Our Lady of Lourdes, France
For Catholics, Lourdes is the world's most beloved Shrine. Nestled in a valley in the southwestern part of the Hautes-Pyrenees, it is the scene of pilgrims gathering from all over the world. On February 11,1858, the Virgin revealed herself to a poor shepherd girl, Bernadette Soubirous who was born in January 7, 1844. Eighteen such apparitions were reported. Bernadette, died in a convent in 1879. She was beatified in 1925, then canonized in 1933.
The History of Lourdes
The Grotto was opened to the public, on the order of Napoleon III on 5 th. October 1858, the people began to clean it up. At the time of Bernadette, the Grotto was a dirty, hidden, damp and cold place. At Lourdes, the fact that Mary had appeared in a dirty and obscure Grotto, in the place called Massabielle, the Old Rock, tells us that God comes to join us where we are, in the midst of our poverty and failures. A small wooden statue of Our Lady was placed in the crevice and surrounded by artificial flowers. In 1863, the de Lacour sisters offered to pay for a statue.
Lourdes Pilgrimages by CatholicJourneys.com
Day 1 - USA- France Evening departure from your home town, for the overnight flights to France. Dinner and breakfast will be served on board. Day 2 - LourdesUpon your arrival in Lourdes meet your tour escort, priest and transfer to your hotel.
Brief History of Lourdes
This region of France was a strategic stronghold during medieval times. Situated at the foot of the Pyrenees, the medieval castle of Lourdes provided protection against foreign forces. During the Hundred Years War, the French captured this region from the English in 1406 after an 18-month siege The medieval castle was used as a state prison from the reign of Louis XIV (1643-1715) until the beginning of the 19th century. It was in 1858 when Lourdes' importance as a military and state stronghold ended and its spiritual importance began.
Pilgrimage to Lourdes
Every Easter sees the start of the annual pilgrimage season in the little town of Lourdes in the French Pyranees. Over the next seven months, five million visitors will flock to the town to drink or bathe in the spring water there. It's famous for its miracle cures. Most of the pilgrims are Catholics, many are ill and disabled. The Savvy Traveler's Martin Stott joined a group heading out from London with Tangney Tours.
Saint Bernadette Soubirous
Lourdes 1858 Bernadette Soubirous 1844 –1879The sleeping saint of Nevers Our Lady of Lourdes - Optional Memorial: February 11th
Lourdes
Notre-Dame de Lourdes, in the Department of Hautes Pyrenées, France, is far-famed for the pilgrimage of which it is a centre and for the extraordinary events that have occurred and still occur there. History The pilgrimage of Lourdes is founded on the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin to a poor, fourteen-year-old girl, Bernadette Soubiroux. The first apparition occurred 11 February, 1858. There were eighteen in all; the last took place 16 July, of the same year. Bernadette often fell into an ecstasy.
Lourdes shrine officially records 69th miracle
Lourdes, France, Jul 22, 2013 / 10:20 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The famous Marian shrine in Lourdes, France has received an official declaration from the Bishop of Pavia, Italy stating that the 69th miracle has taken place there. "I have the joy of reporting to everyone my healing, which just a few days ago was approved as a miracle by my bishop, which is a beautiful thing,” said Mrs. Danila Castelli, who experienced the miracle on May 4, 1989 after visiting the baths in Lourdes. Castelli said in an interview posted July 18, 2013 on the Lourdes Sanctuary’s YouTube channel that she wants to “thank Our Lady for all of the joy I've received, not just the joy of a healed body - which is also important because health is a gift of God and we have to protect it and ask for it, life is a gift - but the joy that Our Lord has given me throughout my entire life for as long as I can remember.” However, her condition did not improve, and in Nov. 1982 surgeons removed part of her pancreas.
Official recognition of 68th miracle of Lourdes on Independent Catholic News
A new miracle has been officially recognised at Lourdes today. The unexplained cure of Italian nun, Sister Luigina Traverso, has been officialy declared a 'miracle' today by Mgr Alceste Catella, Bishop of Casale Monferrato in Italy, the diocese in which the Salesian Sister resides. A press statement from the Communication Service of the Sanctuary of Lourdes this afternoon, states: 'On the occasion of the opening of the Year of Faith, this 11th October 2012, we have great joy in announcing the recognition of the 68th miracle attributed to the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes'.
Sacred Places: Lourdes
During her ninth apparition, on 25 February, Bernadette claimed to have been directed to a spring that had hitherto not existed in the grotto. Its discovery by Bernadette, witnessed by hundreds of onlookers, was eventually declared miraculous. Later studies have shown that the water is pure and contains chlorides of soda, lime and magnesia, bicarbonates of lime and magnesia, silicates of lime and aluminium, oxide of iron, sulphate of soda, phosphate, and organic matter. Otherwise, it is believed to contain no therapeutic ingredients.
Lourdes: 69th official miracle announced on Independent Catholic News
The Sanctuary of Lourdes has announced the 69th official miracle of Lourdes - the curing of an Italian woman, Danila Castelli, following her visit to the Baths at the Shrine in 1989. Danila Castelli, born on 16 January 1946, a wife and mother, lived a more or less normal life until the age of 34 when she started having spontaneous and severe blood pressure hypertensive crisis. She also suffered a number of other serious health problems and underwent a hysterectomy an annexectomy and a partial pancreatectomy. As her condition deteriorated, her husband who is a doctor planned to take her to the Mayo Clinic in America, but at the last moment Danila said she wanted to go to Lourdes. The couple went in May 1989.
