Candlelight at the Grotto

Having a candle lit at Lourdes from afar

Many of the faithful want a candle to burn for them at the Grotto of Massabielle without being able to travel there. Illness, age, distance, the cost of a pilgrimage: the reasons are many.

Our shops are in Lourdes, minutes from the Sanctuary. We take on carrying your candle to the Grotto, lighting it, and bringing you proof that it was done.

Your intention, written on the candle

Write whatever you wish in the personalisation field: a prayer, the name of someone close, an anniversary or a date of death, a request, an act of thanks.

The field is limited in length. If your intention runs longer, write to us at service-client@palaisdurosaire.com: we pass it on in full and leave it at the Grotto with the candle.

What you receive

Once the candle is lit, we send you a photograph and a video taken on the spot. It is what our customers mention most often in their reviews: the joy of seeing the flame and the words, in the very place they would have wished to be.

Nothing arrives by post. What you are ordering is an act carried out on your behalf, and the proof that it was.

Which candle to choose?

You choose the weight of your candle when ordering. At Lourdes candles have always been measured this way: the heavier the candle, the taller it stands and the longer it burns at the Grotto.

The smaller sizes suit a personal intention. The large candles are traditionally carried by pilgrimage groups, families or parishes, often by several people together, and burn far longer. If you are unsure, write to us: we know each size and will guide you.

For whom, and when

For someone close who is ill or in hospital. For someone who has died, on the anniversary of their birth or their passing. For a birth, a baptism, an outcome hoped for. For a family too far away to make the journey. Or simply for yourself, when prayer needs a visible sign.

Some order one every year on the same date. Others during a novena, setting the Grotto candle alongside a novena candle lit at home, so that both flames burn together.

The tradition of candles at Lourdes

Leaving a candle at the Grotto is among the oldest gestures of the pilgrimage. The light carries the prayer on: it goes on burning after the pilgrim has left, a presence set down in that place. The candle burners along the Gave take in thousands of them every day.

If you would rather carry your own candle on a visit, browse our Lourdes candles, or the 35 cm Lourdes candle in a display box. All our candles sit in the religious candle category.

Provided by Palais du Rosaire, a Lourdes house since 1914, minutes from the Grotto.