Pope Benedict has urged the sick not to despair of the meaning and value of life on the fourth and final day of his visit to France.
The Pontiff told a Mass for invalid pilgrims in Lourdes to remember that 'dignity never abandons the sick person'.
Before departing for Rome, he reassured French bishops of his conviction that the times are favourable for a return to God.
The 81-year-old Pope gave the sacrament of the sick to ten people including Clare Buckley from Mullingar, a member of the Meath diocesan pilgrimage who has Multiple Sclerosis.
For many years, she accompanied sick pilgrims on its annual visit, serving as a handmaid at the Marian shrine.
She was assisted by the pilgrimage’s chief stretcher-bearer, Phil O'Reilly from Tullamore.
In his homily, Pope Benedict said there were struggles that we could not sustain alone, without the help of divine grace.
‘Unfortunately we know only too well, the endurance of suffering can upset life's most stable equilibrium, it can shake the firmest foundations of confidence, and sometimes even leads people to despair of the meaning and value of life,’ he said.
