Participants in an annual pilgrimage to Lourdes, France, for U.S. active-duty military personnel and veterans assembled 3,000 prayer kits for Ukrainian soldiers.
The “Warriors to Lourdes” pilgrimage May 10-16 drew more than 175 participants and was co-sponsored by the U.S. Arch-diocese for the Military Services and the Knights of Columbus.
U.S. military personnel visit-ed the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, which is where Mary appeared to St. Bernadette Soubirous in 1858. They attended daily Mass and had various opportunities for prayer, formation and fellowship. The prayer kits blessed by Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, who heads the U.S. military archdiocese, and were then shipped to Ukraine for distribution to active-duty and injured Ukrainian soldiers.
Each kit included a rosary, an Our Lady of Lourdes prayer card, a vial of Lourdes holy water and a Blessed Michael McGivney prayer card.
McGivney, who was beatified Oct. 31, 2020, was a parish priest in New Haven when he founded the Knights of Columbus in 1882 to serve the needs of a largely immigrant Catholic community.
“What began as a small fraternal benefit society has since grown into one of the world’s leading international charitable organizations, with 2 million members in more than 16,000 local councils,” said a news re-lease about the pilgrimage.
The Knights also sponsored a Ukrainian delegation to be part of the Lourdes pilgrimage through the organization’s United in Charity initiative, offering them an opportunity for prayer and healing during this time of war in their nation.