Photo Courtesy of pilgrim-info.com
February 11 is the observance of World Sick Day or a time of prayer for those who are suffering from illnesses and those who are helping the sick. It is for the memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes which was instituted on May 13, 1992 by Pope John Paul II.
February 11 is also the first apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to the poor girl named Bernadette Soubirous. Only Later to be one of the known Saint in France
On February 11, 1858, she was away from their home collecting firewoods in the rock of Massabielle, with the company of her sister and another friend near a grotto. There she saw the vision of lovely lady and spoke to her.
There are many times that the Lady showed up to her. One time, the Lady told her to drink a mysterious fountain in the grotto itself. There is no sign of the fountain. Bernadette scratched the ground and a spring immediately gushed.
Another apparition happened and the Lady told the priest that she wished that a chapel to be built on the grotto. When the clergy first heard of this they cannot believe it. The priest said that he will never believe it unless the apparitions gave her name. After another apparition, Bernadette told that the Lady said “I am the Immaculate Conception”. The pope then had declared the doctrine of Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary on 1854.
A basilica was built upon the rock of Massabielle by M. Peyramale, the parish priest. Lourdes, France is one of the most popular place of pilgrimage by the Chatolic Faith. The water of Lourdes is available to all pilgrims, and many healings have also been medically cured with the water.
