The feast of Our Lady of Lourdes
Today marks the anniversary of the apparition of the Immaculate Conception in 1858 at Lourdes, France, to St. Bernadette. There are so many astonishing facts associated with this apparition, yet the most important for me is the manner in which Our Lady identified herself. In response to Bernadette’s request of the Lady to reveal her name, the Blessed Virgin opened her arms, and looking ecstatically up to heaven, Our Lady said, “I am the Immaculate Conception.”
O Mary! O Mary! Thou art all fair O blessed and immaculate virginity! The original stain is not in thee! By thy holy and Immaculate Conception, make my body pure and my spirit holy. O Mary, Conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee! Amen.
Links:
How to gain a plenary indulgence for the 150th anniversary of the apparitions at Lourdes.
[Photo: The old Marist church of Our Lady of Lourdes in Minneapolis, Minnesota.]
