Our Lady of Lourdes is the name by which Catholics refer to the Virgin Mary as she appeared to Bernadette Soubirous on Thursday, February 11, 1858, in the Massabielle grotto in Lourdes, France, in the Hautes-Pyrénées department. These Marian apparitions, officially recognized by the Catholic Church, have led to a devotion to the Virgin Mary under the name "of Lourdes."
Our Lady of Lourdes, the apparition of the Massabielle grotto
On Thursday, February 11, 1858, Bernadette, accompanied by two young girls, went to gather wood near the grotto. She saw "a beautiful lady" whom she named "aquero" (something), in a skylight of the grotto. After speaking to her parents, they forbade her from returning. However, she returned on Sunday (with her parents' agreement) with other children and saw "aquero" again. During the following apparitions, an increasingly large crowd joined Bernadette, whether curious or devout.
As the crowd of curious onlookers grew, the police became concerned about the public disturbance and tried to pressure the young seer to prevent her from going to the grotto. Bernadette refused to give in to the pressure, and the apparitions continued, accompanied by an ever-growing crowd. On March 4, nearly 8,000 people gathered around the young girl. After several interrogations before the prosecutor and doctors, the apparitions became less frequent. On July 16, Bernadette saw "the Blessed Virgin" for the last time.
Civil authorities banned access to the cave and fined violators. However, high-ranking political figures came in person to see the cave and sometimes the seer. Napoleon III reopened access to the cave, thereby allowing the faithful to continue the clandestine worship that had been practiced there.
Monsignor Laurence, the local bishop, assembled a commission of theologians, questioned Bernadette personally, and conducted a three-and-a-half-year investigation into the apparitions and supposed miracles. Following the commission's report, on January 18, 1862, the Bishop of Tarbes published a mandate: "We judge that the Immaculate Mary, Mother of God, truly appeared to Bernadette Soubirous on February 11, 1858, and the following days, eighteen times, in the grotto of Massabielle, near the city of Lourdes; that this apparition bears all the characteristics of truth, and that the faithful are justified in believing it to be certain."
In 1907, the feast of “Our Lady of Lourdes” was entered into the liturgical calendar, on February 11, as a memorial.
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