He smiled. “They are a test of faith as they are very heavy”.
“The disabled, diseased and marginalized are in the majority here“ said an English pilgrim. He was carrying a 2-litre plastic jerry can of complimentary cave water. “Pope John Paul 11 said Lourdes is the place where heaven and earth pursue a dialogue.
“Lourdes is a very special. It has been blessed. Some come for adoration. Or consolation. Or confession. To call for intercession or renew their baptismal vows. Or remember the Beatitudes. Others just to observe. Hope and fraternity are palpable here. Kindness too. You find yourself in a sea of people devoted to the service of others.”
160 years since the first apparation at Lourdes
2018 sees the 160th anniversary of the first apparition when on February 11th the Virgin Mary appeared to fourteen-year-old Bernadette Soubirous while she was collecting firewood. Seventeen apparitions of “Aquero” (the lady) followed until July 16th.
You can follow the “Jubilee Walk “and see Bernadette’s birthplace and “le cachot” (or dungeon) in the Rue Petits-Fosses where she lived in poverty after her father lost his mill business and cholera struck the town. You can also visit the church where she received her first Communion and the nearby village of Bartres where she tended sheep.
Bernadette described her apparition as 'uo petito damizelo' ("a young girl"). At first, she mistook it for a demonic apparition thinking it a “revenant” or soul returning from purgatory. The apparition did not speak until the third appearance and in Occitan, the local patois. It suggested she used a lighted candle for protection. Thus the torchlight procession. The small figure in the flowing white robe and roses on her feet told Bernadette to build chapels and kiss the ground as penance. On her ninth visitation she showed the shepherd girl a miraculous spring.