It’s come to this.

Via Express:

SOLDIERS joined heavily-armed police, SWAT teams and bomb squad experts today in the face of a real and present Islamic threat to Lourdes, one the world’s holiest Christian shines.

Millions of pilgrims, many of whom are disabled, are drawn to the healing waters of the site in south west France every year where, in 1858, the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to Saint Bernadette Soubirous.

But the numbers swell on August 15 – the Catholic feast day of  the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.

Upping the town’s security became a priority after two teenager terrorists claiming allegiance to the Islamic State murdered an 84-year-old Catholic priest during mass in July.

French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve reminded all those visiting the Lourdes shrine that the terror threat to France remains “extremely high.”

Armed soldiers and police are patrolling the town, roads have been closed to allow pedestrians to reach the site unhindered, and visitors have been asked to enter the site via three access points, where they face repeated security checks.