The lure of Lourdes

The World Day of Sick is celebrated on February 11th, the anniversary of the date of the first apparition of Our Lady to St. Bernadette in a cave just outside Lourdes. The French town has since become one of the major pilgrimage destinations in the world with over 5 million sick and disabled people travelling there each year. But why is Lourdes such a special shrine and what makes people return there year after year?

Dr Patrick Bennett is a retired doctor from Surrey in Britain who works for the HCPT pilgrimage trust, a charity that takes groups of children with disabilities to Lourdes each year. He spoke to Susy Hodges about the most moving aspects of these annual pilgrimages to the Marian shrine.

Dr Bennett describes himself as a fairly typical "Lourdes enthusiast" who goes there at least once a year but said it wasn't always that way. He was persuaded to go the first time by a friend and said he went "with the utmost reluctance" as "a decidedly sceptical young doctor" but once he got there he "was overwhelmed" and has remained so ever since.

Dr Bennett says Lourdes "is a place of prayer" and had been "the main prop" of his "originally somewhat faltering religious faith."

Listen to the full interview by Susy Hodges with Dr Patrick Bennett: