February 11
Masses 6:30AM (Rectory) 8:30AM (Church)

On 11 February 1858, Bernadette Soubirous went with two girlfriends to collect some firewood to sell in order to be able to buy some bread. As she was wading through a river near the Grotto of Massabielle, she heard the wind but did not see the trees and bushes move. As she looked toward the Grotto, she saw a light and a beautiful lady – “Lovelier than I have ever seen” - dressed in white with a blue sash fastened around her waist and two golden yellow roses on each foot. She remained in an ecstatic state contemplating the Lady until called by her friends. Three days later, Bernadette returned to the Grotto with the two other girls, who reportedly became afraid when they saw her in ecstasy. Bernadette remained ecstatic when they returned to the village. On 18 February, she was told by the Lady to return to the Grotto over a period of two weeks. The Lady said: “I promise to make you happy not in this world but in the next.” In total, there were seventeen apparitions, the last taking place on July 16 of the same year. Bernadette often fell into an ecstasy during these apparitions, which were witnessed by the hundreds of people, although no one except Bernadette ever saw or heard the apparition.

During one of the apparitions, the Lady told Bernadette to drink of a mysterious spring within the grotto itself, something unknown and unseen. Bernadette scratched at the ground, and water began bubbling up and soon gushed forth. The water was muddy at first, but became increasingly clean. As word of the “miraculous spring” spread, the water was given to medical patients of all kinds, after which numerous miracle cures were reported. The first cure with a “certified miracle” was a women whose right hand had been deformed as a consequence of an accident. However, several miracles turned out to be short-term improvement or even hoaxes, so Church and government officials became increasingly concerned. Eventually, the government barricaded the Grotto and issued stiff penalties for anybody trying to get near the spring. In the process, Lourdes became a national issue in France, resulting in the intervention of emperor Napoleon III to reopen the grotto on 4 October 1858.

February 11
Masses 6:30AM (Rectory) 8:30AM (Church)

On 11 February 1858, Bernadette Soubirous went with two girlfriends to collect some firewood to sell in order to be able to buy some bread. As she was wading through a river near the Grotto of Massabielle, she heard the wind but did not see the trees and bushes move. As she looked toward the Grotto, she saw a light and a beautiful lady – “Lovelier than I have ever seen” - dressed in white with a blue sash fastened around her waist and two golden yellow roses on each foot. She remained in an ecstatic state contemplating the Lady until called by her friends. Three days later, Bernadette returned to the Grotto with the two other girls, who reportedly became afraid when they saw her in ecstasy. Bernadette remained ecstatic when they returned to the village. On 18 February, she was told by the Lady to return to the Grotto over a period of two weeks. The Lady said: “I promise to make you happy not in this world but in the next.” In total, there were seventeen apparitions, the last taking place on July 16 of the same year. Bernadette often fell into an ecstasy during these apparitions, which were witnessed by the hundreds of people, although no one except Bernadette ever saw or heard the apparition.

During one of the apparitions, the Lady told Bernadette to drink of a mysterious spring within the grotto itself, something unknown and unseen. Bernadette scratched at the ground, and water began bubbling up and soon gushed forth. The water was muddy at first, but became increasingly clean. As word of the “miraculous spring” spread, the water was given to medical patients of all kinds, after which numerous miracle cures were reported. The first cure with a “certified miracle” was a women whose right hand had been deformed as a consequence of an accident. However, several miracles turned out to be short-term improvement or even hoaxes, so Church and government officials became increasingly concerned. Eventually, the government barricaded the Grotto and issued stiff penalties for anybody trying to get near the spring. In the process, Lourdes became a national issue in France, resulting in the intervention of emperor Napoleon III to reopen the grotto on 4 October 1858.

At another apparition the Lady instructed Bernadette to tell the priests she wished a chapel to be built on the spot and processions to be made to the grotto. At first the clergy were incredulous. The pastor of Lourdes said he would not believe it unless the apparition gave Bernadette her name. At a later apparition, the Lady told Bernadette, “I am the Immaculate Conception.” Although Bernadette was completely ignorant of the term, she rushed to tell the priest, repeating the phrase over and over to get it right. The priest was incredulous how the poor peasant girl would know a technical theological term, especially since the Pope had only declared the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary four years earlier, in 1854.*

Four years after Bernadette's visions, in 1862, Bishop Laurence, the Bishop of Tarbes gave the solemn declaration: “We are inspired by the Commission comprising wise, holy, learned and experienced priests who questioned the child, studied the facts, examined everything and weighed all the evidence. We have also called on science, and we remain convinced that the Apparitions are supernatural and divine, and that by consequence, what Bernadette saw was the Most Blessed Virgin. Our convictions are based on the testimony of Bernadette, but above all on the things that have happened, things which can be nothing other than divine intervention.”

Bernadette joined the Sisters of Charity of Nevers convent at the age of 22. She spent the rest of her brief life there, working as an assistant in the infirmary and later as a sacristan, creating beautiful embroidery for altar cloths and vestments. She later contracted tuberculosis of the bone in the right knee, and never returned to Lourdes. She died of her long-term illness at the age of 35 on April 16, 1879, and was canonized on December 8, 1933 as the Catholic patron saint of sick persons, of the family, and of poverty.

In accordance with the instructions of the Lady, a Basilica was built upon the rock of Massabielle by Abbe Peyramale, the parish priest. In 1873 the great "national" French pilgrimages were inaugurated. Three years later the basilica was consecrated and the statue solemnly crowned. In 1883 the foundation stone of another church was laid, as the first was no longer large enough. Pope Leo XIII authorized a special Mass in commemoration of the apparition, and in 1907 Pius X extended the observance of this feast to the entire Church - February 11.

Lourdes is one of the most famous pilgrimage sites in the world. Each year millions visit the Grotto, bathe in the waters of the spring and drink the water. Thousands of miracles have occurred and been verified by a special commission in Lourdes. Throughout the spring and summer months, thousands take part in processions and Mass is celebrated in the grotto, the Basilica and a new Lourdes visitors center

* Just so we remember, the “Immaculate Conception” means that “Mary was conceived free from the stain of original sin” so that she could be a pure vessel to receive Our Lord.