Benedict XVI’s prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes

“… you are the Smile of God!”

In 2008, Benedict XVI went to France in the context of the jubilee for the 150th anniversary of Our Lady’s apparition.

At a Mass for the sick, he presented his intentions to her with this part of the jubilee prayer:

Because you are the smile of God, the reflection of the light of Christ, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit,

Because you chose Bernadette in her lowliness, because you are the morning star, the gate of heaven and the first creature to experience the resurrection,

Our Lady of Lourdes, with our brothers and sisters whose hearts and bodies are in pain, we pray to you!