| Definition: Our Lady of Lourdes, Memorial of |
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On February 11, 1858, the Blessed Mother appeared to a 14-year-old girl named Bernadette Soubirous. This was the first of 18 apparitions (appearances) and the date chosen to commemorate them.
When Bernadette was pressed by the local abbot to learn the name of the woman who was appearing to her, Mary identified herself as "the Immaculate Conception." Since the dogma had only recently been proclaimed and was unknown to Bernadette, the message was convincing. The apparitions were given Church approval in 1862.
In the years that followed many came to the small French town in the Pyrenees and were healed in the waters flowing from a spring that welled up in the grotto where the apparitions took place. The pilgrimages and healings continue today. |
Source:
Youth Update Glossary
St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2002 |