“I am the Immaculate Conception.”

by Rosemarie Celis

On February 11, 1858, in the little village of Lourdes, in the south of France, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to a 14-year-old, poor peasant girl named Bernadette Soubiroux, at the hollow rock of Massabielle. Our Lady, clothed in white with a rosary hanging on her arm, smiled at her and together they prayed the rosary. What followed were 15 extraordinary days of apparitions of “Our Lady of Lourdes.”

What was our Lady’s message? “Pray and do penance… Pray especially for the conversion of sinners.” She requested for a procession and a chapel at the apparition site. Our Lady also made a new spring of water and told Bernadette to drink from it and to wash herself in it.

After 18 apparitions, she revealed herself saying, “I am the Immaculate Conception.” The Pope had declared the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary four years earlier, on December 8, 1854.

Four years after the apparitions, the bishop of the diocese declared the faithful “justified in believing the reality of the apparition” of Our Lady. Today, the entire Church observes this feast on February 11. Pope John Paul II has also declared this day as “World Day of the Sick.”

You could visit the beautiful basilica at the foot of the rock of Massabielle, light a candle and kneel (at the exact spot where Bernadette knelt) in silent prayer at the grotto and see the miraculous spring. You could also pray at the life-size Stations of the Cross on a hilltop or join the evening torchlight processions, singing “Immaculate Mother” in different languages. Most importantly, you can attend international Masses and go to confession, also offered in many languages. Finally, you could drink from the spring or be immersed in the healing baths of Lourdes.

150 years have passed and the sick continue to come in wheelchairs, crutches and even stretchers. Many miraculous healings have been attributed to the spring and its healing baths but the message of Lourdes remains the same: “Pray and do penance… especially for the conversion of sinners.” For the true miracle of Lourdes is the miracle of the conversion of hearts.

Sources:
newadvent.org
rcam.org
wf-f.org