The came to Our Lady of Lourdes for hope and healing

Hundreds of people from the Diocese of Bridgeport and surrounding areas gathered at St. Mary of Stamford Parish on September 27 for the fifth annual Lourdes Retreat and Mass of Hope and Healing. Participants attended the event to pray the rosary, join processions, and seek spiritual relief for personal struggles such as illness, addiction, and broken marriages.

Bishop Frank J. Caggiano celebrated the Mass alongside Father Juan Colon and Deacon John DiTaranto. During the service, a woman named Grace testified that her brother experienced healing from stage-three cancer following prayers from family, friends, and others across the country.

In his homily, Bishop Caggiano told the congregation that healing requires being people of hope. He referenced Pope Leo XIV’s visit to the Lourdes shrine in France the previous day, an event that drew 250,000 people. The bishop noted that the Pope encouraged those gathered at the shrine to act as missionaries of hope within a secular Europe.