Lourdes Today
Fr. Roger Charest, SMM
Lourdes Today
If there is one thing that impresses the first time pilgrim at Lourdes, it is the universality of the Church; – the living, suffering, praying Church; people of all nations, color, languages gathered together around Christ in the Eucharist, in the shadow of the Lady in the Grotto.
Young and old, rich and poor, healthy and sick, whom Vatican II calls “The new people of God”, marching in daily Procession of the Blessed Sacrament which culminates in the blessing of the sick and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament as well as nightly Candlelight Procession accompanied by the public recitation of the Rosary in at least ten languages; to say nothing of the sacred songs that fill the air from early morning till late into the night. And all this activity centered on Christ; the forgiving Christ in the Sacrament of Reconciliation; the suffering, dying and risen Christ in the magnificent outdoor Stations of the Cross; the Eucharistic Christ, encountered in the countless private and Concelebrated Masses offered in the Grotto and in the numerous basilicas and Chapels of the Shrine area.
Love Shown to the Sick and Handicapped
One of the characteristics of Lourdes is the pride of place given to the sick and the handicapped. Our own French Montfort Pilgrimages, brings some 800 invalids (incurables) who are served by approximately 1,000 nurses, 800 stretcher- bearers and some 40 medical doctors. All volunteers. A visit to the three large hospices (Our Lady of Sorrows, Notre Dame and St. Bernadette), all staffed by volunteer help, will soon convince you that this is a work of love. Likewise, if you go into the baths, you will witness for yourself the kindness and patience of the volunteers as they help the individuals prepare for their immersion in the waters of the miraculous spring.
Should you want to see the miraculous spring itself, you may do so by following the many pilgrims who are entering the Grotto, touching and/or kissing the massive rock below the niche where Our Lady appeared to Bernadette, and where the statue is today. As you proceed behind the altar inside the grotto, you will see a receptacle for your written petitions (if you have any with you) and immediately after this, you will see the wide and steady flow of water under a large plate glass.
Go Wash At The Fountain
This water has been flowing since February 25, 1858 (9th Apparition). The Church has never claimed that this water has any special therapeutic qualities, All we know is that thousands of people have been cured by its use. And we use it, because Our Lady told Bernadette; ‘Go drink at the fountain and wash there”. People have been doing it ever since.
Even though only 65 cures have been officially declared “miracles” by the Church, over the years more than 6,000 have been reported to the medical bureau at Lourdes of which 1,100 have been thoroughly examined by the medical bureau. Obviously, the small number of officially declared “miraculous cures” serve as a “confirmation” of the principal message of Lourdes which is not “miracles” but Prayer and Penance or conversion.
Three times, the Lady repeated the words to Bernadette; Penance! Penance, Penance!
Our Lady Asks For Penance
This is not to say that one cannot expect miracles at Lourdes. When we know that the greatest of all miracles are the conversions or transformations that take place in the hearts of the pilgrims to Lourdes, we can truly say that many miracles occur at this world-renowned Shrine. I repeat, the physical cures or “miracles”, few in number though they may be, serve to confirm and strengthen our faith in the power of Mary’s intercession by which she obtains for us a better understanding of the mystery of the Cross in our daily lives.
From my own personal experiences of leading hundreds of pilgrims to Lourdes over the past many years, no one but no one leaves Lourdes empty-handed. Like the good mother that she is, she deals with each one of us in a personal way, putting up with our weaknesses and spiritual immaturity and sharing with us her subl1me faith, hope and charity exemplified in her complete abandonment to God’s holy will.
A picture of Lourdes Today.
Also, from the original magazine, Fr. de Montfort was an organizer of religious processions in his day. St. Louis de Montfort is now carried by Montfort pilgrims at Lourdes.
This is not to say that one cannot expect miracles at Lourdes. When we know that the greatest of all miracles are the conversions or transformations that take place in the hearts of the pilgrims to Lourdes, we can truly say that many miracles occur at this world-renowned Shrine.
I repeat, the physical cures or “miracles”, few in number though they may be, serve to confirm and strengthen our faith in the power of Mary’s intercession by which she obtains for us a better understanding of the mystery of the Cross in our daily lives.
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The Message of Lourdes is the Message of the Cross
As she said to Bernadette, so she says to all of us; “I do not promise you happiness in this world, but in the next“. To understand these words and to translate them into our daily lives is to possess that pearl of great price Jesus speaks of in MATT. 13.46. To understand these words is to possess what St. Louis de Montfort called The Wisdom of the Cross, when he wrote: “The Cross is Wisdom and Wisdom is The Cross.”
The message of Lourdes is the message of the Cross. It’s the only way Christ taught us on our pilgrim way; ”If anyone will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his Cross and follow me”. Would His mother speak otherwise? But the message of the Cross is the necessary prelude to the Resurrection.
If you journey to Lourdes in search of Wisdom, our Blessed Mother will surely help you find it. And with this Wisdom, Christ crucified, will come that inner peace and joy that no one will take from you.
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Vol #xxx Month 2022
