2012-02-27 17:24:26

Focus on the Church: Our Lady of Lourdes


Our Lady of Lourdes Sunday February 26, 20012 In our Programme of today we bring you the shrine of Lourdes frequented by thousands of pilgrims every year that has led to the growth of devotion to our Lady of Lourdes. This Shrine located in southern France is currently the most visited pilgrimage site in the world, principally because of the apparent healing properties of the waters from the spring that appeared during the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to a poor, fourteen-year-old girl, Bernadette Soubiroux. In 1858, in the grotto of Massabielle, near Lourdes Our Lady appeared 18 times to Bernadette, a young peasant girl. The first apparition occurred on the 11th of February and the last took place on the 16th of July of the same year. Bernadette often fell into an ecstasy during these apparitions, as was witnessed by the hundreds who attended the later visions, though no one except Bernadette saw or heard the apparition. The little shepherd girl claimed to have experienced the apparitions of Blessed Virgin Mary dressed in white and with a blue belt around her waist, who eventually introduced herself as the Immaculate Conception. The grotto where Mary appeared lay well out of town, on common ground which was used by the villagers variously for pasturing animals, collecting firewood and as a garbage dump, and it possessed a reputation for being an unpleasant place. Today Lourdes has become the most famous modern shrine of Our Lady with more than six million people visiting the place annually.
Bernadette and her friends were unprepared for the apparition of Mary. While gathering firewood, they witnessed the mysterious vision in the hollow of the rock Massabielle. They saw there a young and beautiful lady, "Lovelier than I have ever seen" as Bernadette described later. She explained that the Lady was clothed in white, with a blue ribbon sash and a Rosary hanging from her right arm. Now and then the person in the apparition spoke to Bernadette. On one occasion the Lady told Bernadette go and tell the priests she wished a chapel to be built on the spot and processions to be made to the grotto. At first the clergy were incredulous. The priest said he would not believe it unless the apparition gave Bernadette her name. After another apparition, Bernadette reported that the Lady told her, "I am the Immaculate Conception". Even though the Pope had declared the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary in 1854, the girl was unfamiliar with the term.
The final instruction from our Lady was to ask the people come to the grotto in procession. These instructions in particular were to prove pivotal in the development of the Domain and its ceremonies. Public interest in the apparitions grew, and curious visitors began to be replaced by pilgrims from increasingly far away, drawn by compelling stories of apparitions and miracles. The response to the invitation of our Lady was such that in Lourdes, for more than a century, people have faithfully responded to that maternal summons, walking daily with Christ in the Blessed Sacrament and having processions every night in honour of the Lord's Mother.
During one of the apparitions the Lady told the girl to drink of a mysterious fountain within the grotto itself, the existence of which was unknown, and of which there was no sign. But Bernadette scratched at the ground, and a spring immediately bubbled up and soon gushed forth. In the beginning the water was muddy but soon it was clear sparkling water. The water from this still flowing spring has shown remarkable healing power, though it contains no curative property that science can identify. As word spread, this water was given to medical patients of all kinds, and numerous miracle cures were reported. Seven of these cures were confirmed as lacking any medical explanations by Professor Verges in 1860. The first person with a “certified miracle” was a woman, whose right hand had been deformed as a consequence of an accident. Recent studies tell us that several miracles have taken place at the shrine of Lourdes but the Catholic Church has only certified 67 of them so far. However, today millions of pilgrims come from all over the world to cleanse their spirits and heal their bodies through the water that flows constantly from the spring at Lourdes. In fact, a recent medical study has reported that over two thousand, five hundred inexplicable healings have occurred here.
In the meantime the Church, faced with nation-wide questions, decided to institute an investigative commission on 17 November 1858. On 18 January 1860, the local bishop finally declared that: The Virgin Mary did appear indeed to Bernadette Soubirous. In 1861, three years after the apparitions, the local Bishop and the local parish priest joined together and bought the grotto and the land around it from the commune. Immediately they set about modifying the area to make it more accessible to visitors, and started work to build the first of the churches, which is now known as the Crypt. The main statue of our Lady of Lourdes was prepared in 1864 based on Bernadette's descriptions. Due to French political upheaval resulting in an enforced separation of Church and State, the property and grounds of the Domain were confiscated from the Church and returned to the ownership of the town in 1910. Later, a visit to Lourdes by Marshal Pétain in 1941 provided official recognition of the Domain. Church officials successfully petitioned Pétain to allow the Church to reclaim ownership of the Domain.
