The opportunity to take part in the pilgrimage to Lourdes is an extraordinary experience to any practicing Catholic, a revelation which strengthens your soul and spirit, introspection and spiritual exercise which brings you closer to God and to his teachings.

I was lucky to live such an experience, to be together with devout Christians coming from all over the world, side with the Sovereign Order of Malta whose members were accompanying the disabled youth, in one of the most well-known and most sacred places of pilgrimage, praying together at the grotto in Massabielle, at the feet of the Pyrenees. This is the place where on 11 February 1858 the Blessed Virgin appeared in front of Bernadette, and where a miraculous spring has its source noting 66 miraculous recoveries recognized and recorded by the Church.

I had the chance to get closer to the Knights of the Sovereign Order of Malta, even to be a member of a community for a few days, a community where the word order means helping the ones in need and practicing Christian life, where prayers, faith and altruism go beyond the limits of the Church and become a way of life. This means real love, an active love of your fellow-being and of God.

I witnessed a magnificent experience, one of my greatest dreams came true: to have the chance to pray and thank to the Blessed Virgin for her love and the miracles she made happen to Christians. Thanks to the Sovereign Order of Malta in Romania for this opportunity.