Our Lady of Lourdes: her devotion and the power to obtain graces

Our Lady of Lourdes (or Our Lady of the Rosary or, more simply, Our Lady of Lourdes) is the name with which the Catholic Church venerates Mary, mother of Jesus in relation to one of the most revered Marian apparitions.

The place name refers to the French municipality of Lourdes in whose territory - between 11 February and 16 July 1858 - the young Bernadette Soubirous, a fourteen-year-old peasant woman from the area, reported having witnessed eighteen apparitions of a "beautiful lady" in a cave not far from the small suburb of Massabielle. About the first, the young woman said:

“I saw a lady dressed in white. He wore a white suit, a white veil, a blue belt and a yellow rose on his feet. " This image of the Virgin, dressed in white and with a blue belt that surrounded her waist, then entered the classic iconography.
In the place indicated by Bernadette as the theater of the apparitions, a statue of the Madonna was placed in 1864. Over time, an imposing sanctuary developed around the cave of the apparitions.

The water
"Go drink and wash at the source", this is what the Virgin Mary asked Bernadette Soubirous on February 25, 1858. The water of Lourdes is not blessed water. It is a normal and common water. It has no specific therapeutic virtue or property. The popularity of Lourdes water was born with miracles. The healed people got wet, or drank the spring water. Bernadette Soubirous herself said: “You take water like medicine…. we must have faith, we must pray: this water would have no virtue without faith! ". The water of Lourdes is the sign of another water: that of baptism.

The rock
Touching the rock represents the embrace of God, who is our rock. Tracing history, we know that caves have always served as a natural shelter and have stimulated the imagination of men. Here in Massabielle, as in Bethlehem and Gethsemane, the rock of the Grotto has also repaired the supernatural. Without ever having studied, Bernadette knew instinctively and said: "It was my sky." In front of this hollow in the rock you are invited to go inside; you see how smooth, shiny the rock is, thanks to billions of caresses. As you pass, take the time to look at the inexhaustible spring, at the bottom left.

The light
Near the cave, millions of candles have been burning incessantly since February 19, 1858. On that day, Bernadette arrives at the cave carrying a blessed lit candle which she holds in her hand until the end of the apparition. Before leaving, the Virgin Mary asks her to let him consume in the Grotto. Since then, the candles offered by pilgrims have been consumed day and night. Each year, 700 tons of candles burn for you and those who could not come. This sign of light is omnipresent in Holy History. The pilgrims and visitors of Lourdes in procession with a torch in their hands express hope.

Novena to the Madonna of Lourdes

1st day. Our Lady of Lourdes, Immaculate Virgin, pray for us. Our Lady of Lourdes, here I am at your feet to solicit this grace: my trust in your power of intercession is unshakable. You can get everything from your divine Son.
Purpose: To make an act of reconciliation towards a hostile person or from whom one has moved away from natural dislike.

2nd day. Our Lady of Lourdes, who you have chosen to play a weak and poor girl, pray for us. Our Lady of Lourdes, help me to adopt every means to become more humble and more abandoned to God. I know that is how I will be able to please you and get your assistance.
Purpose: To choose a near date to confess, to stick.

3rd day. Our Lady of Lourdes, eighteen times blessed in your apparitions, pray for us. Our Lady of Lourdes, listen to my pleading vows today. Hear them if, by realizing themselves, they can procure the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
Purpose: To visit the Blessed Sacrament in a church. Entrust nominated relatives, friends or relationships to Christ. Don't forget the dead.

4th day. Our Lady of Lourdes, you, to whom Jesus can refuse nothing, pray for us. Our Lady of Lourdes, intercede for me with your divine Son. Draw heavily on the treasures of his Heart and spread them on those who pray at your feet.
Purpose: To pray a meditated rosary today.

5th day. Our Lady of Lourdes who has never been invoked in vain, pray for us. Our Lady of Lourdes, if you want it, none of those who invoke you today will leave without having experienced the effect of your powerful intercession.
Purpose: To make a partial fast at noon or in the evening of today to repair their sins, and also according to the intentions of those who pray or will pray to Our Lady with this novena.

6th day. Our Lady of Lourdes, health of the sick, pray for us. Our Lady of Lourdes, Intercede for the healing of the sick that we recommend to you. Get them an increase in strength if not health.
Purpose: To wholeheartedly recite an act of consecration to Our Lady.

7th day. Our Lady of Lourdes who pray incessantly for sinners, pray for us. Our Lady of Lourdes who led Bernardette to holiness, give me that Christian enthusiasm that does not retreat before any effort to make peace and love between men more reigning.
Purpose: To visit a sick person or a single person.

8th day. Our Lady of Lourdes, maternal support of the whole Church, pray for us. Our Lady of Lourdes, protect our Pope and our bishop. Bless all the clergy and especially the priests who make you known and loved. Remember all the deceased priests who have transmitted the life of the soul to us.
Purpose: To celebrate a mass for the souls of purgatory and to communicate with this intention.

9th day. Our Lady of Lourdes, hope and consolation of pilgrims, pray for us. Our Lady of Lourdes, having reached the end of this novena, I already want to thank you for all the graces you have obtained for me in these days, and for those that you will still get for me. To better receive and thank you, I promise to come and pray to you as often as possible in one of your sanctuaries.
Purpose: make a pilgrimage to a Marian shrine once a year, even very close to your residence, or take part in a spiritual retreat.