Our Lady of Lourdes Feast Day

MANILA, Philippines - It was on February 11, 1858, that a young beautiful lady appeared to Bernadette Soubirous, a 14-year-old peasant girl in the cave of Massabielle in Lourdes, France. Her family was one of the poorest in town. On that day, Bernadette, together with her sisters Toinette and Jeanne Abadie, had been asked by her parents to collect some firewood. The children passed by the rock of Massabielle and there, they heard a gust of wind but the trees and bushes nearby did not move. Then Bernadette saw a beautiful Lady in a white robe encircled by a blue girdle. She had a rosary in her hand.

This is the first in a series of visions, totalling 17 visitations of the "lady" in that year. During the apparition on March 25, 1858, the lady identified herself with the words: "I am the Immaculate Conception." This was almost four years after the dogma of the Immaculate Conception was promulgated.

This event attracted people from various places in the world. The grotto of Lourdes became a place of pilgrimage for people strengthening their faith and asking God for the grace of healing. There were many testimonies of healing attributed to the devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes. The Church confirmed the authenticity of the apparitions in 1862 and the annual celebration of the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes was institutionalized in the Universal Liturgical Calendar in 1907.

Pope Benedict XVI in his homily during one of the celebrations in honor of Our Lady of Lourdes said: "The message of the Madonna, which continued to spread from Lourdes, recalled the words of Jesus which he announced at the beginning of his public ministry: Convert and believe in the Gospel, pray and do penance." For a believer in Jesus, the most important miracle that one can see is the miracle of conversion that happened to people who visited the holy place. Lourdes has inspired a lot of people to imitate the Blessed Virgin Mary in her humility and service to God. The Blessed Mother has touched the hearts of people to be reconciled with God who is ready to forgive our sins."

As we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes this year, let us beg the Lord to grant us the grace of healing not only of our physical bodies but of our whole selves, the healing of our relationships, the healing of our society. She is our mother and she will not fail us. She will lead us all to Jesus who can heal us from anything that enslaves us.