Lourdes

 Lourdes

What world religion is this pilgrimage a part of?

Lourdes is considered a Catholic Pilgrimage which began with the appearance of the Virgin Mary to a young peasant girl named Bernadette Soubirous in 1858. The Catholic Church accepted Lourdes as an official Catholic pilgrimage site in 1862. In 2008, Pope Benedict XVI visited the shrine at Lourdes to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the appearance of Mary.

What is the history of the pilgrimage?
 *  Based on the apparitions a fourteen year old girl named Bernadette Soubiroux had of the Virgin Mary
 *  First Apparition happened on February 11,1858 ; eighteen occurred
 *  The vision was being a mysterious vision in the rock of Massabielle
 *  Bernadette describes the lady in her apparition as being “lovelier than I have ever seen”
 * Bernadette was the only one to see and hear the vision speak to her even when she was in a crowd of people
 * One day, the apparition told her to drink from a mysterious fountain in the grotto by the rock but there was no fountain available. When Bernadette went there and saw that there was no grotto, a gush of water appeared.
 * On another incident, the apparition told Bernadette to go tell priests that a chapel should be built on the rock of Masabielle. At first the priests were hesitant but four year later, a basilica was built upon the rock in 1862.
 * Because the original basilica wasn’t large enough to house all the visitors, another church was built in 1901 and called the Church of Rosary.
 * Pope Leo XIII declared a special mass in commemoration of the mass and in 1907, observance of this feast was decaled on February 11th



Who goes on it? Statistics
 * People from all different backgrounds, and beliefs that believe in the apparitions
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> Priests, nurses, doctors, bring Malades (French for “the sick”) to Lourdes to be healed
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">People that wish to find the same spirituality that Bernadette embraced while having the noted apparitions
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Some people even believe and sometimes hope that they will receive an apparition from the Virgin Mary which will give guidance to their lives
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">People that go to Lourdes also seek miracles to happen in their favor
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> A British study concluded that miracle-seekers that come to Lourdes usually are significantly less anxious and depressed after they have left
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">From the year 1867, 5297 pilgrimages had occurred and 4,919,000 pilgrimages had come to Lourdes through these pilgrimage
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Keep in mind that there are also other visitors who are not registered with the pilgrimages that visit Lourdes as well
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Out of the total 5297 pilgrimages, 464 have come from countries other than France such as United States, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Hungary, Spain and England.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> About a million pilgrims travel to Lourdes per year with 15,000 being sick or ill
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> Pilgrims come in massive amounts during Easter ; one pilgrimage counted over 5,000 pilgrims during one Easter
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> A study done in 1978 showed that, during that time, pilgrims had come from 111 countries with females accounting for 69% of the pilgrims meaning that the other 31% were male

<span style="color: #1200ff; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Why do they go on the pilgrimage? What are the historical and contemporary reasons? <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> Millions of people from almost every country in the world chose to go on the pilgrimage to Lourdes at times because of curiosity about the appearance of Mary and its affect on the millions of others that have gone on the pilgrimage, a desire for a cure for a physical aliment, an opportunity for self and religious discovery, or to volunteer and to be of service to those who suffer. Many people believe that the spring waters that flow from the fountains at Lourdes bring miraculous healing from God due to Mary’s presence there.

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What does the pilgrimage entail? Where do they go? What do they do? <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> The schedule of the **Volunteers** who travel to Lourdes: May 12-19, 2010 Day 1: Volunteers will arrive at the Pau Pyrénées airport and then taken by bus to Lourdes. After arriving at Hotel D’Espagne, there will be a brief orientation which will be followed by “In the Footsteps of Bernadette”. This will give everyone a better understanding about the life of Bernadette. At night, everyone will attend the Candlelight Procession and then head back to the hotel for evening reflection. Day 2: Morning Prayer will be at 7 a.m. followed by breakfast. Volunteers will work from 8:30-12:30 in their assigned locations. These locations will vary from the baths, trains, gates, or being a malades personal assistant. In the afternoon there will be mass, confessions and then the evening reflection. At 11 p.m. there will be a group going to grotto, this is optional. Day 3: Prayer will be at 7 a.m. followed by breakfast. Volunteers will work from 8:30-12:30 in their assigned locations. The jobs will be switched around so no one repeats a job unless it is requested. Afternoon schedule will contain mass, helping with the malades, and doing a walk through of the Stations of the Cross. Day 4: A selected few will wake up at 4:30 a.m. to walk to the trains to help the arriving malades. This will go on until 9 a.m. The rest of the volunteers will work in the baths area until 12:30. After all the malades have all received their turn, volunteers will be offered to take advantage of this great opportunity. Day 5: Another group will be selected to wake up at 4:30 a.m. to walk to the trains to help the arriving malades. This will go on until 9 a.m. The rest of the volunteers will take the malades back and forth from mass to their hotels. This will go on from 9-3 which will then be followed by an assembly in front of the Statue of the Crowned Mary. Around 6:30 everyone will walk to the trains to help assemble malades onto the trains to go back home. Day 6: Morning Prayer will be at 9 a.m. followed by breakfast. Volunteers will be able to have the afternoon to do whatever they may please. In previous years, volunteers have bought gifts to bring back to their family and/or climbed the mountain. The mountain is an uplifting experience and the view at the top is breathtaking. Mass will be held at 7 p.m. along with reflections. Day 7: Volunteers are encouraged to obtain and drink water from grotto. Also in the many years that the volunteers have been coming to Lourdes, many will light a candle for someone before they leave. A flight back to the United States will depart at 8 p.m.





