Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, February 11

 February 11 is the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes. Many of you know the story of the Blessed Mother's appearances to a poor, young French girl named Bernadette in 1858 in Lourdes, France, requesting that a chapel be built. Our Lady called herself the Immaculate Conception and she asked Bernadette to dig in the grotto where she appeared. Water sprang forth from the ground where Bernadette was digging. Those waters have healed many sick and diseased persons over the years. The Knights of Malta have taken on the special work of bringing the sick to Lourdes in pilgrimages to honor the Blessed Mother and to ask for healing from her Son for the sick through the waters at Lourdes.

My Life Is A Miracle by Sister Bernadette Moriau is a beautiful and very spiritually moving story by the woman who God chose to be the 70th officially approved miracle at Lourdes. 

Sister tells the story well. She had a debilitating disease which began when she was about 27 years old. It gradually worsened, until she had to wear a body brace to walk and eventually her left foot was turned completely inward. She was in constant pain which high doses of drugs only partially controlled. Yet, she believed and accepted this was what the Lord wanted from her, to suffer with Him for others. You must read this autobiography to appreciate and marvel at her depth and honesty about first her suffering and then the healing. The process of confirming the healing of an alleged miracle at Lourdes is officially rigorous. What she had to go through for the confirmation of the miracle was an onerous test in itself. It was at her doctor's suggestion that she went to Lourdes and again at his recommendation that she go through the process of attesting to the miraculous healing. I am not going to say anymore about this story other to urge you to read it. Perhaps you will be like me, unable to put it down.

Prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes

Oh ever Immaculate Virgin, Mother of Mercy, Health of the Sick, Refuge of Sinners, Comforter of the Afflicted, you know my wants, my troubles, my sufferings. Look upon me with mercy. When you appeared in the grotto of Lourdes, you made it a privileged sanctuary where you dispense your favors, and where many sufferers have obtained the cure of their infirmities, both spiritual and corporal. I come, therefore, with unbounded confidence to implore your maternal intercession. My loving Mother, obtain my request. I will try to imitate your virtues so that I may one day share your company and bless you in eternity. Amen.

Our Lady of Lourdes, Pray for Us!