Tuesday, April 16, 2013 - Litany Lane Blog: Fortitude, Psalms 31:3-31, Acts 7:51--8:1, John 6:30-35, Pope Francis Daily Homily - Submit to the Holy Spirit, St Bernadette of Lourdes, Nevers France, Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, Catholic Catechism Part Two: THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH - Article 3:2 The Eucharist - What is the Sacrament Called

Tuesday,  April 16, 2013 - Litany Lane Blog:

Fortitude, Psalms 31:3-31, Acts 7:51--8:1, John 6:30-35, Pope Francis Daily Homily - Submit to the Holy Spirit, St Bernadette of Lourdes, Nevers France, Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, Catholic Catechism Part Two: THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH - Article 3:2  The Eucharist - What is the Sacrament Called

Year of Faith - October 11, 2012 - November 24, 2013

P.U.S.H. (Pray Until Serenity Happens). It has a remarkable way of producing solace, peace, patience and tranquility and of course resolution...God's always available 24/7.

The world begins and ends everyday for someone.  We are all human. We all experience birth, life and death. We all have flaws but we also all have the gift of knowledge and free will, make the most of these gifts. Life on earth is a stepping stone to our eternal home in Heaven. The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, wonder and awe (fear of the Lord) , counsel, knowledge, fortitude, and piety (reverence) and shun the seven Deadly sins: wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony...Its your choice whether to embrace the Gifts of the Holy Spirit rising towards eternal light or succumb to the Seven deadly sins and lost to eternal darkness. Material items, though needed for sustenance and survival on earth are of earthly value only. The only thing that passes from this earth to the Darkness, Purgatory or Heaven is our Soul...it's God's perpetual gift to us...Embrace it, treasure it, nurture it, protect it...~ Zarya Parx 2013

"Raise not a hand to another unless it is to offer in peace and goodwill." ~ Zarya Parx 2012

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Prayers for Today: Tuesday in Easter

Rosary - Sorrowful Mysteries

Divine Mercy Chaplet

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 Papam Franciscus
(Pope Francis)

Pope Francis April 16 Homily :

Submit to the Holy Spirit

(2013-04-16 Vatican Radio)
Pope Francis said the Holy Spirit pushes people and the Church forward but we resist this and do not want to change. His remarks came during his homily at the Mass on Tuesday morning celebrated at the Santa Marta residence which was dedicated to Benedict XVI in honour of his 86th birthday.

Text follows:
Pope Francis dedicated Tuesday's mass to Benedict XVI 16^th who turned 86 on this date. “May the Love be with him, comfort him and gave him much consolation,” he said.

Pope Francis’ homily at the mass was centred on the theme of the Holy Spirit and our resistance to it. It took its inspiration from the first reading of the day which was the story of the martyrdom of St. Stephen who described his accusers as stubborn people who were always resisting the Holy Spirit.

Put frankly, the Pope continued, “the Holy Spirit upsets us because it moves us, it makes us walk, it pushes the Church forward.” He said that we wish “to calm down the Holy Spirit, we want to tame it and this is wrong.” Pope Francis said “that’s because the Holy Spirit is the strength of God, it’s what gives us the strength to go forward” but many find this upsetting and prefer the comfort of the familiar.

Nowadays, he went on, “everybody seems happy about the presence of the Holy Spirit but it’s not really the case and there is still that temptation to resist it.” The Pope said one example of this resistance was the Second Vatican council which he called “a beautiful work of the Holy Spirit.” But 50 years later, “have we done everything the Holy Spirit was asking us to do during the Council,” he asked. The answer is “No,” said Pope Francis. “We celebrate this anniversary, we put up a monument but we don’t want it to upset us. We don’t want to change and what’s more there are those who wish to turn the clock back.” This, he went on, “is called stubbornness and wanting to tame the Holy Spirit.”

The Pope said the same thing happens in our personal life. “The Spirit pushes us to take a more evangelical path but we resist this.” He concluded his homily by urging those present not to resist the pull of the Holy Spirit. “Submit to the Holy Spirit,” he said, “which comes from within us and makes go forward along the path of holiness.”

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Pope Francis calls on Bostonians to "not be overcome by evil"

(2013-04-16 Vatican Radio)
 (Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent his “sympathy and closeness in prayer” to the people of Boston in a telegram sent on his behalf.

The telegram reads “In the aftermath of this senseless tragedy, His Holiness invokes God’s peace upon the dead, his consolation upon the suffering and his strength upon all those engaged in the continuing work of relief and response. At this time of mourning the Holy Father prays that all Bostonians will be united in a resolve not to be overcome by evil, but to combat evil with good (cf. Rom 12:21), working together to build an ever more just, free and secure society for generations yet to come.”

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Liturgical Celebrations to be presided over by Pope: April–May

Vatican City, 3 April 2013 (VIS)
Following is the calendar of celebrations scheduled to be presided over by the Holy Father in the months of April and May, 2013:


APRIL
7 April, Second Sunday of Easter, or Divine Mercy Sunday: 5:30pm,Mass in the Basilica of St. John Lateran for the Bishop of Rome to take possession of the Roman cathedra.

14 April, Sunday: 5:30pm, Mass in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls

21 April, Sunday: 9:30am, Mass and priestly ordinations in St. Peter's Basilica.

28 April, Sunday: 10:00am, Mass and confirmations in St. Peter's Square.


MAY
4 May, Saturday: 6:00pm, Recitation of the Rosary in the Basilica of St. Mary Major.

5 May, Sunday: 10:00am, Mass for Confraternities in St. Peter's Square.

12 May, Sunday: 9:30am, Mass and canonizations of Blesseds Antonio Primaldo and Companions; Laura di Santa Caterina da Siena Montoya y Upegui; and Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala.

18 May, Saturday: 6:00pm, Pentecost Vigil in St. Peter's Square with the participation of ecclesial movements.

19 May, Pentecost Sunday: 10:00am, Mass in St. Peter's Square with the participation of ecclesial movements.

Reference: 

• Vatican News. From the Pope. © Copyright 2013 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Accessed 04/16/2013.

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April 2, 2013 Our Lady of Medjugorje Message to the World:"Dear children, I am calling you to be one with my Son in spirit. I am calling you, through prayer, and the Holy Mass when my Son unites Himself with you in a special way, to try to be like Him; that, like Him, you may always be ready to carry out God's will and not seek the fulfillment of your own. Because, my children, it is according to God's will that you are and that you exist, and without God's will you are nothing. As a mother I am asking you to speak about the glory of God with your life because, in that way, you will also glorify yourself in accordance to His will. Show humility and love for your neighbour to everyone. Through such humility and love, my Son saved you and opened the way for you to the Heavenly Father. I implore you to keep opening the way to the Heavenly Father for all those who have not come to know Him and have not opened their hearts to His love. By your life, open the way to all those who still wander in search of the truth. My children, be my apostles who have not lived in vain. Do not forget that you will come before the Heavenly Father and tell Him about yourself. Be ready! Again I am warning you, pray for those whom my Son called, whose hands He blessed and whom He gave as a gift to you. Pray, pray, pray for your shepherds. Thank you." 