<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Schedule of the **Malades**: May 12-19, 2010 Day 1: Will arrive by train to Lourdes where you will be welcomed by a volunteer who will take you to your hotel. Once you are settled in you will join the rest of the malades to observe the candlelight procession. Day 2: Daily mass in the Basicalla will be held at 9 a.m. A volunteer will take you there and back from your hotel room. After you will go to the first destination of your visit, which will be the grotto. You will be able to go through the grotto and touch the walls. A mass will be held outside of the grotto at 3:30. After your trip to the grotto you will be able to go to confessions before returning to your hotel room. Day 3: Daily mass in the Basicalla will be held at 9 a.m. After you will go to the see the golden Stations of the Cross. Many malades if they are able to will climb the stairs with their knees as a sign of respect. Once the Stations of the Cross is completed, a volunteer will take you around the area of Lourdes to anywhere you would like to go. This can include special sites you would like to visit, shopping, a mass, and even to get food before you return back to your hotel. Day 4: Depending on how early you would like to wake up, you will be able to visit the baths today! Some people arrive at the baths at 6 a.m. even though it does not open until 9. This is because the lines fill up quickly and then the volunteers have to stop accepting the malades because there are to many. While waiting on life, someone will lead the saying the rosary. After the baths (it will take up to nearly 4 hours of just waiting) you will be taken to the candlelight procession. Day 5: Today in groups the malades will travel to go and drink the blessed water. This usually takes a whole morning because many like to fill up their containers with water, so they are able to take it home. After going to get the water we will be going down for anyone who would like to light a candle for someone. This experience is very personal and is very heartfelt. Day 6: Daily mass in the Basicalla will be held at 9 a.m. After mass, the malades are given another volunteer because today is the last day. It is your opportunity to go anywhere you have not gone yet or would like to visit for a second time. Many like to take a picture of the Statue of the Crowned Mary, visit shops to pick up rosaries and even walk around the beautiful grounds of Lourdes! Day 7: Departure—volunteers will arrive to take you to the train station where they will then load you onto the train so you can return home





<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">** How does it connect to the faith? What important beliefs does it express? ** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Many travel to Lourdes because of what it is meant to represent. It is known throughout the world that miracles have occurred there. Many have visited with the deadliest of sicknesses yet once they arrived in Lourdes they were healed. Lourdes connects to faith because of how strongly people believe in this one place. Their faith is shown through the faces of the malades and the volunteers. People from different religions and backgrounds come because of the spirituality and hope it contains. After visiting Lourdes, many believe that their faith has grown stronger because of what they have witnessed while they were there. The beliefs that Lourdes itself expresses is that of unity. Unity is what connects everyone when they are there. No one is different because everyone is there for the same reason.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> Prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes: ** O 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 with mercy on me. By appearing in the Grotto of Lourdes, you were pleased to make it a privileged sanctuary, whence you dispense your favors; and already many sufferers have obtained the cure of their infirmities, both spiritual and corporal. I come, therefore, with complete confidence to implore your maternal intercession. Obtain, O loving Mother, the grant of my requests. Through gratitude for your favors, I will endeavor to imitate your virtues, that I may one day share your glory. Amen.

Sources: [] [] []
 * MLA citation. ** Bertrin, Georges. "Notre-Dame de Lourdes." __ The Catholic Encyclopedia. __ Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 7 May 2010<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09389b.htm>.