Pope Leo XIV welcomed a group of sick people in front of the Lourdes Grotto in the Vatican Gardens on the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and World Day of the Sick. The Holy Father reminded them that the Blessed Mother teaches us the meaning of suffering and love.

A replica of the Lourdes Grotto has stood in the Vatican Gardens since 1905. First proposed as a gift to Pope Leo XIII in 1902, it was built by architect Costantino Sneider and inaugurated by St. Pius X on March 28, 1905 — a little piece of Lourdes in the heart of the Vatican.