Why is Lourdes so sacred?

Since 1858, when a 14-year-old peasant named Bernadette Soubirous proclaimed she had had 18 encounters with the Virgin Mary, Lourdes has become one of the most visited sites by Catholics in the world. Lourdes has a special appeal for the fragile and the weak, including wounded military personnel.



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While I experienced many beautiful blessings on the trip, the biggest ones occurred in Lourdes, a place in France people visit to seek healing because Mary appeared there. Over several months in 1848, Mary appeared a number of times to a 14-year-old peasant girl named Bernadette.

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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. Processions are organised too for infirm pilgrims.

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Lourdes is a place of the journey from sickness to health, spiritual as well as physical; a journey from darkness to light; a journey from the suffering of this earth to the peace of heaven.

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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.

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THE SIGNS. The rock, the light, the water, the crowds, the sicks and the helpers are signs of Lourdes.

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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.

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However, as of late December 2022, the baths remain closed for actual immersion, but they have developed an alternative plan.

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11, 1858. The shrine also holds a spring of water which is said to have miraculous healing properties. While there have been more than 7,000 miraculous recoveries attributed to the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes at the French shrine, only 70 cases have been officially recognized by the Catholic Church.

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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.

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Grotto in Lourdes, France The Lourdes Grotto is the spot where Saint Bernadette experienced 18 apparitions in 1858. Today, it is open to the public for candle lighting and, at specific times, to bathe in the healing water. What is this? There are two queues, one for men, the other for women.

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Thursday, February 11th 1858 was the day Our Lady revealed herself to Bernadette in the grotto at Massabielle (Old Rock) by the river Gave just outside Lourdes. The grotto itself was not a particularly savoury place, full of river-swept debris and where pigs had been kept.

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Every year, Lourdes welcomes millions of pilgrims and visitors from all over the world, following in Bernadette Soubirous' footsteps on their pilgrimage.

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With 6 million pilgrims visiting Lourdes each year, there is no doubt that it is a place of enormous attraction for those seeking enlightenment through the footsteps of St. Bernadette. The itinerary can be either 3, 4, 5 or 7 nights.

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