The Hospitalité Notre-Dame de Lourdes and its ‘Stage’

During one of the Virgin Mary’s apparitions to Saint 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.

Bernadette described how Our Lady smiled at her ‘as one person would to another,’ and this smile of welcome is today extended to six million visitors a year by the volunteers who work in the sanctuaries of Lourdes. Some of these volunteers work in the Forum-Information Centre welcoming individual pilgrims and small groups. Other volunteers work in the Youth service, or give of their time and talent in one of the pavilion tents around the Domaine. However, the largest group of volunteers (16,000 of them) is known as the Hospitalité Notre-Dame de Lourdes (Hospitality of Our Lady of Lourdes). In the past a ‘Hospitality’ was a charitable organisation whose aim was to gather, accommodate and feed the less fortunate in a hostel or hospital. Today the Hospitalité Notre-Dame de Lourdes (HNDL) builds on that tradition, welcoming pilgrims to Lourdes (especially, but not only, the sick and disabled), and assisting at religious ceremonies. It is an organisation of pilgrims at the service of other pilgrims and Our Lady.

The HNDL was founded in 1885, and through its work aims to pass on the ‘message of Lourdes’, that is, Our Lady’s call to turn back to the gospel – the good news – of her son Jesus; to know that we are all deeply loved by God. Members, known in French as hospitaliers, strive to do this not only in Lourdes but also in their home parishes and institutions, for the good of the church and the world.

The HNDL is a religious confraternity under the spiritual authority of the Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes, and works closely with the Rector of the Sanctuaries and his pastoral team. The HNDL (and each of its sections) is governed by a President and a council.

The HNDL is led by a President, Gabriel Barbry, and it employs a small team of administrators in its bureau (situated in the domain itself, in the former Accueil Notre Dame). The HNDL has a full-time chaplain, Père Régis-Marie de la Teyssonnière. Whilst it is an organisation within the Roman Catholic Church, it is open to all women and men of good will who support its aims, regardless of religious belief. Strictly speaking it is a lay organisation and so not open to clergy and religious, though this rule has only been enforced in recent years and our own group includes at least two priests, a deacon, and a religious sister who joined before the restriction was in place.

The HNDL has a strong international dimension, with volunteer helpers coming from more than twenty countries across the globe. One third of its members are French, and another third are Italian. According to the latest statistics, 10-12% are from Great Britain, approximately the same number are Spanish, and the remainder are Irish, Belgian, Dutch, Swiss, German, American, Canadian, Maltese and an increasing assortment of Asian and African nationalities. The main administrative language is French, though members are not required to speak any language but their own. All those on Stage wear a Hospitalité badge, which also indicates by little flags the languages they speak.

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.

A period of service with the Hospitalité Notre-Dame de Lourdes is known as a ‘Stage’. The name 'Stage' comes from the French for 'work experience', and certainly a week working on Stage in Lourdes is a great experience. Those on Stage are often known as ‘stagiaires’ or more recently ‘hospitaliters auxiliaries’. The HNDL encourages people to do a Stage lasting at least 6 days. The Stage is open to new helpers aged between 18 and 75 (though 65 is the maximum age for someone to do their first Stage with a view to making their ‘engagement’ as a member of the Hospitalité on their fifth Stage — we'll explain later!). You can continue to work for the HNDL beyond the age of 75, though the Hospitalité might suggest that you work in a particular area or at a less busy time of year. Doing a Stage requires dedication, a willingness to serve, and a certain maturity of character (though that doesn’t mean dullness). Stage offers tremendous satisfaction and opportunities to enjoy life in a group.

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