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Lourdes
One
of the most popular of all Roman Catholic shrines and reputed to be a
place of miraculous healing, Lourdes is located in the region of the
Hautes-Pyrιnιes in southwestern France.
Although
Lourdes population is under 20,000, every year over 3,000,000 pilgrims
including about 75,000 disabled people visit the shrine of Our
Lady of Lourdes and the springs, the waters of which are believed to have miraculous
healing powers.
Everything
begun between February 11 and July 16 of 1858, when fourteen year old
Bernadette Soubirous (1843-1879) experienced eighteen visions at the
grotto of Massabielle, in Lourdes. In her visions she spoke with a radiant
woman who identified herself as the "Immaculate Conception,"
disclosing to the child a muddy spring, the waters of which she was
supposed to drink and use to wash. The apparition
also conveyed a message stressing the necessity of prayer and penance for
the conversion of humanity.
No mention
of any of the spring miraculous properties was made by the apparition, but
by the end of March of that year the bishop of Tarbes, in whose jurisdiction
Lourdes was located, reported three cures. The reputation of Lourdes as a
place of healing grew rapidly after that, despite the church's strenuous caution
and demand for evidence of cures.
In 1862,
following rigorous examination, the church declared the visions authentic
and a chapel was erected at the site of the grotto and spring. Bernadette
was canonized in 1933. Her feast is celebrated on April 6, and February 11
is dedicated to the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.
Related
videos:
Bernadette:
La Princesa De Lourdes (Spanish).
Bernadette:
Princess of Lourdes.
Bernardita
De Lourdes (Spanish).
Lourdes:
Pilgrimage and Healing (2000).
Sacred
Waters of Lourdes.
Spiritual
Wonders of Europe.
The
Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima.
The
Song of Bernadette.
Related
books:
15
Days of Prayer With Saint Bernadette of Lourdes.
Bernadette
Speaks to You.
Fatima
in Lucia's Own Words.
Lourdes.
Our
Lady of Fatima.
Saint
Bernadette Soubirous.
The
Fatima Prophecies.
The
Fatima Secret.
The
Last Secret.
Further
info:
A
Visit to Lourdes.
About
Lourdes & Bernadette.
Apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes.
Lourdes
France.
Our
Lady of Lourdes.
Sacred
Places: Lourdes.
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