Four years after Bernadette's visions, in 1862, the bishop of the diocese declared the faithful "justified in believing the reality of the apparition" of Our Lady. A basilica was built upon the rock of Massabielle by Mgr. Peyramale, the parish priest. Pope Pius IX authorized the local bishop to permit the veneration of the Virgin Mary in Lourdes in 1862. In 1873 the great "national" French pilgrimages were inaugurated. Three years later the basilica was consecrated and the statue solemnly crowned. In 1883 the foundation stone of another church was laid, as the first was no longer large enough. It was built at the foot of the basilica and was consecrated in 1901 and called the Church of the Rosary. Pope Leo XIII authorized a special office and a Mass, in commemoration of the apparition, and in 1907 Pope Pius X extended the observance of this feast to the entire Church; it is now observed on February 11. Bernadette died in the 16th April 1879, and having found her body incorrupt, led to the increase in number of pilgrims. On 8 December 1933, she was canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church; her Feast Day is celebrated on 16 April.
The story of Lourdes, where Our Lady appeared to St. Bernadette Soubirous, is rich in lessons for us. One lesson is about suffering. We see in Lourdes two attitudes of Divine Providence with regard to human suffering that can appear to be contradictory. On one hand, the thing that attracts the most attention at Lourdes is that Our Lady has pity on men, hears their requests, and works miracles to free them from the pain and illnesses they suffer. Also, Our Lady has pity on souls, and to prove that the Catholic Faith is the only true religion, she often works spiritual miracles of conversions. By making both physical and spiritual miracles, she shows that she is our Mother who loves us and wants to relieve us from suffering both here and in eternity. On the other hand, we see something else at Lourdes. A great number of sick people go to Lourdes and return without being cured. In fact, there is an important lesson for us in the cures she doesn’t give, and perhaps the greatest miracle of Lourdes is found precisely in this. For the great majority of persons, suffering is indispensable for their own sanctification. Therefore, the illnesses and troubles they suffer are necessary. It is through sicknesses and spiritual tribulations that they will sanctify themselves. One who does not understand the role of suffering and sorrow in bringing about detachment, conversion, and love of God does not understand what the spiritual life really is.
On the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes in 1992, Blessed John Paul II, instituted the “World Day of the Sick”, calling the faithful to pray for those who are sick and to offer their own sickness and struggle, joined to the sufferings of Christ, on behalf of those in need. Speaking during his visit to the Shrine of Mary, our Lady of Lourdes Pope John Paul II said: “Here at this Grotto of Massabielle, I wish first of all to greet the sick who come in ever greater numbers to this Shrine, those who have accompanied them, their caregivers and their families. I am here with you, dear brothers and sisters, as a pilgrim to Our Lady. I make my own your prayers and your hopes. With you I share a time of life marked by physical suffering, yet not for that reason any less fruitful in God’s wondrous plan. With you I pray for all those who trust in your prayers. During this pilgrimage I ask you to join me in offering to God, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, all the intentions of the Church and of the world. Dear brothers and sisters who are sick, how I would like to embrace each and every one of you with affection, to tell you how close I am to you and how much I support you. I now do so in spirit, entrusting you to the maternal love of the Mother of the Lord and entreating her to obtain for all of us the blessings and consolations of Jesus her Son.
Later in the evening, as an introduction to the torchlight procession, John Paul II said: “When the Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette in the grotto at Massabielle, She began a dialogue between heaven and earth which has lasted through time, and continues to this day. Speaking to the young girl, Mary asked that people should come here in procession, as if to signify that this dialogue cannot be limited to words, but must become a journey at her side along the pilgrim way of faith, hope and love. Here in Lourdes, for more than a century, the Christian people have faithfully responded to that maternal summons, walking each day behind Christ in the Blessed Sacrament and processing each night amid songs and prayers in honour of the Lord's Mother. To you, dear brothers and sisters, I entrust a particular intention for our prayer this evening: join me in imploring the Virgin Mary to obtain for our world the longed-for gift of peace. May forgiveness and brotherly love take root in human hearts.
The Pope continued: “From this grotto I issue a special call to women. Appearing here, Mary entrusted her message to a young girl, as if to emphasize the special mission of women in our own time, tempted as it is by materialism and secularism: to be in today's society a witness of those essential values which are seen only with the eyes of the heart. I appeal urgently to all of you, dear brother and sisters, to do everything in your power to ensure that life, each and every life, will be respected from conception to its natural end. Life is a sacred gift, and no one can presume to be its master. This year the Pope joins you in this act of devotion and love for the Most Holy Virgin, the glorious woman of the Book of Revelation, crowned with twelve stars. Holding in our hands the lighted torch, we recall and profess our faith in the Risen Christ. From Him the whole of our life receives light and hope.”
