What is the story behind Lourdes?
What is the story behind Lourdes?
The pilgrimage site of Lourdes is near the Pyrenees mountains in France. They come to Lourdes to see the site of a famous vision experienced by a young girl called Bernadette Soubirous and to be healed by its supposedly miraculous waters. Bernadette Soubirous was born in 1844 to a poor miller.
What happened at Our Lady of Lourdes?
The Marian Apparitions at Lourdes were reported in 1858 by Bernadette Soubirous, a 14-year-old miller’s daughter from the town of Lourdes in southern France. From 11 February to 16 July 1858, she reported 18 apparitions of “a Lady”. Soubirous was canonized a saint in 1933 by Pope Pius XI.
Why do we celebrate Our Lady of Lourdes Feast Day?
On February 11, we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, the title given to Mary when she appeared to Bernadette Soubirous in 1858 in Lourdes, France. There are a number of ways to commemorate Our Lady of Lourdes as a family.
What did Virgin Mary say to Bernadette?
On the feast of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary on March 25th, the Lady at last proclaimed her identity. Speaking to Bernadette in the local Lourdes patois, she said ‘I am the Immaculate Conception’. The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception had been proclaimed only a few years before, in 1854.
What was the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes?
February 11 is the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes, one of the most famous apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary that took place in southern France. On this day in 1858 a young, poor girl named Bernadette Soubirous was out collecting firewood with her sister and another friend near a grotto when she saw a vision of a lovely lady.
When did the Lady of Lourdes appear to Soubirous?
From 11 February to 16 July 1858, she reported 18 apparitions of “a Lady”. Soubirous described the lady as wearing a white veil and a blue girdle; she had a golden rose on each foot and held a rosary of pearls.
When was World Day of the sick celebrated in Lourdes?
Pope Benedict XVI visited Lourdes commemorating the 150th anniversary of the apparitions in September 2008. In 1992 Pope John Paul II instituted World Day of the Sick to be celebrated each year on 11th February, the anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady to Bernadette and the first was celebrated the following year in Lourdes itself.
Where did Our Lady of Lourdes go to collect firewood?
On 11 February 1858, Soubirous went with her sister Toinette and neighbor Jeanne Abadie to collect some firewood. After taking off her shoes and stockings to wade through the water near the Grotto of Massabielle, she said she heard the sound of two gusts of wind (coups de vent) but the trees and bushes nearby did not move.