Grotto, among the sick, the hospitalarians and the pilgrims. Carmen, Lucia and Gabriela have seen the Pope arrive. The Barcelona women have shared the same emotion with hundreds of people. And they have returned to words that, for them, define Lourdes better than any other expression: "a piece of heaven". This Sunday, Pope Leo XIV co ## This story in other languages - [Polski](https://www.faithfulnews.com/pl/trzy-dziewczyny-z-barcelony-czekaja-na-papieza-leona-xiv-w-lourdes) - [Português (Brasil)](https://www.faithfulnews.com/pt-br/tres-jovens-de-barcelona-esperam-a-leao-xiv-em-lourdes)