Lourdes
is a small town situated in France
at the foothills of the Pyrenees. Although the town has
just 17000 inhabitants, 5 million visitors go there each
year. In the hotel trade, Lourdes is second only to Paris
in importance.
There
are several narrow streets leading down to the Grotto.
These are full of souvenir shops and although these at
first seem tacky and out of character, they soon become
an integral part of the visit to Lourdes.
As in most towns in France,
there are numerous cafes and bars which are open to all
ages. Quite a number of the inhabitants of Lourdes are
Basques.
Mention
the name "Lourdes"
to anyone familiar with this famous place of pilgrimage
in Southern France
and, immediately, the image of miraculous cures comes
to mind.
Best
known as a place for such Divine intervention, Lourdes
is, in fact, a source of far greater and more frequent
spiritual renewal and strengthening than the occasional
supernatural cure. Indeed, since the first apparition
of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Bernadette Soubirous, only
65 certifiable miracles have been attributed to the intercession
of Our Lady of Lourdes.
However,
day after day, year after year, decade after decade, millions
of people have been touched and healed by visits to this
spiritual wellspring.
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The
background of the Apparitions of the Virgin Mary to Bernadette
Soubirous. Lourdes
in the 19th. Century was one of the main places in the district
with more than 4,000 inhabitants including nobles, notaries,
advocates, doctors, officers as well as manual workers,
tradesmen, slate workers, small artisans such as millers.
Mills
were plentiful; many were dotted around outside the town,
along one of the streams that flowed into the Gave - the
Lappaca.
Bernadette
Soubirous was born in one of these, the Boly Mill, on 7th.
January 1844.
The
Church officially recognises the Apparitions.
Portrait
of Bernadette in 1866 before she left for Nevers.
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Celebrations:
6 to 10.45 Five Masses are celebrated in
different languages according to the pilgrims present in
the Sanctuary on a particular day.
The
last two Masses at 08.30 and 09.45
are usually Masses with sick pilgrims and are often celebrated
on the podium across the Gave from the Grotto due to the
large numbers of sick pilgrims present.11to 14
During the late morning and early afternoon sick pilgrims
are given an opportunity to pass through the Grotto to touch
the rock and see the spring.
15.30 Radio transmission of the Rosary
followed by the Blessing of Children.
17.00 The Blessed Sacrament pass along
the Gave going from the Tent of Adoration to the Underground
Basilica of St. Pius X for the Blessing of the Sick.
20.45 Pilgrims begin to gather for the
Torchlight Marian Procession.
23.00 Mass in French. Sometimes it is celebrated in Italian(normally
Fridays).
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