Loudes-France 7-2006

Hospitalité Notre-Dame de Lourdes
Main article: Hospitalité Notre Dame de Lourdes
During one of the Virgin Mary’s apparitions to St Bernadette in 1858, she asked that people come in procession to the Grotto. Ever since then there has been a ‘ministry of welcome’ in Lourdes, receiving and caring for all the pilgrims who come to the apparition site, especially the sick and infirm.

The HNDL is active in Lourdes during the main pilgrimage season (which normally lasts from Easter until November), and it also provides people to welcome pilgrims at the Piscines (Baths) during the winter.

Pilgrimages run with many different organisations & charities, many are from a specific region (For example British pilgrims generally travel with their own diocese or archdiocese) whilst others are based around a specific type of pilgrim. An example of this is the UK's Handicapped Children's Pilgrimage Trust (HCPT). They travel in different groups which are all numbered- e.g. group 83 which leaves from Coventry. The groups take handicapped children and their carers on a pilgrimage to Lourdes, which gives them all an excellent opportunity to see the religious benefits of this place.

Ukrainian Church
The five-domed St. Mary's Ukrainian Catholic Church in Lourdes was designed by Myroslav Nimciv, while its interior polychrome decorations were by famed artist Jerzy Nowosielski. The church is about a 10-minute walk from the basilica and the grotto, on a street named in honor of Ukraine, situated on a narrow piece of property close to the railroad station. Visible from the basilica, the height of the building makes up for its breadth