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Caption: Lourdes 13 Days West European Pilgrimage
Part 4
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Caption: LOURDES
Lourdes (pronunciation: [luʀd]; is a small market town lying in the foothills of the Pyrenees, France. It is part of the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in south-western France. Prior to the apparitions of the Virgin Mary in 1858, the most prominent feature of the town was the fortified castle that rises up from a rocky escarpment at its centre.
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Caption: Marian Apparitions In 1858 Lourdes rose to prominence in France and abroad due to the Marian apparitions seen by the peasant girl Bernadette Soubirous, who was later canonized.
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Caption: Statue of Our Lady of Lourdes in the Grotto
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Caption: Lourdes Water Lourdes water flows from a spring at the same spot where it was discovered by Bernadette. The original spring can be seen within the Grotto, lit from below and protected by a glass screen.
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Caption: Each year about 350,000 pilgrims bathe in the water at the baths. During the pilgrimage season, the baths are open 8.30 am-12.30 pm / 1.30 pm-6.00 pm on weekdays and 10.00 am-12.00 noon / 2.00 pm-4.00 pm Sundays and Holidays,
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Caption: “Go and drink at the spring and wash in it.”
(Our Lady to Bernadette, Thursday 25th February 1858)
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Caption: "“Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for me, a poor sinner" Bernadette Soubirous
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Caption: Beginning on 11 February 1858, a 14-year-old peasant girl named Bernadette Soubirous claimed to have experienced a series of apparitions of a girl dressed in white and with a blue belt around her waist, who eventually introduced herself as the Immaculate Conception, a name by which the Virgin Mary was known.
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Caption: The Sanctuary of
Our Lady of Lourdes
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Caption: Notre-Dame de l’Immaculee-Conception, Lourdes The Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, known widely as the Upper Basilica, was the second of the churches to be completed, consecrated in 1876.
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Caption: "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in the darkness but will have the light of life" (John 8:12)
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Caption: Near the Grotto, millions of candles continuously burn since 19th February 1858. That day, Bernadette arrived at the Grotto with a blessed candle that kept burning in her hand until the end of the apparition. Before she left, the Virgin Mary asked her to let the candle burn at the Grotto. This tradition has never ceased.The candles offered by the pilgrims keep burning day and night. Burning a candle at the Grotto does not replace a prayer, but it's a tangible sign supporting a secret demand, an offering or an acknowledgement.
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Caption: HOPE Each year, 700 tons of candles burn for you and those who have not been able to come in Lourdes . The volutes of smoke represent millions of intentions of prayers and wishes.
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Caption: Lord, may this candle be a light for you to enlighten me in my difficulties and decisions.
May it be a fire for you to burn out of me all pride, selfishness and impurity
May it be a flame for you to bring warmth into my heart, towards my family, my
neighbours and all those who meet me.
Through the prayers of Mary, virgin and mother I place in your care those I come
to pray for. Amen
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Caption: Hail Holy Queen Hail Holy Queen, mother of mercy, hail our life,
our sweetness and our hope.
To thee do we cry
poor banished children of Eve.
To thee do we send up our sighs
mourning and weeping in this vale of tears.
Turn then most gracious Advocate thine eyes of mercy
towards upon us and after this our exile
show us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary
Caption: to be Continued in part 5
(our trip to Loiola & Fatima)
