Have you ever seen the stained glass window of Mary in the sanctuary of our church? It's up there on the left - so not able to be seen at all if you normally sit on the left side of the church. This image of Mary is Our Lady of Lourdes - whose feast we celebrate today. It is also World Day of Prayer for the Sick - because of the connection between the healings which occur at Lourdes, France and the ill who go seeking those healings.
World Day of the Sick was launched by Pope John Paul II in 1992. He designated February 11, Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, to be an annual day of prayer and consideration of the sick and of those who care for them. It is a day on which we reflect on the Christian meaning of illness, pain and suffering - whether we are healthy or not. People in the medical profession are invited through this day to recognize and value the spiritual dimension of their work.
The Shrine of our Lady of Lourdes in southern France is the most visited pilgrimage site in the world - principally because of the apparent healings which occur at the spring - which appeared during the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to the poor, 14-year-old, St. Bernadette Sourbiroux.
The first apparition occurred on February 11, 1858. There were 18 in all; the last took place July 16 of the same year. Bernadette often feel into an ecstasy during these apparitions, as was witnessed by the 100's who attended the later visions, though no one but Bernadette ever saw or heard the apparition. The mysterious vision Bernadette saw in the hollow of the rock, where she and her friends had gone to gather firewood, was that of a young, beautiful lady. "Lovelier than I have ever seen" said the child. She described the Lady as clothed in white, with a blue ribbon sash and a Rosary hanging from her right arm. Now and then the apparition spoke to Bernadette.
One day, they Lady told her to drink of a mysterious fountain within the grotto itself, the existence of which was unknown. Bernadette scratched the ground and a spring immediately bubbled up and soon gushed forth. On another occasion the apparition bade Bernadette go and tell the priests she wished a chapel to be built on the spot and processions be made to the grotto. At first the clergy were incredulous. The priest said he would not believe unless the apparition gave Bernadette her name. After another apparition, Bernadette reported that the Lady told her, "I am the Immaculate Conception." Though the girl was unfamiliar with the term, Pope Pius IX had infallibly declared the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary just 4 years prior in 1854.
Four years after the visions, in 1862, the Bishop of teh diocese declared the faithful "justified in believing the reality of the apparition" of our Lady. A basilica was built upon the rock and 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. It was built at the foot of the basilica and was consecrated in 1901 and called the Church of the Rosary. Pope Leo XIII authorized a special office and Mass, in commemoration of the apparition, and in 1907 Pius X extended the observance of this feast to the entire Church; it is now observed on February 11.
World Day of the Sick was launched by Pope John Paul II in 1992. He designated February 11, Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, to be an annual day of prayer and consideration of the sick and of those who care for them. It is a day on which we reflect on the Christian meaning of illness, pain and suffering - whether we are healthy or not. People in the medical profession are invited through this day to recognize and value the spiritual dimension of their work.
The Shrine of our Lady of Lourdes in southern France is the most visited pilgrimage site in the world - principally because of the apparent healings which occur at the spring - which appeared during the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to the poor, 14-year-old, St. Bernadette Sourbiroux.
The first apparition occurred on February 11, 1858. There were 18 in all; the last took place July 16 of the same year. Bernadette often feel into an ecstasy during these apparitions, as was witnessed by the 100's who attended the later visions, though no one but Bernadette ever saw or heard the apparition. The mysterious vision Bernadette saw in the hollow of the rock, where she and her friends had gone to gather firewood, was that of a young, beautiful lady. "Lovelier than I have ever seen" said the child. She described the Lady as clothed in white, with a blue ribbon sash and a Rosary hanging from her right arm. Now and then the apparition spoke to Bernadette.
One day, they Lady told her to drink of a mysterious fountain within the grotto itself, the existence of which was unknown. Bernadette scratched the ground and a spring immediately bubbled up and soon gushed forth. On another occasion the apparition bade Bernadette go and tell the priests she wished a chapel to be built on the spot and processions be made to the grotto. At first the clergy were incredulous. The priest said he would not believe unless the apparition gave Bernadette her name. After another apparition, Bernadette reported that the Lady told her, "I am the Immaculate Conception." Though the girl was unfamiliar with the term, Pope Pius IX had infallibly declared the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary just 4 years prior in 1854.
Four years after the visions, in 1862, the Bishop of teh diocese declared the faithful "justified in believing the reality of the apparition" of our Lady. A basilica was built upon the rock and 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. It was built at the foot of the basilica and was consecrated in 1901 and called the Church of the Rosary. Pope Leo XIII authorized a special office and Mass, in commemoration of the apparition, and in 1907 Pius X extended the observance of this feast to the entire Church; it is now observed on February 11.
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