March 25, 2013 Our Lady of Medjugorje Message to the World:
“Dear children! In this time of grace I call you to take the cross of my beloved Son Jesus in your hands and to meditate on His passion and death. May your suffering be united in His suffering and love will win, because He who is love gave Himself out of love to save each of you. Pray, pray, pray until love and peace begin to reign in your hearts. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

March 18, 2013 Message to the World via Annual Apparition to Mirjana:
"Dear children! I call you to, with complete trust and joy, bless the name of the Lord and, day by day, to give Him thanks from the heart for His great love. My Son, through that love which He showed by the Cross, gave you the possibility to be forgiven for everything; so that you do not have to be ashamed or to hide, and out of fear not to open the door of your heart to my Son. To the contrary, my children, reconcile with the Heavenly Father so that you may be able to come to love yourselves as my Son loves you. When you come to love yourselves, you will also love others; in them you will see my Son and recognize the greatness of His love. Live in faith! Through me, my Son is preparing you for the works which He desires to do through you – works through which He desires to be glorified. Give Him thanks. Especially thank Him for the shepherds - for your intercessors in the reconciliation with the Heavenly Father. I am thanking you, my children. Thank you."

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Today's Word:  Fortitude  for·ti·tude  [fawr-ti-tood]  

Origin: 1350–1400; Middle English  < Latin fortitūdō  strength, firmness, courage, equivalent to forti ( s ) strong + -tūdō -tude

noun

1. mental and emotional strength in facing difficulty, adversity, danger, or temptation courageously: Never once did her fortitude waver during that long illness.
2. strength and firmness of mind; resolute endurance  

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Today's Old Testament Reading -   Psalms 31:3-8, 17, 21

³ You are my rock, my rampart; true to your name, lead me and guide me!

⁴ Draw me out of the net they have spread for me, for you are my refuge;

⁶ you hate those who serve useless idols; but my trust is in Yahweh:

⁷ I will delight and rejoice in your faithful love! You, who have seen my misery, and witnessed the miseries of my soul,

⁸ have not handed me over to the enemy, but have given me freedom to roam at large.

¹⁷ I call on you, Yahweh, so let disgrace fall not on me, but on the wicked. Let them go down to Sheol in silence,

²¹ Blessed be Yahweh who works for me miracles of his faithful love (in a fortified city)!

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Today's Epistle -  Acts 7:51--8:1

⁵¹ 'You stubborn people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears. You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do.

⁵² Can you name a single prophet your ancestors never persecuted? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Upright One, and now you have become his betrayers, his murderers.

⁵³ In spite of being given the Law through angels, you have not kept it.'

⁵⁴ They were infuriated when they heard this, and ground their teeth at him.

⁵⁵ But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God's right hand.

⁵⁶ 'Look! I can see heaven thrown open,' he said, 'and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.'

⁵⁷ All the members of the council shouted out and stopped their ears with their hands; then they made a concerted rush at him,

⁵⁸ thrust him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses put down their clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul.

⁵⁹ As they were stoning him, Stephen said in invocation, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.'

⁶⁰ Then he knelt down and said aloud, 'Lord, do not hold this sin against them.' And with these words he fell asleep.

¹ Saul approved of the killing. That day a bitter persecution started against the church in Jerusalem, and everyone except the apostles scattered to the country districts of Judaea and Samaria.

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Today's Gospel Reading - John 6:30-35

So they said, 'What sign will you yourself do, the sight of which will make us believe in you? What work will you do? Our fathers ate manna in the desert; as scripture says: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.' Jesus answered them: In all truth I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, it is my Father who gives you the bread from heaven, the true bread; for the bread of God is the bread which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. 'Sir,' they said, 'give us that bread always.' Jesus answered them: I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever hunger; no one who believes in me will ever thirst.

Reflection

• The Discourse of the Bread of Life is not a text to be discussed and dissected, but rather it should be meditated and pondered. This is why, even if it is not fully understood, we should not be concerned. This text of the Bread of Life demands a whole life to meditate on it and deepen it. Such a text, people have to read it, meditate it, pray it, think about it, read it again, repeat it and ponder it, as one does with a good sweet in the mouth. We turn it and turn it in the mouth until it is finished. The one, who reads the Fourth Gospel superficially, may have the impression that John always repeats the same thing. Reading it more attentively, one becomes aware that it is not a question of repetition. The author of the fourth Gospel has his own way of repeating the same theme, but always at a higher and more profound level. It seems to be like a winding staircase. By turning one reaches the same place, but always at a higher level or a more profound one.

• John 6, 30-33: What sign will you yourself do, the sign which will make us believe in you? People had asked: What should we do to carry out the work of God? Jesus responds: “The work of God is to believe in the one who has sent”, that is to believe in Jesus. This is why people formulate the new question: “Which sign do you do so that we can see and can believe? Which work do you do?” This means that they did not understand the multiplication of the loaves as a sign from God to legitimize Jesus before the people, as the one sent by God! They continue to argue: In the past our fathers ate the manna which Moses gave them! They called it “bread from Heaven” (Ws 16, 20), that is, “bread of God”. Moses continues to be the great leader in whom to believe. If Jesus wants the people to believe in him, he should work a greater sign than Moses. “What work do you do?”

• Jesus responds that the bread given by Moses was not the true bread from heaven. Coming from on high, yes, but it was not the bread of God, because it did not guarantee life to any one. All of them died in the desert (Jn 6, 49). The true bread of heaven, the bread of God, is the one which conquers death and gives life! It is the one which descends from Heaven and gives life to the world. It is Jesus himself! Jesus tries to help the people to liberate themselves from the way of thinking of the past. For him, fidelity to the past does not mean to close up oneself in the ancient things and not accept renewal. Fidelity to the past means to accept the novelty which comes as the fruit of the seed which was planted in the past.

• John 6, 34-35: Lord, gives us always of that bread! Jesus answers clearly: “I am the bread of life!” To eat the bread of heaven is the same as to believe in Jesus and accept to follow the road that he teaches us, that is: “My food is to do the will of the one who has sent me and to complete his work!” (Jn 4, 34). This is the true food which nourishes the person, which transforms life and gives new life. This last verse of today’s Gospel (Jn 6, 35) will be taken back as the first verse of tomorrow’s Gospel (Jn 6, 35-40)

Personal questions

• Hungry for bread, hungry for God. Which of these two predominates in me?
• Jesus says: “I am the bread of life”. He takes away hunger and thirst. Which of these experiences do I have in my life?

Reference: Courtesy of Order of Carmelites, www.ocarm.org.

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Featured Item of the Day from Litany Lane

Our Mother of Perpetual Help Ipad Cases by LitanyLane

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Saint of the Day:  Saint Bernadette

Feast Day:  April  16

Patron Saint:  Bodily illness, Lourdes, France, shepherds and shepherdesses, against poverty, people ridiculed for their faith

Attributes:  n/a

Bernadette Soubirous (in 1866)

Marie-Bernarde Soubirous (Gascon name: Bernadeta Sobirós; 7 January 1844 – 16 April 1879) was a miller's daughter born in Lourdes, France and is venerated as a Christian mystic and Saint in the Catholic Church.

Soubirous is best known for her Marian apparitions of "a small young lady" who asked for a chapel to be built at a cave-grotto in Massabielle where the apparitions occurred between 11 February and 16 July 1858. She would later receive recognition when the lady who appeared to her identified herself as the Immaculate Conception.

Despite initial skepticism from the Catholic Church, Soubirous's claims were eventually declared "worthy of belief" after a canonical investigation, and the Marian apparition is now known as Our Lady of Lourdes. Since her death, Soubirous's body has apparently remained internally incorrupt, but it is not without blemish; during her third exhumation in 1925, the firm of Pierre Imans made light wax coverings for her face and her hands due to the discoloration that her skin has undergone. These masks were placed on her face and hands before she was moved to her crystal reliquary in June 1925.

