People come to Lourdes to go to the Grotto where Bernadette saw the Virgin Mary. This place is a place of prayer, trust, peace, respect, unity and silence that we can take advantage of in different ways.
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The first miraculous healings occurred in the days that followed. The Lourdes spring became a place of pilgrimage in itself and offered new hope for millions of sick people worldwide. The act of drinking water is one of the highlights of the pilgrim's journey to the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes.
The Grotto of Massabielle is a must for all visitors to the Shrine of Lourdes, whether they are ordinary visitors or believers. The visit to the Grotto is silent, most people touch the wall of the Grotto with their fingers in respect or to make a wish or a prayer.
Like many pilgrimage sites, a chief lure of Lourdes is what many consider the healing power of its waters. Those waters come from a spring where Bernadette said she encountered the Virgin Mary.
The Massabielle Grotto is the very place where the apparitions occurred, and within it is the spring that Bernadette discovered. To the right of the Grotto are the Taps where you can drink Lourdes water. Those who wish to can also go to the Sanctuary Baths and perform the water gesture.
It is this very water that fills the Baths or Piscines in which pilgrims bathe on pilgrimage. This water is also available at taps throughout the Sanctuary for pilgrims to drink, wash, and bottle at will, above which it reads: “Wash your face and ask God to purify your heart.”
If you are a Roman Catholic, the religious significance of Lourdes is obvious, but even non-Catholics can enjoy a visit to the Sanctuary, its facilities, and this French town in the foothills of the Pyrénées. Lourdes is an easy trip from Pau, about 45 kilometers (29 miles), less than an hour's drive.
In Lourdes, the Holy Virgin invites all to regard earth as a place of pilgrimage toward our final homeland, which is heaven. In reality, we are all pilgrims, we need Mary to guide us; and in Lourdes, her smile invites us to go forward with great confidence in the awareness that God is good, God is love.
The chapel is inscribed with a prayer which reads: Ever Immaculate Virgin Mother of Mercy, Health of the sick, refuge of sinners, Comforter of the afflicted, you know my wants, my troubles, my sufferings; look with mercy on me.
A nice day at the lakeA lovely day trip to the lake. Great for swimming and other water sports like paddleboarding, canoeing. Nice walk from the centre of Lourdes.
The garden grotto went hand in hand with the idea of mountain caverns or underground caves. Grottoes, associated with cold, the desert, death, initiation- became, in the literary context, images of the interior of the Earth.