| Our Lady appeared 18 times at Lourdes, in the Pyrenees mountains
in southern France, in 1858, to Bernadette Soubirous, a fourteen year old
peasant girl. A spring appeared there which feeds the baths at the shrine
today. Many miraculous healings are reported from bathing in the waters.
The fact that there is no spread of infection, even though no sanitary
precautions are taken when people with all sorts of diseases take baths
there, is a marvel in itself. Many miracles take place when the Blessed
Sacrament passes in procession during the great pilgrimages. In passing,
we notice that this fact testifies to the Real Presence of Our Lord in
the Eucharist there, a Presence which only the Catholic Church has, and
only the Catholic Church teaches. There is a medical bureau there, to which
any qualified M. D. can come to check alleged cures. Early in this century,
Dr. Alexis Carrel came to scoff, but was converted instead. The Church's
demands for checking and proof of alleged miracles are so stringent that
in the more than a century since 1858 only a few more than 60 miracles
have been approved. Madame Bire in 1908 came there, blind because her optic
nerve was withered; she regained her sight when the Blessed Sacrament passed.
But when the Doctors inspected her eyes, they found she was able to see
even though the nerve was still withered--arranged, doubtless, to keep
anyone from saying it was a case of suggestion. The nerve did recover within
a few weeks. |
| The High Stations are open every day of the year. Between Easter
and All Saints from 6 AM to 7 PM, the rest of the year between 8 AM and
5 PM. Anyone wishing to join a priest who will lead the making of the Way
of the Cross, should meet at 9 AM by the Statue of the Crowned Virgin.
This is by far the most impressive way to make the Way of the Cross. Nearly
one mile in length (1600m.), the Way winds upwards, climbing very steeply
up the Mount of Espelugues, called mount Calvary. |
