By Leon Bent –
Our Lady of Lourdes is a Roman Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary, venerated in honour of the Marian apparitions that, reportedly occurred in 1858 in the vicinity of Lourdes, in France. The first of these is the apparition on 11th February 1858, when 14-year old Bernadette Soubirous told her mother that, a “lady” spoke to her in the cave of Massabielle, while she was gathering firewood with her sister and a friend. Similar apparitions of the “Lady” were reported on 17 occasions that year, until the climax revelation of “Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception” took place.
Bernadette claimed she saw “a petite damsel, in white, with a golden rosary and blue belt fastened around her waist and two golden roses at her feet. In 16 subsequent visitations she heard the lady speak to her, saying, I am the Immaculate Conception, and asking that a chapel be built there. At first ridiculed, questioned, and belittled by Church officials and other contemporaries, Soubirous insisted on her vision. Eventually the Church believed her and she was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1933.
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On 3 July 1876, the Vatican officially granted a Canonical Coronation to the image that used to be in the courtyard of what is now part of the Rosary Basilica. The image of Our Lady of Lourdes has been widely copied and reproduced in shrines and homes, often in garden landscapes. Soubirous was later canonized. After church investigations confirmed her visions, a large church was built at the site. Lourdes is now a major Marian pilgrimage site in France; only Paris has more hotels than Lourdes.
The veracity of the apparitions of Lourdes is not an article of faith for Catholics. Nevertheless, all recent Popes visited the Marian shrine at some time. Benedict XV, Pius XI, and John XXIII went there as bishops, Pius XII as papal delegate. He also issued an encyclical, “Le pèlerinage de Lourdes”, on the 100th Anniversary of the apparitions in 1958. John Paul II visited Lourdes three times during his pontificate, and twice before as a bishop. The Pope reminds the faithful of France, that every Christian land is a Marian land and that “there is not one nation redeemed in the blood of Christ which does not glory in proclaiming Mary, its Mother and Patroness.”
The shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in southern France is a popular pilgrimage destination for individuals, with special devotions to Mary, and for those seeking miraculous healings. A miracle was officially recognized at the Marian Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, in France, this week, at 2 pm, February 1, 2018; the 70th Lourdes miracle recognized by the Catholic Church.
The World Day of the Sick is a feast day of the Roman Catholic Church, which was instituted on 13th May, 1992, by Pope John Paul II. Beginning on 11th February, 1993, it is celebrated every year in commemoration of Our Lady of Lourdes, for all believers seek “a special time of prayer and sharing; …offering one’s suffering”.
Pope John Paul II had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease as early as 1991, and it is significant that he decided to create a World Day of the Sick, only one year after his diagnosis. The Pope had written a great deal on the topic of suffering and believed that it was very much a salvific and redeeming process through Christ, as he indicated in his apostolic letter, “Salvifici Doloris”.
The feast of O.L. of Lourdes was chosen because many pilgrims and visitors to Lourdes have reportedly been healed by intercessions of the Blessed Virgin.
In 2005, the World Day of the Sick had a special significance since it was the year John Paul died from a sepsis. In 2013, Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation on this feast day, and he cited his declining health as his reason for retiring.
The “World Day of the Sick”, calls the faithful to pray for those who are sick, and to offer their own sickness and struggle, joined to the sufferings of Christ, on behalf of those in need. Catholic Online presents this marvellous letter of Pope John Paul II:
This day, which, beginning in February 1993, will be celebrated every year in commemoration of Our Lady of Lourdes, for all believers seek “a special time of prayer and sharing, offering one’s suffering for the good of the Church, and reminding everyone to see in his sick brother or sister, the face of Christ who, by suffering, dying and rising, achieved the salvation of mankind” (Letter Instituting the World Day of the Sick, 13 May 1992, n. 3).
It is only in Christ, the Incarnate Word, Redeemer of mankind and victor over death, that it is possible to find satisfactory answers to such fundamental questions.
In the light of Christ’s death and resurrection, illness no longer appears as an exclusively negative event; rather, it is seen as a “visit by God”, an opportunity “to release love, in order to give birth to works of love towards neighbour, in order to transform the whole of human civilization into a civilization of love” (St. Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Letter, “Salvifici Doloris”, n. 30).
Now, this gold nugget! The World Day of the Sick – in its preparation, realization and objectives – is not meant to be reduced to a mere external display centring on certain initiatives, however praiseworthy they may be, but is intended to reach consciences to make them aware of the valuable contribution, which human and Christian service to those suffering, makes to better understanding among people and, consequently, to building real peace.
And, this final frontier! May the Blessed Virgin Mary, “Health of the Sick” and “Mother of the Living”, be our support and our hope, through the celebration of the World Day of the Sick.
Leon Bent is an ex-Seminarian and studied the Liberal Arts and Humanities, and Philosophy, from St. Pius X College, Mumbai. He holds Masters Degree in English Literature and Aesthetics. He has published three Books and have 20 on the anvil. He has two extensively “Researched” Volumes to his name: Hail Full of Grace and Matrimony: The Thousand Faces of Love. He won The Examiner, Silver Pen Award, 2000 for writing on Social Issues, the clincher being a Researched Article on Gypsies in India, published in an issue of the (worldwide circulation) Vidyajyoti Journal of Theological Reflection, New Delhi. On April, 28, 2018, Leon received the Cardinal Ivan Dias Award for a research paper in Mariology.