The Marian shrine at Nevers (Bourgogne, France) went on to become a major pilgrimage site, attracting over five million Christian pilgrims of all denominations each year.

On 8 December 1933, she was canonized by Pope Pius XI as a saint in the Catholic Church; her Feast Day is observed on April 16. She is considered a Christian mystic.

Early stages in her life

Bernadette (the sobriquet by which she was universally known) was the daughter of François Soubirous (Francés Sobirós in Occitan) (1807–1871), a miller,^[6] and his wife Louise (Loïsa Casteròt in Occitan) (1825–1866), a laundress, and was the eldest of four children who survived infancy. Louise actually gave birth to nine children—Bernadette, Jean (born and died 1845), Toinette (1846–1892), Jean-Marie (1848–1851), Jean-Marie (1851–1919), Justin (1855–1865), Pierre (1859–1931), Jean (born and died 1864), and a baby girl named Louise who died soon after her birth (1866). Bernadette was born on 7 January 1844, and baptized at the local parish church, St. Pierre's, on 9 January, her parents' wedding anniversary. Bernadette's godmother was Bernarde Casterot, her mother's sister, a moderately wealthy widow who owned a tavern. Hard times had fallen on France and the family lived in extreme poverty. According to one source neighbours reported that the family lived in unusual harmony, apparently relying on their love and support for one another and their religious devotion. Bernadette was a sickly child. She contracted cholera as a toddler and suffered severe asthma for the rest of her life.

Visions

By the time of the events at the grotto, her family's financial and social status had declined to the point where they lived in a one-room basement, called le cachot, "the dungeon," where they were housed for free by her mother's cousin, Andre Sajoux. On 11 February 1858, Bernadette, then aged 14, was out gathering firewood and bones with her sister Marie and a friend near the grotto of Massabielle (Tuta de Massavielha) when she had her first vision. As she recounted later, while the other girls crossed the little stream in front of the grotto and walked on, Bernadette stayed behind, looking for a place to cross where she wouldn't get her stockings wet. She finally sat down in the grotto to take her shoes off in order to cross the water and was lowering her first stocking when she heard the sound of rushing wind, but nothing moved. A wild rose in a natural niche in the grotto, however, did move. From the niche, or rather the dark alcove behind it, "came a dazzling light, and a white figure." This was the first of 18 visions of what she referred to as aquero (pronounced [aˈk(e)ɾɔ]), Gascon Occitan for "that". In later testimony, she called it "a small young lady" (uo petito damizelo). Her sister and her friend stated that they had seen nothing.

On 14 February, after Sunday mass, Bernadette, with her sister Marie and some other girls, returned to the grotto. Bernadette knelt down immediately, saying she saw aquero again and falling into a trance. When one of the girls threw holy water at the niche and another threw a rock from above that shattered on the ground, the apparition disappeared. Bernadette fell into a state of shock and the girl who had thrown the rock thought she had killed her. On her next visit, 18 February, she said that "the vision" asked her to return to the grotto every day for a fortnight.

This period of almost daily visions came to be known as la Quinzaine sacrée, "holy fortnight." Initially, her parents, especially her mother, were embarrassed and tried to forbid her to go. The local police commissioner called her into his office and threatened to arrest her, as did the district attorney, but since there was no evidence of fraud there was little they could do. The girl herself remained stubbornly calm and consistent during her interrogations, never changing her story or her attitude, and never claiming knowledge beyond what she said the vision told her. The supposed apparition did not identify herself until the seventeenth vision, although the townspeople who believed she was telling the truth assumed she saw the Virgin Mary. Bernadette never claimed it to be Mary, consistently using the word aquero. She described the lady as wearing a white veil, a blue girdle and with a yellow rose on each foot — compatible with "a description of any statue of the Virgin in a village church".

Bernadette's story caused a sensation with the townspeople who were divided in their opinions on whether or not Bernadette was telling the truth. Some believed her to have a mental illness and demanded she be put in an asylum. She soon had a large number of people following her on her daily journey, some out of curiosity and others who firmly believed that they were witnessing a miracle.

The other contents of Bernadette's reported visions were simple and focused on the need for prayer and penance. On 24 February, she reported that aquero had said Penitenço ... Penitenço ... Penitenço ("penance"). That day Bernadette kissed the muddy ground of the grotto. The next day she went further, and during her trance, chewed and ate grass she plucked from the ground. She then rubbed mud over her face and swallowed some mud, to the disgust of the many onlookers and the embarrassment of those who believed in her visions. She explained that the vision had told her "to drink of the water of the spring, to wash in it and to eat the herb that grew there," as an act of penance. To everyone's surprise, the next day the grotto was no longer muddy but clear water flowed.

In the 150 years since Bernadette dug up the spring, 67 cures have been verified by the Lourdes Medical Bureau as "inexplicable", but only after what the Church claims are "extremely rigorous scientific and medical examinations" that failed to find any other explanation. The Lourdes Commission that examined Bernadette after the visions also ran an intensive analysis on the water and found that, while it had a high mineral content, it contained nothing out of the ordinary that would account for the cures attributed to it. Bernadette herself said that it was faith and prayer that cured the sick.

On 2 March, at the thirteenth of the alleged apparitions, Bernadette told her family that the lady had said "Please go to the priests and tell them that a chapel is to be built here. Let processions come hither." Accompanied by two of her aunts, Bernadette went to parish priest, Father Dominique Peyramale with the request. A brilliant but often roughspoken man with little belief in claims of visions and miracles, Peyramale told Bernadette that the lady must identify herself. Bernadette said that on her next visitation she repeated the priest's words to the lady but that the lady bowed a little, smiled and said nothing. Then Father Peyramale told Bernadette to prove that the lady was real by asking her to perform a miracle. He requested that she make the rose bush beneath the niche flower on the last week of February.

Statue of Our Lady of Lourdes in Lourdes, France

Her 16th claimed vision, which she stated went on for over an hour, was on 25 March. During this vision the "miracles of the candle" is reported to have occurred. Bernadette was holding a lit candle. During the vision it burned down and the flame was said to be in direct contact with her skin for over fifteen minutes but she apparently showed no sign of experiencing any pain or injury. This was said to be witnessed by many people present, including the town physician, Dr. Pierre Romaine Dozous, who timed and later documented it. According to his report, there was no sign that her skin was in any way affected, so he monitored Bernadette closely but did not intervene. After her "vision" ended, the doctor said that he examined her hand but found no evidence of any burning and that she was completely unaware of what had happened. The doctor then said that he briefly applied a lit candle to her hand and she reacted immediately. It is unclear if observers other than Dozous were sufficiently close to witness if the candle was continuously in contact with Bernadette’s skin.

According to Bernadette's account, during that same visitation, she again asked the woman for her name but the lady just smiled back. She repeated the question three more times and finally heard the lady say, in Gascon Occitan, "I am the Immaculate Conception" (Qué soï era immaculado councepcioũ, a phonetic transcription of Que soi era immaculada concepcion). Four years earlier, Pope Pius IX had defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception: that, alone of all human beings who have ever lived (save for Jesus, Adam and Eve), the Virgin Mary was conceived without the stain of original sin. Her parents, teachers and priests all later testified that she had never previously heard the expression 'immaculate conception' from them.

