“It would be a mistake to assume that those who go on a pilgrimage live a mass spirituality instead of a personal spirituality”. Pope Francis said this in his address to pilgrimage and shrine operators, received in audience in the Paul VI Hall for their Jubilee today. “In fact, pilgrims take with them their stories, their faith, the lights and shadows of their lives”, Pope Francis explained. “Each pilgrim has a special desire in their heart, a personal prayer. As soon as they enter a shrine, they feel at home, welcomed, understood, and supported”. “I very much like the Biblical character of Hannah, prophet Samuel’s mother”, the Pope revealed. “She was in the temple at Shiloh, her heart full of grief; she was weeping and praying to the Lord to have a son. Eli the priest, by contrast, wanted to throw her out of the temple, thinking she was drunk”. According to Pope Francis, Hannah “is like many of the people we find in our shrines”: “keeping their eyes fixed on the Crucified or on the image of the Virgin Mary, they pray with faith, their eyes full of tears”.