One woman’s “rebirth” in Lourdes and how she now helps others
The one word Pope Leo XIV used to summarize his recent Apostolic Journey to France was “rebirth.” If Katie Kokoskie, who was present for the historic visit, could summarize her experience in one word, it might be “joy.” Kokoskie is the Communications Manager for Our Lady of Lourdes Hospitality North American Lourdes Volunteers (NALV). She Read More… One woman’s “rebirth” in Lourdes and how she now helps others
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The article’s headline describes a woman’s experience in Lourdes as a “rebirth” and says she now helps others, but it provides no further details about her experience or work. 1*
Catholic pilgrimage can foster healing, conversion, and service
Catholic pilgrimage is more than travel to a holy place: it can become a journey of healing, conversion, and renewed service—when it leads the pilgrim toward Christ and changes how the pilgrim lives afterward.
A shrine can be a place to bring suffering and seek God’s mercy. The Church recognizes bodily healing as a sign of Christ’s power to forgive, while stressing that pilgrimage also calls for conversion of heart and forgiveness. Pilgrimage does not guarantee a physical cure; its deeper purpose is to draw people toward God.
The journey itself can foster conversion. The Church describes pilgrimage as a penitential path: pilgrims confront sin and misplaced attachments, seek interior freedom, and return intending to amend their lives and order them more closely to God. Walking in the footsteps of Christ and the apostles can also deepen discipleship and bring the story of salvation vividly before the mind and heart.
Finally, pilgrimage should bear fruit in service. At Lourdes, the devotion of caregivers, the solidarity shown to the sick, and the mutual assistance of pilgrims have moved people toward a more generous life of service to God and neighbor. The pilgrim’s return is therefore not an end to the journey: reconciliation and the Eucharist send Christians back into daily life as witnesses to the risen Christ.