Some of the people who interviewed her after her revelation of the visions, thought her simple-minded. However, despite being rigorously interviewed by officials of both the Catholic Church and the French government, she stuck consistently to her story. Her behavior during this period is said to set the example by which all who have claimed visions and mystical experiences are now judged by Church authorities.

Results of her visions

St. Bernadette

Among the reported visions of Jesus and Mary, Bernadette's visions can be viewed as being at a high level of significance.

Her request to the local priest to build a chapel at the site of her visions eventually gave rise to a number of chapels and churches at Lourdes. The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes is now one of the major Catholic pilgrimage sites in the world.

One of the churches built at the site, the Basilica of St. Pius X, can itself accommodate 25,000 people and was dedicated by the future Pope John XXIII when he was the Papal Nuncio to France.

Close to 5 million pilgrims visit Lourdes (population of about 15,000) every year, with individuals and groups (such as the HCPT) coming from all over the world. Within France, only Paris has more hotels than Lourdes.

In 2008, the 150th anniversary of the 1858 apparitions to Bernadette, it was expected that 8 million pilgrims would visit Lourdes during the year. Lourdes is now a major centre where Catholic pilgrims from around the globe reaffirm their beliefs as they visit the sanctuary.

Later years

Disliking the attention she was attracting, Bernadette went to the hospice school run by the Sisters of Charity of Nevers where she finally learned to read and write. She then joined the Sisters at their motherhouse at Nevers at the age of 22. She spent the rest of her brief life there, working as an assistant in the infirmary and later as a sacristan, creating beautiful embroidery for altar cloths and vestments. She later contracted tuberculosis of the bone in her right knee. She had followed the development of Lourdes as a pilgrimage shrine while she still lived at Lourdes, but was not present for the consecration of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception there in 1876. She eventually died of her long-term illness at the age of 35 on 16 April 1879. Her body was laid to rest in the Saint Gildard Convent.

Sainthood

Bernadette Soubirous was declared venerable by Pope Pius X.
She was declared "Blessed" on June 2, 1925, by Pope Pius XI.
She was officially canonized a Saint by Pope Pius XI on December 8, 1933.
The year 2009 was declared "The Year of Bernadette".

Exhumations

Relic of St. Bernadette and stone from the Grotto of Lourdes

Bishop Gauthey of Nevers and the Church exhumed the body of Bernadette Soubirous on 22 September 1909, in the presence of representatives appointed by the postulators of the cause, two doctors and a sister of the community. They claimed that although the crucifix in her hand and her rosary had both oxidized, her body appeared "incorrupt" — preserved from decomposition. This was cited as one of the miracles to support her canonization. They washed and reclothed her body before burial in a new double casket. The Church exhumed the corpse a second time on 3 April 1919. A doctor who examined the body noted, "The body is practically mummified, covered with patches of mildew and quite a notable layer of salts, which appear to be calcium salts. ... The skin has disappeared in some places, but it is still present on most parts of the body."

In 1925, the church exhumed the body for a third time. They took relics, which were sent to Rome. A precise imprint of the face was molded so that the firm of Pierre Imans in Paris could make a wax mask based on the imprints and on some genuine photos to be placed on her body. This was common practice for relics in France as it was feared that the blackish tinge to the face and the sunken eyes and nose would make an unpleasant impression on the public. Imprints of the hands were also taken for the presentation of the body and the making of wax casts. The remains were then placed in a gold and crystal reliquary in the Chapel of Saint Bernadette at the mother house in Nevers. The site is visited by many pilgrims and the body of Saint Bernadette is still shown despite being nearly 130 years old.

Wax coverings on the body of Sainte Bernadette represent how her hands and face looked at the time of her death.

Three years later in 1928, Doctor Comte published a report on the exhumation of Blessed Bernadette in the second issue of the Bulletin de I'Association medicale de Notre-Dame de Lourdes. "I would have liked to open the left side of the thorax to take the ribs as relics and then remove the heart which I am certain must have survived. However, as the trunk was slightly supported on the left arm, it would have been rather difficult to try and get at the heart without doing too much noticeable damage. As the Mother Superior had expressed a desire for the Saint's heart to be kept together with the whole body, and as Monsignor the Bishop did not insist, I gave up the idea of opening the left-hand side of the thorax and contented myself with removing the two right ribs which were more accessible." "What struck me during this examination, of course, was the state of perfect preservation of the skeleton, the fibrous tissues of the muscles (still supple and firm), of the ligaments, and of the skin, and above all the totally unexpected state of the liver after 46 years. One would have thought that this organ, which is basically soft and inclined to crumble, would have decomposed very rapidly or would have hardened to a chalky consistency. Yet, when it was cut it was soft and almost normal in consistency. I pointed this out to those present, remarking that this did not seem to be a natural phenomenon."

In Media

Statuettes depicting the apparition of the Virgin Mary to Bernadette

Her life was given a fictionalised treatment in Franz Werfel's novel The Song of Bernadette, which was later adapted into a 1943 film of the same name starring Jennifer Jones as Bernadette (and the uncredited Linda Darnell as the Immaculate Conception). Jones won the Best Actress Oscar for this portrayal.

In 1961 Daniele Ajoret portrayed Bernadette in Bernadette of Lourdes (French title Il suffit d'aimer or "Love is enough"). A more recent version of Bernadette's life is presented in three films (Bernadette in 1988 and The Passion of Bernadette in 1989) by Jean Delannoy, starring Sydney Penny in the lead role, and the 2011 French film Je M'appelle Bernadette starring Katia Miran.

Irving Wallace's 1984 fictional novel The Miracle, tells the tale of St. Bernadette's purported private diaries forecasting a second coming of Mary to the grotto, prompting renewed interest in her story and pilgrims to Lourdes. Bernadette's actual journal and letters do not contain this prediction.

References

• Taylor, Thérèse (2003). Bernadette of Lourdes. Burns and Oates. ISBN 0-86012-337-5.
• Lourdes: In Bernadette's Footsteps, by Father Joseph Bordes, Copyright 2005 by MSM Company - Tells Bernadette's story, and describes the tourism at Lourdes.
• The Song of Bernadette Franz Werfel's classic abridged by John Martin
• Bernadette of Lourdes (St. Gildard, Nevers, France, 1926)
• Visage de Bernadette (Rene Laurentin, Lourdes 1978), (French)
• The Song of Bernadette (Franz Werfel), 1942 (English)
• A La Gloire du Lys de Marie (Sisters of Nevers), August 15, 1926 (French)
• Bernadette of Lourdes (Frances Parkinson Keyes), 1955
• Lourdes: Its Inhabitants, Its Pilgrims, and Its Miracles (Richard Clarke, SJ), 1888
• The Wonders of Lourdes (Anna T. Sadler), 1875
• Annales de Notre Dame de Lourdes (Missionaries of the Immaculate Conception), Lourdes 1871 (French)
• The Wonders of Massabielle at Lourdes (Rev. S. Pruvost), 1925
• Notre Dame de Lourdes (Henri Lasserre), Paris 1870 (French)
• Bernadette (Henri Lasserre), Paris 1879 (year of Bernadette's death), (French)
• Our Lady of Lourdes (Henri Lasserre), June 1906 (English)
• The Miracle Joint at Lourdes From "Essays " by Woolsey Teller, Copyright 1945 by The Truth Seeker Company, Inc. Critique of the Lourdes story.
• Our Lady of Lourdes (Henri Lasserre), 1875 (English)
• La Sainte Vierge a Lourdes, 1877 (French)
• Das Lied von Bernadette (Franz Werfel), 1953 (German)
• The Happening at Lourdes (Alan Neame), 1967
• Lourdes (Ruth Harris), 1999
• After Bernadette (Don Sharkey), 1945
• And I Shall Be Healed (Edeltraud Fulda), 1960
• Saint Bernadette (Margaret Trouncer), 1964
• 15 Days of Prayer with Sainte Bernadette of Lourdes (Francois Vayne), 1999
• A Queen's Command (Anna Kuhn), 1947
• Bernadette (Marcelle Auclair), 1958
• A Holy Life: St. Bernadette of Lourdes (Patricia McEachern), 2005
• The Story of Bernadette (Rev. J. Lane), 1997
• The Wonder of Lourdes (John Oxenham), 1926
• Lourdes (Émile Zola), 1895 (German)
• Bernadette Speaks: A Life of Saint Bernadette Soubirous in Her Own Words, René Laurentin, Pauline Books and Media, 2000.
• St. Bernadette (Leonard Von Matt / Francis Trochu), 1957
• Bernadette of Lourdes (J.H. Gregory), 1914 (1st U.S. book)
• Bernadette of Lourdes (Therese Taylor), 2003
• Lourdes (Émile Zola), 2000 (English)
• The Miracle of Bernadette (Margaret Gray Blanton), 1958
• My Witness, Bernadette (J.B. Estrade), 1951
• St. Bernadette Soubirous: 1844-1879, by Abbe Francois Trochu, TAN Books and Publishers, Inc., 1957.
• We Saw Her (B.G. Sandhurst), 1953

