OUR LADY OF LOURDES France (1858) Four to six million pilgrims visit the shrine each year from around the world and it is estimated that more than 200 million pilgrims have come to Lourdes since 1860.

Lourdes, France (1858) Title: Our Lady of Lourdes; the Immaculate Conception Investigated: On January 18,1862, Bishop Laurence, the Bishop of Tarbes, gave the solemn declaration: “We are inspired by the Commission comprising wise, holy, learned and experienced priests who questioned the child, studied the facts, examined everything and weighed all the evidence. We have also called on science, and we remain convinced that the Apparitions are supernatural and divine, and that by consequence, what Bernadette saw was the Most Blessed Virgin.” First Apparition: Grotto of Masabielle, Thursday, February 11, 1858, the lady in white first appears about midday, no speaking . Approved: Pope Pius IX authorized the local bishop to permit the veneration of the Virgin Mary in Lourdes in 1862. Last Apparition: July 16, 1858, Friday, 8 pm on Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Bernadette sees Our Lady “more beautiful than ever” from the far bank of the Gave River. Visionary: Bernadette Soubirous Number of Apparitions: Eighteen Miracles & Signs: The well of water, countless miracle healings, incorrupt body of Bernadette.

Messages of Our Lady of Lourdes On February 18th, she was told by the Lady to return to the Grotto over a period of two weeks. The Lady said: I promise to make you happy not in this world but in the next. On February 24th, for her eight apparition, the Lady said, “Penitence,” then, “Would you pray to God for the conversion of sinners?”. Not until the 16th apparition, on March 25th, did she say, “I am the Immaculate Conception.” (defined 1856) On July 16th, since the authorities had fenced off the Grotto, Bernadette slipped away to the meadow on the far bank of the Gave for an eighteenth and final meeting with her Lady. “Never had I seen her looking so beautifu,”, she said. She gave Bernadette a message for all: “Pray and do penance for the conversion of the world.”.

Saint Bernadette Soubirous Born: january 7th, 1844 Died: 1879 Canonized: 1933

The message of Lourdes: “I am the Immaculate Conception.”

Over the years, more than 7,000 pilgrims have claimed to have been healed after bathing in or drinking Lourdes water. The church has officially deemed 67 cures “miraculous.”