Catherine Simcox, who made a pilgrimage from the north east of England to Lourdes earlier this month described the heightened security.
“By Thursday morning, there were armed guards inside the sanctuaries and then the gates became single file entry (with metal barriers) with bags being searched on the way in,” she told The Local.
“This total freaked my three kids out who are used to Lourdes & it was hard to not scare them when they asked why it was happening,” she said.
“It didn't spoil my experience, but it saddened me that it was necessary and I understood that some people were reassured by the measures.”