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Featured Items Panel from Litany Lane

 

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Today's Snippet I:  Nevers, France

Place de la République in Nevers

Nevers (French pronunciation: ​[nəˈvɛʀ]; Latin: Noviodunum, later Nevirnum and Nebirnum) is a commune in – and the administrative capital of – the Nièvre department in the Bourgogne region in central France. It was the principal city of the former province of Nivernais, and is located 260 km (160 mi) SSE of Paris.

Nevers first enters written history as Noviodunum, a town held by the Aedui at Roman contact. The quantities of medals and other Roman antiquities found on the site indicate the importance of the place, and in 52 BCE, Julius Caesar made Noviodunum, which he describes as in a convenient position on the banks of the Loire, a depot (B. G. vii. 55). There he had his hostages, corn, his military chest, with the money in it allowed him from home for the war, his own and his army's baggage and a great number of horses which had been bought for him in Spain and Italy. After his failure before Gergovia, the Aedui at Noviodunum massacred those who were there to look after stores, the negotiatores, and the travellers who were in the place. They divided the money and the horses among themselves, carried off in boats all the corn that they could, and burnt the rest or threw it into the river. Thinking they could not hold the town, they burnt it. This was a great loss to Caesar; and it may seem that he was imprudent in leaving such great stores in the power of treacherous allies. But he was in straits during this year, and probably he could not do otherwise than he did. Dio Cassius (xl. 38) tells the story out of Caesar of the affair of Noviodunum. He states incorrectly what Caesar did on the occasion, and he shows that he neither understood his original nor knew what he was writing about.

The city was later called Nevirnum, as the name appears in the Antonine Itinerary. In the Tabula Peutingeriana, it is corrupted into Ebrinum. In still other sources the name appears as Nebirnum. Probably from the name of the river Nièvre.

It became the seat of a bishopric at the end of the 5th century. The county dates at least from the beginning of the 10th century. The citizens of Nevers obtained charters in 1194 and in 1231. For a short time in the 14th century the town was the seat of a university, transferred from Orléans, to which it was restored.

Geography

Nevers is situated on the slope of a hill on the right bank of the Loire River.

The Loire is the longest river in France. With a length of 1,012 kilometres (629 mi), it drains an area of 117,054 km² (45,195 sq mi), which represents more than a fifth of France's land area.^[1] It is the 170th longest river in the world. It rises in the Cévennes in the département of Ardèche at 1,350 m (4,430 ft) near Mont Gerbier de Jonc, and flows for over 1,000 km (620 mi) north through Nevers to Orléans, then west through Tours and Nantes until it reaches the Bay of Biscay at St Nazaire. Its main tributaries include the Maine, Nièvre and the Erdre rivers on its right bank, and the Allier, Cher, Indre, Vienne, and the Sèvre Nantaise rivers from the left bank. The Loire gives its name to six départements: Loire, Haute-Loire, Loire-Atlantique, Indre-et-Loire, Maine-et-Loire, and Saône-et-Loire. The central part of the Loire Valley was added to the World Heritage Sites list of UNESCO on December 2, 2000. The banks are characterized by vineyards and chateaux in the Loire Valley.

Historicity of the Loire River valley begins with the earliest Middle Palaeolithic period 40–90 ka (thousand years ago), followed by the modern humans (30 ka), succeeded by the Neolithic period (6,000 to 4,500 BC) of the Stone Age and the Gauls, the inhabitants in the Loire during the Iron Age, in the period between 1500 and 500 BC. Gauls made it a major naval trading route by 600 BC, establishing trade with the Greeks on the Mediterranean coast. Gallic rule ended in the valley in 56 BC with Julius Caesar winning over this territory. Christianity made entry into this valley from 3rd century AD with many saints converting the pagans. It was the time when the wineries also came to be established in the valley.

The Loire Valley has been called the "Garden of France" and is studded with over a thousand chateaux, each with distinct architectural embellishments covering a wide range of variations, from the early medieval to the late Renaissance periods. They were originally created as feudal strongholds, over centuries past, in the strategic divide between southern and northern France; now many are privately owned.

Main sights

Palais Ducal

Narrow winding streets lead from the quay through the town where there are numerous old houses of the 14th to the 17th centuries.

Among the ecclesiastical buildings the most important is the Cathédrale of Saint Cyr-Sainte Julitte, dedicated to Saint Quiricus and Saint Julietta, which is a combination of two buildings, and possesses two apses. The apse and transept at the west end are the remains of a Romanesque church, while the nave and eastern apse are in the Gothic style and belong to the 14th century. There is no transept at the eastern end. The lateral portal on the south side belongs to the late 15th century; the massive and elaborately decorated tower which rises beside it to the early 16th century.

The church of Saint Etienne is a specimen of the Romanesque style of Auvergne of which the disposition of the apse with its three radiating chapels is characteristic. It was consecrated at the close of the 9th century, and belonged to a priory affiliated to Cluny.

The Ducal Palace (now occupied by the courts of justice and an important ceramic museum) was built in the 15th and 16th centuries and is one of the principal feudal edifices in central France. The facade is flanked at each end by a turret and a round tower. A middle tower containing the great staircase has its windows adorned by sculptures relating to the history of the House of La Marck by the members of which the greater part of the palace was built.

In front of the palace lies an open space with a fine view over the valley of the Loire. The Porte du Croux, a square tower, with corner turrets, dating from the end of the 14th century, is among the remnants of the old fortifications; it now contains a collection of sculptures and Roman antiquities.

A triumphal arch from the 18th century, commemorating the victory of Fontenoy and the hotel de ville, a modern building which contains the library, are of some interest. The Loire is crossed by a modern stone bridge, and by an iron railway bridge.

 

Sisters of Charity of Nevers

Motherhouse at Nevers

The Sisters of Charity of Nevers (French: Congrégation des Sœurs de la Charité de Nevers), also known as Sisters of Charity and Christian Instruction, is a religious institute founded in 1680 in Nevers, Nièvre department, France, at the instigation of Jean-Baptiste Delaveyne. The motherhouse, the convent at St. Gildard in Nevers, is built on the ruins of the priory of Saint-Gildard, and was supervised by the bishop of the diocese of Nevers.

