On February 11, 1858, fourteen-year-old Bernadette Soubirous was gathering firewood near the grotto of Massabielle in Lourdes, France, when she experienced something extraordinary—a vision of a beautiful lady dressed in white.
What began as an ordinary task for this impoverished young girl would mark the first of eighteen apparitions that would transform a humble cave into a beacon of hope for millions of pilgrims worldwide.
Heaven Touches Earth
St. Bernadette’s initial vision of the “beautiful lady” dressed in white, with a blue sash and golden roses at her feet, marked the beginning of eighteen apparitions that would forever transform the landscape of Catholic faith and devotion.
But what makes the story of Our Lady of Lourdes so compelling isn’t just the supernatural nature of these appearances—it’s the profound humanity woven throughout the narrative.
The Virgin’s Call
The Blessed Virgin’s message at Lourdes speaks to something deeper than mere religious devotion. Her request for “penance, penance, penance” wasn’t a call to harsh asceticism, but rather an invitation to interior conversion—a message that resonates powerfully in our modern world of external distractions and spiritual hunger.
The Miraculous Spring
On February 25, 1858, the Lady instructed St. Bernadette to dig in the dry earth of the grotto. What emerged was more than just water—it was the beginning of one of the most scientifically scrutinized phenomena in religious history.
The spring, which continues to flow at a rate of 27,000 gallons daily, has puzzled geological experts since its discovery. Geological surveys confirm no natural water source existed there before Bernadette’s dig, and the spring’s sudden appearance remains unexplained by conventional hydrogeology.
Beyond Science
Modern scientific analysis of the Lourdes water reveals nothing extraordinary in its composition—it contains no special mineral content or unique properties that could explain its alleged healing powers.
The International Medical Committee of Lourdes (CMIL), established in 1947, subjects every claimed miracle to rigorous scientific investigation. Of the thousands of unexplained healings reported, only 70 have been officially recognized by the Catholic Church after passing the CMIL’s stringent seven-stage verification process.
Consider the case of Jeanne Fretel, whose 1948 healing from severe peritoneal tuberculosis became one of the most thoroughly documented miracles. Multiple physicians, including non-believers, verified both her terminal diagnosis and her instantaneous, complete recovery after drinking Lourdes water. Her case exemplifies the CMIL’s strict criteria: the original diagnosis must be certain, the prognosis fatal or incurable, the cure sudden and without convalescence, and the healing complete and permanent.
Inner Healing
While physical cures capture headlines, the countless stories of spiritual transformation at Lourdes speak to a deeper kind of healing. Medical professionals have documented remarkable improvements in patients’ psychological well-being, even when physical ailments persist.
This phenomenon, sometimes called the “Lourdes effect,” demonstrates how spiritual experience can trigger measurable changes in mental and emotional health.
Where Millions Gather
Today, Lourdes welcomes millions of pilgrims annually, making it the second-most visited Catholic shrine in the world. The Medical Bureau at Lourdes remains open to all physicians, regardless of their religious beliefs, to examine and document cases of extraordinary healing. In an age of advanced medical technology, these healings continue to challenge our understanding of what is medically possible, with recent cases demonstrating recoveries that defy current medical knowledge.
Heaven Still Whispers
As we reflect on Our Lady of Lourdes, we’re reminded that faith isn’t just about believing in miracles—it’s about recognizing the miraculous in the ordinary moments of our lives. Whether through documented medical healings or profound spiritual renewals, the story of Lourdes continues to challenge the boundaries between faith and science, inviting both believers and skeptics to consider possibilities beyond current scientific understanding.
The “Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes”is a nine-day prayer devotion to Mary under the title of Our Lady of Lourdes, in honor of the apparitions that occurred in 1858 in Lourdes, France. These apparitions are where the Virgin Mary appeared to Saint Bernadette and stated she was the “Immaculate Conception”. Devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes has resulted in many miraculous healings.
Opening Prayer Be blessed, O most pure Virgin, for having vouchsafed to manifest your shining with life, sweetness and beauty, in the Grotto of Lourdes, saying to the child, St. Bernadette: ‘I am the Immaculate Conception. ‘ A thousand times we congratulate you upon your Immaculate Conception. And now, O ever Immaculate Virgin, Mother of mercy, Health of the sick, Refuge of sinners, Comforter of the afflicted, you know our wants, our troubles, our sufferings deign to cast upon us a look of mercy.
By appearing in the Grotto of Lourdes, you were pleased to make it a privileged sanctuary, whence you dispense your favors, and already many have obtained the cure of their infirmities, both spiritual and physical. We come, therefore, with the most unbounded confidence to implore your maternal intercession. Obtain for us, O loving Mother, the granting of our request.
(Mention your request here)
Through gratitude for your favors, we will endeavor to imitate your virtues, that we may one day share your glory.
