This Saturday February 11 the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes is celebratedwith different activities, on a day in which the Church also celebrates the World Day of the Sick.
There will be masses at 9:00, 12:30 and 16:00 in the Parish of Nuestra Señora de Lourdes and San Vicente Pallotti (Paysandú 763, corner of Ciudadela); at 10, 17 and 19 hours at the Nuestra Señora de Lourdes Parish in Malvín (Michigan 1629 corner Av. Rivera); and there will be masses and other activities throughout the day at the National Sanctuary of the Lourdes Grotto (Av. de las Instrucciones 2223 corner Antillas), with a mass at 10 o’clock that Cardinal Daniel Sturla will preside over.
Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.
Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.
This Saturday the Church also celebrates the World Day of the Sickwhich in 2023 will celebrate its thirty-first edition (here you can read the papal message).
ALBERTO PIZZOLI / AFP
“We are all fragile and vulnerable; we all need that compassionate attention, which knows how to stop, come closer, heal and lift up,” said Pope Francis.
“I am the Immaculate Conception”
On February 11, 1858, in the French town of Lourdes, on the banks of the Gave River, Our Mother, Saint Mary directly and closely expressed her deep love for us, appearing before a 14-year-old girl named Bernadette (Bernadette). Soubirous.
The story of the apparition begins when Bernadette, who was born on January 7, 1844, went out, together with two friends, in search of firewood on the Rock of Masabielle. To do this, she had to cross a small river, but as Bernadette suffered from asthma, she could not put her feet in cold water, and the waters of that stream were very icy. That is why she stayed on one side of the river, while the two companions went to look for firewood.
It was at that moment that Bernadette experienced the encounter with Our Mother, an experience that would seal her entire life, “I felt like a strong wind that forced me to raise my head. I looked again and saw that the branches of thorns that surrounded the grotto of the rock of Masabielle were moving. At that moment a beautiful Lady appeared in the grotto, so beautiful, that when you have seen her once, one would want to die in order to see her again”.
“She came all dressed in white, with a blue belt, a rosary between her fingers, and a golden rose on each foot. She greeted me with a nod. I, thinking I was dreaming, rubbed my eyes; but looking up, I saw again to the beautiful Lady who smiled at me and made me come closer. But I didn’t dare. It’s not that I was afraid, because when you’re afraid you run away, and I would have stayed there looking at her all my life. Then she It happened to pray and I took out the rosary. I knelt down. I saw that the Lady was crossing herself at the same time that I was doing it. While she was passing the beads of the camandula She listened to the Hail Marys without saying anything, but also passing through her hands the beads of the rosary And when I said the Glory to the Father, She said it too, bowing her head a little. Finishing the rosary, she smiled at me again and retreating towards the shadows of the grotto, she disappeared”.
A few days later, the Virgin reappears before Bernadette in the same grotto. However, when her mother found out, she was very upset, believing that her daughter was making up stories -although the truth is that Bernadette did not tell lies-, at the same time some thought that she was a soul from purgatory, and Bernadette was forbidden to return to the rock and the cave of Masabielle.
Despite the prohibition, many of Bernadette’s friends asked her to return to the grotto; Given this, her mother told her to consult with her father. Mr. Soubiruos, after thinking and doubting her, allowed her to return on February 18.
This time, Bernadette was accompanied by several people, who with rosaries and holy water hoped to clarify and confirm what was narrated. Upon arrival, all those present began to pray the rosary; It is at that moment that Our Mother appears for the third time. Bernadette narrates this apparition thus: “When we were praying the third mystery, the same Lady dressed in white appeared as the previous time. I exclaimed: ‘There she is’. But the others did not see her. Then a neighbor brought me the water and I threw a few drops of said water towards the vision. The Lady smiled and made the sign of the cross. I told her: ‘If you come from God, come closer.’ She took a step forward”.
The Virgin then told Bernadette: “Come here for a fortnight in a row.” The girl promised to do it and the Lady told her “I promise you that you will be very happy, not in this world, but in the next.”
After this intense moment that covered everyone present, the news of the apparitions spread throughout the town, and many went to the grotto believing in the event, although others made fun of it.
Between February 11 and July 16, 1858, there were 18 apparitions. These were characterized by the sobriety of the words of the Virgin, and by the appearance of a fountain of water that gushed unexpectedly next to the place of the apparitions and which since then has been a reference point for innumerable miracles verified by men of science.
Source: www.aciprensa.com
