The story of Saint Bernadette, the patron saint of the sick, poor, and the people of Lourdes.
Here are the details of the 18 apparitions - all encounters Bernadette had with the Blessed Virgin Mary...of particular miraculous importance are #3, where Mary first spoke to Bernadette, and #12, where a friend of Bernadette's plunged her dislocated arm into the water of the spring near the apparitions, and it healed.
The Church officially recognizes these encounters and canonized Bernadette in 1933. Here's why these apparitions are so important to life in the Church, according to the website:
THE APPARITIONS IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH.
"This judgement of the Church is essential because the Apparitions add nothing to the Creed or the Gospel; they are a reminder for an age that had a tendency to forget them, they are indeed, a prophetic Visitation to our world. God does not want us focusing on the wonderful or the extraordinary; but through the Apparitions he gives us a sign that we should return to the Gospel which is the Word of his Son, the Word of Life. Faithfulness to the message of the Gospel, the authenticity of our life of witness, the results of holiness which flow out from it for the people of God are the criteria of an authentic Apparition in the Church. At Lourdes they are verified with a special clarity: the Church is not deceived in this."
"A reminder for an age that had a tendency to forget them"...seems all too appropriate now, as well.
In particular for today, please pray for the sick and the poor. They need it now more than ever.
Here is information for the Jubilee Year 2008 in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Lourdes.
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