In 1678, Jean-Baptiste Delaveyne (1653–1719), a Benedictine who had spent seven years being dazzled by the court of Louis XIV of France, returned to Saint-Saulge, the hamlet in the Nièvre department where he was born, in an attempt to regain the spiritual direction of his youth. Struck by the poverty he found in that rural area, he offered the young ladies of the village of Saint-Saulge a challenge: "Have no other business but that of charity. Have no other interests but those of the unfortunate." This challenge led to the congregation's foundation. Delaveyne organized a small house with Sisters who ministered to the sick and the poor.

The congregation was housed in Château-Chinon in 1706. In 1710 they moved to Decize to serve in the local hospital, and in 1716 they consecrated a chapel in Saint-Saulge to the Immaculate Conception. In 1748 they returned to Château-Chinon, to its hospital. While the Sisters initially ministered to the poor, during the nineteenth century they were more oriented toward the middle classes (and most of the novitiates were middle-class girls), and by the 1860s operated 260 convents in France.

In 1853, the Sisters were given the former Church of Saint Lupus and Saint Gildard in Nevers by Dominique-Augustin Dufêtre, bishop of Nevers, to build a religious house; it was officially consecrated on 15 July 1856.

Notable sisters

The sarcophagus of Saint Bernadette of Lourdes.

The religious institute is best known for having had Bernadette Soubirous, also known as Saint Bernadette of Lourdes, as a member in the motherhouse at Nevers; after having received her visions, Bernadette entered the school in Lourdes run by the sisters, who had opened a hospice in Lourdes in 1834. In 1866, she was accepted to take her novitiate in Nevers, where she died in 1879. Her body is enshrined in the St. Gildard Convent's chapel in Nevers. Today, the Sisters also tend the cachot, the basement apartment in Lourdes where Soubirous lived during her youth; in 2008, the Sisters received Pope Benedict XVI in the cachot, before he visited the grotto in Lourdes.

Another notable Sister was Marcelline Pauper, born 1663, who entered at Nevers at age twenty-two. Her autobiography was published in 1871; in it, she described how she made reparations for a sacrilege that had occurred in the chapel by receiving the stigmata, on 26 April 1702.

Establishments

A daughter organization of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, the Sisters of Charity of Nevers operate hospitals and had convents and schools throughout France. The Sisters are active in Asia, Africa, and South America. It also operates:

• Sainte-Anne, a retirement home in Luc-la-Primaube, Aveyron, France
• Retirement home and home for handicapped children (Auxerre), homeless shelter (Sens), in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sens, Yonne, France

  

 

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
• Williams, Nicola; Boone, Virginie (1 May 2002), The Loire, Lonely Planet, ISBN 978-1-86450-358-6

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Today's Snippet II:  Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes

The Rosary Basilica, Lourdes.

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes or the Domain (as it is most commonly known) is an area of ground surrounding the Catholic shrine (Grotto) to Our Lady of Lourdes in the town of Lourdes, France. The Sanctuary is a destination for pilgrimage; sick pilgrims are reputed to be miraculously healed by Lourdes water. This ground is owned and administrated by the Roman Catholic Church, and has several functions, including devotional activities, offices, and accommodation for sick pilgrims and their helpers. The Domain includes the Grotto itself, the nearby taps which dispense the Lourdes water, and the offices of the Lourdes Medical Bureau, as well as several churches and basilicas. It comprises an area of 51 hectares, and includes 22 separate places of worship. There are six official languages of the Sanctuary: French, English, Italian, Spanish, Dutch and German.

Grottos intended as replicas of the one at Our Lady of Lourdes, and other grottos in honour of Our Lady of Lourdes, are often described as "Lourdes grottos".

History

Beginning on 11 February 1858, a 14-year old peasant girl called Bernadette Soubirous claimed to have experienced a series of apparitions of a girl dressed in bright pink and with a blue belt around her waist, who eventually introduced herself as the Immaculate Conception, a name by which the Virgin Mary was known.

On land bordered by a loop of the Gave de Pau river is an outcrop of rock called Massabielle, (from masse vieille: "old mass"). On the northern aspect of this rock, near the river bank, is a naturally occurring, irregularly shaped shallow cave or grotto, in which the apparitions took place.

At the time of the apparitions, the grotto lay well out of town, on common ground which was used by the villagers variously for pasturing animals, collecting firewood and as a garbage dump, and it possessed a reputation for being an unpleasant place.

The figure always appeared in one place, a niche above the main cavity of the grotto, in which a wild rose bush was growing. Among the instructions from 'the Virgin' were "Go and drink from the spring", "Go and tell the priests to build a chapel here", and "Have the people come here in procession". These three instructions in particular were to prove pivotal in the development of the Domain and its ceremonies. Public interest in the apparitions grew, and curious visitors began to be replaced by pilgrims from increasingly far away, drawn by compelling stories of apparitions and miracles.

A local priest, Abbé Dominique Peyramale, together with his bishop, Monsignor Bertrand-Sévère Mascarou Laurence, bought the grotto and the land around it from the commune in 1861, 3 years after the apparitions. Immediately they set about modifying the area to make it more accessible to visitors, and started work to build the first of the churches, which is now known as the Crypt.

In 1864, the Lyonnais sculptor Joseph-Hugues Fabisch was commissioned to create a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes based on Bernadette's descriptions. Although it has become an iconic symbol of Our Lady of Lourdes, it depicts a figure which is not only older and taller than Bernadette's description, but also more in keeping with orthodox and traditional representations of the Virgin Mary. The statue rests in the niche where the Virgin appeared to Bernadette. The original wild rose bush was destroyed shortly after the apparitions by pilgrims seeking relics, but a newer one has been planted nearby.

Due to French political upheaval resulting in an enforced separation of Church and State, the property and grounds of the Domain were confiscated from the Church and returned to the ownership of the town in 1910. The then bishop, Mgr. François-Xavier Schoepfer, contested this confiscation, and was permitted to rent the Domain from the town until the outbreak of World War I in 1914.

Later, a visit to Lourdes by Marshal Pétain in 1941 provided official recognition of the Domain. Church officials successfully petitioned Pétain to allow the Church to reclaim ownership of the Domain.

Administration

The Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes is responsible for the spiritual governance of the Domain. He appoints a local representative, who is called the Rector. The Domain is run independently of the parish of Lourdes, which is responsible for the spiritual needs of the Lourdais themselves.

Thirty full-time chaplains work in the Domain, from dioceses and religious communities worldwide. As of 2010 there were 292 full-time lay employees and a further 120 seasonal employees working in 63 different divisions, with an annual running budget of €18 million, 90% from donations.

The Domain is open all year round. In winter there are many fewer visitors, a reduced timetable of services and devotional activity, and no processions. The winter season runs from 1 November (the feast of All Saints) until Easter. On 11 February, the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, a full programme of activities usually takes place.

The Domain is fully active between Easter and All Saints each year, and has a programme of devotional activities including Mass, processions (see below), Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Many activities are carried out in several languages; in some services the liturgy is repeated in different languages.

The grounds are open daily from 5am until midnight; outside these times the Grotto is accessible via the Lacets Gate behind the Upper Basilica.

An estimated 200 million people have visited the shrine since 1860. The Roman Catholic Church has officially recognized 67 miracle healings, the 67th of which was the cure of Anna Santaniello in 1952, recognised on 9 November 2005.