Our Lady of Lourdes, Mother of Christ, you had influence with your divine son while upon earth. You have the same influence now in Heaven. Pray for us; obtain for us from your Divine Son our special requests if it be the Divine Will. Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. Saint Bernadette, pray for us.
Day 1 – Prayer Video O Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, virgin and mother, queen of heaven, chosen from all eternity to be the Mother of the Eternal Word and in virtue of this title preserved from original sin, we kneel before you as did little Bernadette at Lourdes and pray with childlike trust in you that as we contemplate your glorious appearance at Lourdes, you will look with mercy on our present petition and secure for us a favorable answer to the request for which we are making this novena.
(Mention your request here)
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. Saint Bernadette, pray for us.
Day 2 – Prayer Video Be blessed, O most pure Virgin, for having vouchsafed to manifest yourself shining with light, sweetness and beauty, in the Grotto of Lourdes, saying to the child Saint Bernadette: ‘I am the Immaculate Conception! ‘ O Mary Immaculate, inflame our hearts with one ray of the burning love of your pure heart Let them be consumed with love for Jesus and for you, in order that we may merit one day to enjoy your glorious eternity. O dispenser of His graces here below, take into your keeping and present to your Divine Son the petition for which we are making this novena.
(Mention your request here)
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. Saint Bernadette, pray for us.
Day 3 – Prayer Video ‘You are all fair, O Mary, and there is in you no stain of original sin. ‘ O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. O brilliant star of sanctity, as on that lovely day, upon a rough rock in Lourdes you spoke to the child Bernadette and a fountain broke from the plain earth and miracles happened and the great shrine of Lourdes began, so now I beseech you to hear our fervent prayer and do, we beseech you, grant us the petition we now so earnestly seek.
(Mention your request here)
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. Saint Bernadette, pray for us.
Day 4 – Prayer Video O Immaculate Queen of Heaven, we your wayward, erring children, join our unworthy prayers of praise and thanksgiving to those of the angels and saints and your own-the One, Holy, and Undivided Trinity may be glorified in heaven and on earth. Our Lady of Lourdes, as you looked down with love and mercy upon Bernadette as she prayed her rosary in the grotto, look down now, we beseech you, with love and mercy upon us. From the abundance of graces granted you by your Divine Son, sweet Mother of God, give to each of us all that your motherly heart sees we need and at this moment look with special favor on the grace we seek in this novena.
(Mention your request here)
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. Saint Bernadette, pray for us.
Day 5 – Prayer Video O Mary Immaculate, Mother of God and our mother, from the heights of your dignity look down mercifully upon us while we, full of confidence in your unbounded goodness and confident that your Divine Son will look favorably upon any request you make of Him in our behalf, we beseech you to come to our aid and secure for us the favor we seek in this novena.
(Mention your request here)
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. Saint Bernadette, pray for us.
Day 6 – Prayer Video O glorious Mother of God, so powerful under your special title of Our Lady of Lourdes, to you we raise our hearts and hands to implore your powerful intercession in obtaining from the gracious Heart of Jesus all the helps and graces necessary for our spiritual and temporal welfare and for the special favor we so earnestly seek in this novena.
(Mention your request here)
O Lady of Bernadette, with the stars of heaven in your hair and the roses of earth at your feet, look with compassion upon us today as you did so long ago on Bernadette in the Grotto of Lourdes.
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. Saint Bernadette, pray for us.
Day 7 – Prayer Video O Almighty God, who by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary did prepare a worthy dwelling place for your Son, we humbly beseech you that as we contemplate the apparition of Our Lady in the Grotto of Lourdes, we may be blessed with health of mind and body. O most gracious Mother Mary, beloved Mother of Our Lord and Redeemer, look with favor upon us as you did that day on Bernadette and intercede with him for us that the favor we now so earnestly seek may be granted to us.
(Mention your request here)
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. Saint Bernadette, pray for us.
Day 8 – Prayer Video O Immaculate Mother of God, from heaven itself you came to appear to the little Bernadette in the rough Grotto of Lourdes! And as Bernadette knelt at your feet and the miraculous spring burst forth and as multitudes have knelt ever since before your shrine, O Mother of God, we kneel before you today to ask that in your mercy you plead with your Divine Son to grant the special favor we seek in this novena.
(Mention your request here)
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. Saint Bernadette, pray for us.
Day 9 – Prayer Video O glorious Mother of God, to you we raise our hearts and hands to implore your powerful intercession in obtaining from the benign Heart of Jesus all the graces necessary for our spiritual and temporal welfare, particularly for the grace of a happy death. O Mother of our Divine Lord, as we conclude this novena for the special favor we seek at this time.
(Mention your request here)
We feel animated with confidence that your prayers in our behalf will be graciously heard. O Mother of My Lord, through the love you bear to Jesus Christ and for the glory of His Name, hear our prayers and obtain our petitions.
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. Saint Bernadette, pray for us.
