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Our Lady of Lourdes
By Peace | July 5, 2008
I cannot remember when I dreamed of Our Lady, I saw her in the cave. I entered the cave, and saw this statue there.
Bernadette Soubirous was born on 7 January 1844, near Lourdes in France. She was a poor and very sickly fourteen-year-old girl who lived in the Pyrenees at a time of great turmoil in France. One day she went, with her sister Marie and another friend to a nearby river to gather firewood. Marie and her friend crossed the river to search the other side while Bernadette stayed on dry land. Suddenly, she heard a loud noise that seemed to come from a nearby grotto known as Massabielle. At the mouth of the grotto a rosebush appeared. Then, from deep inside the grotto she saw a golden-coloured cloud appear. Soon afterward, a beautiful lady came to the entrance of the opening just above the rosebush. The Lady smiled at Bernadette and motioned for her to come close. Bernadette lost all fear and fell to her knees in prayer. A little while later, the Lady slowly withdrew to the interior of the grotto and disappeared.
Over a six-month period Bernadette experienced eighteen vistations from Mary. She had no idea who the Lady was until the last apparition. During one apparition Mary instructed Bernadette to dig a hole in the ground and to drink and bathe in it. The hole later turned into a spring of water, which Mary promised would heal all who came to its water. Mary asked Bernadette to tell the local pastor, Cure Peyramale, to have a chapel built in honour of her appearances there. The Cure accused Bernadette of lying about the apparitions and told her to find out from the Lady just who she was and to demand that she perform a miracle by making the rosebush in the grotto bloom.
On March 25th, the Feast of the Annunciation, Mary answered the Cure’s request. She told Bernadette, who she was,”Que soy era Immaculado Conception” (I am the Immaculate Conception). With these words, she confirmed a recent declaration from the pope concerning the Immaculate Conception. It was highly unlikely that this could have been known by Bernadette, an uneducated fourteen-year-old in rural France who had received only the most rudimentary religious education.
The apparitions at Lourdes were declared authetic in 1862, and the spot rapidly became one of the world’s major pilgrimage sites. Thousands have been cured from a variety of illnesses, both physical and spiritual, and a clinic to support the millions of pilgrims who come to Lourdes operates to this day. Bernadette returned to a life of obscurity. She was declared a saint in 1933 because of her dedication to a life of simplicity and service.
Topics: God, Saints, View All |
