©Si Barber. Moral rights asserted.   Picture by Simon Barber (tel 07739 472 922) The Pilgims Progress: A torchlight procession bears a figure of the Virgin Mary through the streets of Lourdes , accompanied by pilgrims singing hymns. In the far South of France, Lourdes became a shrine for worshippers in the nineteenth century when as a young girl Bernadette Soubirous saw a vision of Mary Magadelene in a cave. The processions take place each night throughout August in celebration of the Feast of the Assumption, a national holiday in France.