About 800 tonnes of wax is burnt annually in devotional candles. The Domain publishes the monthly Lourdes Magazine, with news and featured articles about the Domain and Lourdes generally.

Lourdes water

Lourdes water flows from a spring at the same spot where it was discovered by Bernadette. The original spring can be seen within the Grotto, lit from below and protected by a glass screen.

Pilgrims drink Lourdes water due to its reputed healing power. The water from Lourdes was thoroughly analysed by independent chemists in 1858 and 1859, and does not appear to have a latent power to cure and has no special scientific or medicinal properties. Despite this, the water is itself a strong symbol of devotion for Lourdes pilgrims, and many buy statues and rosary beads containing small vials of it, and take home large plastic containers of it.

Baths

Each year about 350,000 pilgrims bathe in the water at the baths (Piscines).

Processions

Processions are held in the Domain, with the Torchlight Procession being perhaps the best-known and most visually impressive.

Blessed Sacrament procession

The Blessed Sacrament procession is held daily at 4.30pm. The procession begins at the open-air altar in the Prairie, and is usually led by a priest or bishop carrying a monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament. Typically the bearer of the Blessed Sacrament is sheltered from the elements by a mobile awning carried by four assistants.

The exact order of the procession varies from time to time. The Blessed Sacrament may be preceded by bearers carrying leafy branches, incense burners or other devotional items. These bearers are usually lay people who may be invited specially. The Blessed Sacrament is usually followed by a group of priests who concelebrate the rite. Following these are groups of pilgrims, usually under a group banner, and in no particular order, although larger groups tend to dominate the procession near the front.

The procession makes its way across the Gave, alongside the ramps, and past the Crowned Statue, along the Esplanade to the Cross at the far end, and then around it, and down into the Underground Basilica (where participants may be seated). Pilgrims in wheelchairs are brought to the front in each case.

During the procession there are meditations, prayers, hymns and chants, in several languages. When all the participants have assembled, there follows a period of Eucharistic Adoration, and the Blessing of the Sick.

Torchlight Procession

Rosary Basilica at night, looking across Rosary Square during the Torchlight Procession

The Torchlight Marian Procession takes place daily at 8.45pm. It begins outside the Grotto and follows the same route as the Blessed Sacrament Procession. In extreme weather an indoor ceremony may be held in the Underground Basilica instead.

The procession is led by pilgrims bearing a replica of the Cabuchet Statue of the Virgin Mary. As before, groups usually proceed together under their group banner. Most participants carry a candle with a paper shade which diffuses the light and makes the candle less likely to blow out.

The focus of this procession is the rosary. All five decades are recited, usually in a variety of languages. The Lourdes Hymn is also sung, with verses in different languages. Intercessions may be invoked followed by the Laudate Mariam. There is a final blessing in Latin, and then an invitation to exchange the Sign of peace with fellow pilgrims.

Main churches of the Domain

Crypt

The Crypt was the first of the churches to be completed in the Domain, and is today among the smallest. Construction was started by Abbé Peyramale and Mgr. Laurence. Bernadette's father worked on its construction and was present at its official opening, on Pentecost Sunday, 1866.

The nave is small and a notable feature are the enormous pillars which support the weight of the Upper Basilica, which was constructed on top of it.

The Crypt is entered along a corridor, whose entrance is dominated by a large bronze statue of St. Peter, holding the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Opposite stands a statue of Pius X. The walls of the corridor and nave are lined with small marble plaques, known as ex voto plaques, donated in thanks of spiritual favours received.

Upper Basilica

The Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, known widely as the Upper Basilica, was the second of the churches to be completed, consecrated in 1876. It is an impressive, elaborate building in Gothic style, designed by architect Hyppolyte Durand, and on one side seems to emerge directly from the rock of Massabielle (the sanctuary is directly above the Grotto). The walls are lined with ex voto plaques, and banners from official National Pilgrimages of the past. It has a series of stained-glass windows depicting various events in the story of Lourdes; the clerestory windows depict Mary as the Second Eve.

The exterior is dominated by a 70m spire, and two lesser spires (not completed until 1908). Above the entrance is a mosaic depicting Pope Pius IX, who defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854.

Rosary Basilica

The Rosary Basilica is the third of the churches to be completed, in 1899 and designed by architect Leopold Hardy. It was consecrated in 1901 and has a capacity of 1,500 worshippers. Its style is influenced by Byzantine architecture. The nave is open and circular, surmounted by a dome. The exterior of the dome is surmounted by a dramatic gilded crown and cross, which were a gift from the people of Ireland in 1924.

The exterior facade of the basilica was modified in 2007 to include a depiction of the Luminous Mysteries, which were added to the traditional fifteen by Pope John Paul II in 2002.

Crowned Statue and Rosary Square

Looking out onto Rosary Square from the roof of the Basilica

The open space in front of the Rosary Basilica is known as Rosary Square. The entrances to the Crypt and the Upper Basilica, both of which are built on top of Massabielle, are far above ground level. To facilitate access, two enormous ramps were constructed, which curve down either side of Rosary Square. The image of the entrance of the Rosary Basilica, flanked by the two ramps and surmounted by the spires of the Upper Basilica, has become one of the iconic symbols of Lourdes, and a stylised form of this image has been adopted by the Domain itself as its logo.

The Statue of the Crowned Virgin, often known as the "Crowned Statue" (French: La Vierge Couronnée), stands across Rosary Square from the Rosary Basilica and faces the entrance. This prominent statue is a familiar landmark and a traditional meeting point. The statue is 2.5m high and cast in bronze, painted white and blue in the traditional colours. Her rosary is of the Birgittine style and incorporates six decades.

Behind the Crowned Statue is the Esplanade, a large open walkway which is used in the processions.

Underground Basilica

The Basilica of St. Pius X, known as the Underground Basilica, is the largest and most controversial of the Domain's churches. It was designed by the architect Pierre Vago and completed in 1958 in anticipation of the enormous crowds expected in Lourdes for the centenary of the Apparitions. A modern, concrete building, it is almost entirely underground (part of the building lies beneath the Boulevard Père Rémi Sempé above). When full it can accommodate 25,000 worshippers.

The Underground Basilica is stylistically very different from the previous two basilicas. The concrete of its construction has been left bare throughout, making it gloomy and uninviting inside, and it draws comparisons with an underground carpark. Therefore, although it provided a practical solution to the problem of accommodating very large numbers, it remains unpopular with many visitors to Lourdes.

Church of St. Bernadette

The most recent of the major centres of worship is the Church of St. Bernadette, which was consecrated in 1988. It was built opposite the Grotto across the Gave, on the spot where Bernadette stood during the final (18th) Apparition.

The Church of St. Bernadette is a modern building with comparatively little adornment. It was designed to allow as much natural light as possible into the nave, and light-coloured materials have been used, making it noticeably brighter than the Underground Basilica. It was designed by the architect Jean-Paul Felix.

It is also a more versatile building. The nave has provision for 5,000 seated worshippers and 350 wheelchairs, but partitions can be drawn which divide the nave into smaller sections. In addition, it includes the Hemicycle, a large lecture room which may be used for worship, and an assortment of conference rooms and smaller rooms which may be used for devotional or non-devotional activity.

Chapel of Reconciliation

The Chapel of Reconciliation formerly occupied a site slightly more remote, at the entrance of the Upper Stations of the Cross. It was moved several years ago into a more prominent position, into the building previously known as the Accueil Notre Dame, near the Crowned Statue and facing the Esplanade.

