150th Anniversary of Lourdes

One hundred and fifty years ago today, the Blessed Virgin Mary first appeared to the young woman, Bernadette Soubirous, in the town of Lourdes in the south of France. There is an interesting story that was retold in this month's issue of the liturgical guide Magnificat that I thought I would share with you on this anniversary.

According to the story, after Bernadette had entered the convent--in part to escape the attention that the apparitions had brought her--she began to receive pictures and statues of Mary from all over the world, but she didn't want to keep them because she didn't think that any of them really looked like the Virgin Mary. Bernadette didn't want those inaccurate images around her. When the Mother Superior of her convent wrote about this to their bishop, he came to the convent with picture books of famous images of Mary, and as they paged through them together, Bernadette didn't recognize any of them until they came to the image of the icon know as Our Lady of Cambrai. At the moment she saw this image, she dropped to her knees and said that this image was the face that she had seen in the grotto.

Does this mean that this is what Mary really looks like? Who knows. Other accounts have been different. What it does say is that we can see the divine in things of earth--art, music, nature, and one another! If you would like to do some interesting reading on this special anniversary, Google "Lourdes" or "Our Lady of Cambrai."

This is the opening prayer for the Mass for the commemoration of Our Lady of Lourdes:
God of mercy, we celebrate the feast of Mary, the sinless mother of God. May her prayers help us to rise above our human weakness. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.