Throughout the course of the apparitions, Our Lady gave Bernadette several messages that would be instrumental in making Lourdes what many today call The Capital of Prayer. Not only was the Blessed Mother's request granted then, it is now being fulfilled like never before… almost one hundred and fifty years later. More and more pilgrims are coming to Lourdes, many of them stricken with debilitating illnesses or handicaps and searching for cures. The procession of the sick, where thousands of ill pilgrims have walked through the courtyards at Lourdes, further fulfils Our Lady's request. Also, every night at Lourdes, thousands of pilgrims come bearing candles to participate in the torchlight procession. The Church has attributed several miracles at Lourdes to the action of God through the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes, most of these involving miraculous healings. Many more cases are being investigated. With increased numbers of ailing pilgrims finding solace in Lourdes, that number is sure to increase.
Pope Benedict XVI was a pilgrim to Lourdes for the 150th anniversary of the Shrine of Lourdes which continues to attract millions of pilgrims to prayer, repentance and transformation of life. In his homily the Pope began with the words of our Lady to Bernadette: “Go and tell the priests that people should come here in procession, and that a chapel should be built here.” This is the message Bernadette received from the beautiful lady in the apparition of 2 March 1858. For 150 years, pilgrims have never ceased to come to the grotto of Massabielle to hear the message of conversion and hope which is addressed to them. And we have done the same; here we are this morning at the feet of Mary, the Immaculate Virgin, eager to learn from her alongside little Bernadette.
Pope Benedict continued his message indicating that the primary purpose of the shrine at Lourdes is to be a place of encounter with God in prayer and a place of service to our brothers and sisters, notably through the welcome given to the sick, the poor and all who suffer. In this place, he said, Mary comes to us as a mother, always open to the needs of her children. The prayer of the Rosary, so dear to Bernadette and to Lourdes pilgrims, concentrates within itself the depths of the Gospel message. It introduces us to contemplation of the face of Christ. From this prayer of the humble, we can draw an abundance of graces. On the paths of our lives, so often shrouded in darkness, she is a beacon of hope that enlightens us and gives direction to our journey. Through her “yes”, through the generous gift of herself, she has opened up to God the gates of our world and our history. She accompanies us with her maternal presence amid the events of our personal lives, our family lives, and our national lives. Through the light which streams from her face, God’s mercy is made manifest. Let us allow ourselves to be touched by her gaze, which tells us that we are all loved by God and never abandoned by him! Mary comes to remind us that prayer which is humble and intense, trusting and persevering must have a central place in our Christian lives.
At the shrine of Lourdes Our Lady also does something else that is very beautiful. To the sick persons she does not cure, she gives a profound conformity to the will of God and acceptance of their sufferings. No one has ever heard of a person who had been to Lourdes and was not cured who became angry and revolted against God. On the contrary, persons who go there return with an enormous resignation, happy to have been at Lourdes and seen other people being cured. Further, there are numerous cases of persons who travel long distances, arrive at Lourdes, and witness other persons who are suffering much more than they are and have greater need of being cured. Seeing this, they ask Our Lady to cure those persons instead of themselves. The greatest lesson of Lourdes, then, is the acceptance of suffering, be it a physical illness or a moral sorrow, if it is necessary for our salvation. It is very difficult to carry the cross of suffering with resignation. Our Lady will help us to face our sufferings, just as she helps those who request her assistance at Lourdes.
The following prayer is said by Catholics as an act of consecration to Our Lady of Lourdes: Holy Mary, Mother of God, Virgin Immaculate, you appeared 18 times to Bernadette at the grotto in Lourdes to remind Christians of what the truths in the Gospel require of them. You call them to prayer, penance, the Eucharist and the life of the church. To answer your call more fully, we dedicate ourselves, through you, to your Son Jesus. Make us willing to accept what he said. By the fervour of our faith, by the conduct of our life in all its aspects, by our devotion to the sick, let us work with you in the comforting of those who suffer and in the reconciliation of people that the church may be one and there be peace in the world. All this we ask you with the confidence that you, Our Lady, Mother of the suffering will answer our prayers. Blessed be the Holy and Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God.
Fr Eugene Lobo S.J.








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