Dear Parishioners:
Bitter cold greetings from the rectory. I hope you are staying relatively warm; I heard it was even down to the 20’s in Florida. This Wednesday is February 11th, the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. Lourdes is located in southern France, at the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains. On 11 February 1858, a 14-year-old peasant girl, Bernadette Soubirous, claimed a “beautiful lady” appeared to her in the remote Grotto of Massabielle. This lady later identified herself as “the Immaculate Conception.” Bernadette experienced eighteen apparitions between February 11th and July 26th during 1858 from the Virgin Mary in the nearby grotto. It was only at the ninth apparition that the healing powers were revealed. As of February 2018, there are 70 authenticated miracles that have taken place at Lourdes.
Bernadette was preparing for her First Holy Communion. One of Bernadette’s chores was to collect wood for the fire. On that cold day in February 1858, Bernadette and two companions headed off to the Gave River to collect pieces of wood. The two companions ran ahead and left Bernadette struggling to keep up. As Bernadette was taking off her shoes to make her way through the river, she was startled by a peculiar wind and rustling sound. Bernadette looked up towards the grotto and the caves on the riverbank. Near the opening of the grotto, Bernadette glanced and noticed the cave was suddenly filled with golden light. Lifting up her eyes, she saw a lady of great beauty, dressed in a pure white robe with a blue sash, a veil over her head, a rosary clasped in her hands and yellow roses at her feet. Bernadette fell involuntarily upon her knees, gazing enraptured at the lovely Lady, who smiled lovingly at Bernadette and then disappeared.
The mysterious Lady from heaven appeared in all, eighteen times to the little girl and among other things told her to drink the water from a mysterious fountain which was not yet observed. Bernadette scratched in the sand at a spot indicated, and water began to trickle through the earth; after a few days there gushed forth every day 27,000 gallons of pure, clear spring water, and this water flows even still today.
Bernadette was asked by Our Lady of Lourdes, who always showed her a sweet heavenly courtesy, to request the priest to have a church built on the spot, that processions should be made to the grotto, that people should drink of the water. The main emphasis of her message was that the faithful should visit the grotto in order to do penance for their sins and for those of the whole world.
Bernadette entered the convent and became a sister. She died at an early age; she was only 34 years-old at her death. St. Bernadette is an “incorruptible.” When her body was exhumed, her body was found to not have decayed. Her body can be seen to this day under glass in Nevers, France. There is a wonderful movie, The Song of Bernadette, that I would encourage everyone to see. It won four Academy Awards including Best Actress for Jennifer Jones.
Remember: Together, we can do something beautiful for God.
In Christ,
Fr. Brian