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Happy Feast of Our Lady of #Lourdes!
Do you know the story of Our Lady appearing to St. Bernadette Soubirous in 1858? It's a beautiful story of
Mary appearing to a 14-year-old girl in what was then a garbage dump, and speaking to her in the local patois, Lourdais...
Do you know the story of Our Lady appearing to St. Bernadette Soubirous in 1858? It's a beautiful story of
Mary appearing to a 14-year-old girl in what was then a garbage dump, and speaking to her in the local patois, Lourdais...
Today the Grotto at Massabieille is a place of worldwide pilgrimage, but in 1858 it was where garbage, as well as refuse and soiled linens from a local hospital, was left. Seemingly an unlikely place for miracles or apparitions of any sort to occur. But God has other plans....
During one apparition, Mary invites Bernadette to drink and wash in the water. But there is only muddy water in the back of the grotto. Bernadette digs with her bare hands and then uncovers a clear stream, whose waters have led to many documented healings over the years....
Bernadette never wavered in her steadfastness. In time, through her persistence, and the granting of miracles to some who bathed in the waters, she won over her doubters. But "winning them over" was never her goal. It was simply to remain faithful to what "The Lady" asked....
She also never accepted money or gifts when they were pressed upon her and refused to bless people when asked. She remained a model of humility and later entered a religious order, where she was reluctant to talk about her experiences.
This is even more edifying when one considers the extreme poverty that Bernadette came from. At the time of the apparitions, her family was living the "The Cachot," a room that had been used as the town jail. You can still see their house today (and celebrate Mass there)...
Interestingly, Bernadette also objected to the statue that was placed in the niche where Mary had appeared. She was still alive when it was made and saw it in the grotto. It was far too old, she said. The woman who appeared was a "demoiselle," a young woman near her own age...
Lourdes reminds us that Mary, like her son, is the helper of the helpless, taking the side of those who are poor and on the margins, like Bernadette and her family were.
Thanks to my friend Rob Lively and the @orderofmalta for inviting me to many pilgrimages to Lourdes.
Thanks to my friend Rob Lively and the @orderofmalta for inviting me to many pilgrimages to Lourdes.
Some good books to read are "The Song of Bernadette," by Franz Werfel; "Lourdes," by Ruth Harris; "Bernadette of Lourdes," by Rene Laurentin; and you might try my own "Lourdes Diary."
Happy Feast Day!
Happy Feast Day!
