Signs of Lourdes: touch 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.

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 girl 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.

Prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes

O Immaculate Virgin, Mother of Mercy, health of the sick, refuge of sinners, consoler of the afflicted, You know my needs, my sufferings; deign to turn a favorable gaze upon me to my relief and comfort. By appearing in the grotto of Lourdes, you wanted it to become a privileged place, from which to spread your graces, and many unhappy people have already found the remedy for their spiritual and corporal infirmities. I too am full of confidence to implore your maternal favors; hear my humble prayer, tender Mother, and filled with your benefits, I will endeavor to imitate your virtues, to participate one day in your glory in Paradise. Amen.

3 Ave Maria

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.

Blessed be the Holy and Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God.