Apparitions Of The Virgin Mary- Week 5! Our Lady Of Lourdes

OUR LADY OF LOURDES

Lourdes, France

1858 A.D.

St. Bernadette Soubirous

Call to prayer & penance. Our Lady identified herself as the Immaculate Conception ("I am the Immaculate Conception").

Miraculous Fountain, Miraculous Cures, Incorrupt Body of St. Bernadette

Apparition Approved (Source: USCCB, 9/01)

This series of apparitions was visible only to St. Bernadette. St. Bernadette prayed the Rosary during the first apparition with Our Lady's approval (Our Lady also carried a Rosary).

The authenticity of various miraculous cures have been verified by numerous doctors (including unbelievers).

"[N]o sooner had Pius IX, proclaimed as a dogma of Catholic faith the exemption of Mary from the original stain, than the Virgin herself began in Lourdes those wonderful manifestations, followed by the vast and magnificent movements which have produced those two temples dedicated to the Immaculate Mother, where the prodigies which still continue to take place through her intercession furnish splendid arguments against the incredulity of our days." (Pope St. Pius X, "Ad Diem Illum Laetissimum", 1904 A.D.)

"To a society which in its public life often contests the supreme rights of God, to a society which would gain the whole world at the expense of its own soul and thus hasten to its own destruction, the Virgin Mother has sent a cry of alarm." (Pope Pius XII, "Le Pelerinage De Lourdes", 1957 A.D.)

"Rumors of favors received at the holy grotto [at Lourdes] spread rapidly, and the crowds of devout visitors increased daily, so that the Bishop of Tarbes, who has been impressed with the candor of Bernadette, found it advisable to hold a judicial enquiry into the facts. In the course of the fourth year he gave sentence, recognizing the supernatural character of the apparition, and permitting devotions to our Lady under the title of the Immaculate Conception to be held in the grotto. A chapel was soon built, and since then every year has witnessed innumerable pilgrimages...The name of Our Lady of Lourdes has become famous all over the world, and cures are obtained everywhere by use of the water." [Liturgy, Our Lady of Lourdes (Liturgical Year)]