The Chapel of Reconciliation is somewhat unusual in that no masses or other services take place there; instead it is given over entirely to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Priests from different countries observe a duty roster, which means that, at almost any time of day, pilgrims from Europe (and occasionally further away) can find a priest who will hear their confession in their own language.

St. Joseph's Chapel

St. Joseph's Chapel is situated at the far end of the Esplanade, near St. Michael's Gate. It is a modern, concrete church, mostly underground, with little natural light. It was also designed by Pierre Vago, and was consecrated on 1 May 1968. It has provision for 450 seated worshippers and 80 wheelchairs.

Grotto

The Grotto of Massabielle

In contrast to the grandness of Rosary Square and the various basilicas, the grotto at Massabielle where St Bernadette's visions took place is very simple and stark. The recess of the grotto itself is undecorated, although a plain stone altar and lectern have been placed there so that Mass can be said. Above the main recess is the niche where the apparitions took place and Fabisch's statue now stands. A large stand of candles next to the altar is kept burning during the season.

The spring Bernadette is said to have dug can be seen at the rear of the grotto, shielded by a glass cover. Pilgrims can process through the grotto and it is traditional to touch the rocks directly under the statue; indeed so many people have done this that the stones have become polished. Also at the rear of the grotto is a metal box into which written prayers or petitions may be deposited; they are collected daily and burnt.

Rows of benches allow visitors to sit and pray or contemplate. Pilgrims are asked to remain silent while in the vicinity to create an atmosphere of devotion. One of the spots where Bernadette prayed to the Virgin is marked by a special paving slab.

Some of the rock walls around the grotto bear clear signs of deliberate alteration, presumably to improve access for pilgrims. It is no longer clear what the original configuration of the grotto was.

At least one contemporary account describes a series of chambers behind the statue's niche, which can only be reached by climbing "like a lizard" through clefts in the rocks.

Accueils and hospitals

The Accueil Notre Dame

Across the river from the grotto and the churches is the Accueil Notre Dame, a modern facility built in 1996 to house sick pilgrims during their time in Lourdes.

The Accueil Notre Dame was built to replace the two older Accueils that were present within the Domain. The old Accueil Notre Dame stood opposite the Underground Basilica, and has been extensively remodelled, being divided into two buildings by removing a section. One building now contains the Chapel of Reconciliation, which used to be the refectory, and also houses the convent of the Sisters of Charity of Nevers. The other section is now known as the Accueil John Paul II, and contains several chapels (e.g. St Cosmos & St Damien), the First Aid post and Dispensary, and the offices of the Hospitalité. The other was the Accueil St. Bernadette, which stood across the river from the old Accueil Notre Dame, and was demolished to make way for the new one.

Since Easter 1997 sick pilgrims from all over the world have been housed in the Accueil Notre Dame, an airy modern building. The Accueil is organised into two wings, each consisting of six storeys, with the Reception area on the ground floor and the Transit Lounge on the fifth. Each floor from one to four is named after a specific saint, with female saints honoured on one side and male ones on the other. Each floor has a central refectory area where pilgrims congregate to eat.

The rooms, each with bathroom and shower, accommodate from one to six people. Each room has a window, with some fortunate ones having a view of the Grotto, and storage cupboards and a table and chairs. Each room opens onto a communal area.

Linking the two sides is the Administration Area, with two panoramic lifts bringing visitors to each floor. The administration offices are on the sixth and seventh floors, and there are kitchens for each side.

Typically pilgrims arrive at the Accueil Notre Dame in buses from Lourdes airport or train station, and will be welcomed in the transit lounge on the 5th floor. From there they are taken to their rooms. Pilgrims also depart from the transit lounge.

Another accueil, the Accueil Marie St. Frai, is located a short distance outside the domain; it is similar in design and atmosphere to the Accueil Notre Dame.

Prairie

Across the Gave from the Grotto is a wide, open, uncluttered space covered with grass and known in French as the 'prairie, or in English, the meadow.

In the corner of the prairie is the tent-like Chapel of Adoration, consecrated in 1995 and given over entirely to veneration of the Blessed Sacrament, and there is an open-air altar for outdoor ceremonies in fine weather.

In 2002 the Water Walk was introduced, across the Gave and slightly downstream from the Grotto. It consists of a series of nine stations at which there is a small Lourdes water font.

Candles and Brulières

A typical brulière full of devotional candles

A further iconic image of Lourdes is the tall, conical stand containing votive candles which are burnt constantly in the Grotto. Pilgrims may purchase candles (white, with a blue base) to be burnt here as a devotional gesture, or bring their own.

Candles of many different sizes may be burnt in the Domain; the largest are two metres tall and require more than one person to lift them—such candles are usually bought by groups of pilgrims, and typically burn continuously for over a week.
 
For safety as well as convenience, candles are burnt together in large metal stands called brulières. Pilgrims may light their own candles, or leave candles to be burnt later.

The brulières are tended by feutiers, attendants whose job is to ensure candles are burnt safely and evenly, and to remove the trays of melted wax which collects under each brulière.

References

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.

 

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Catechism of the Catholic Church

Part Two: The Celebration of the Christian Mystery, 

Section Two: The Seven Sacraments of the Church 

Article 3  Sacrament of the Eucharist

SECTION TWO

THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH 

Article 3

THE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST

II. What is This Sacrament Called?

1328 The inexhaustible richness of this sacrament is expressed in the different names we give it. Each name evokes certain aspects of it. It is called: Eucharist, because it is an action of thanksgiving to God. the Greek words eucharisteinLk 22:19; ⇒ 1 Cor 11:24 and eulogeinMt 26:26; ⇒ Mk 14:22 recall the Jewish blessings that proclaim - especially during a meal - God's works: creation, redemption, and sanctification.

1329 The Lord's Supper, because of its connection with the supper which the Lord took with his disciples on the eve of his Passion and because it anticipates the wedding feast of the Lamb in the heavenly Jerusalem.1 Cor 11:20; ⇒ Rev 19:9

 

The Breaking of Bread, because Jesus used this rite, part of a Jewish meat when as master of the table he blessed and distributed the bread,Mt 14:19; ⇒ 15:36; ⇒ Mk 8:6, ⇒ 19 above all at the Last Supper.Mt 26:26; ⇒ 1 Cor 11:24 It is by this action that his disciples will recognize him after his Resurrection,Lk 24:13-35 and it is this expression that the first Christians will use to designate their Eucharistic assemblies;Acts 2:42, ⇒ 46; ⇒ 20:7, ⇒ 11 by doing so they signified that all who eat the one broken bread, Christ, enter into communion with him and form but one body in him.1 Cor 10:16-174

The Eucharistic assembly (synaxis), because the Eucharist is celebrated amid the assembly of the faithful, the visible expression of the Church.1 Cor 11:17-34

1330 The memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection.

The Holy Sacrifice, because it makes present the one sacrifice of Christ the Savior and includes the Church's offering. the terms holy sacrifice of the Mass, "sacrifice of praise," spiritual sacrifice, pure and holy sacrifice are also used,Heb 13:15 since it completes and surpasses all the sacrifices of the Old Covenant.

The Holy and Divine Liturgy, because the Church's whole liturgy finds its center and most intense expression in the celebration of this sacrament; in the same sense we also call its celebration the Sacred Mysteries. We speak of the Most Blessed Sacrament because it is the Sacrament of sacraments. the Eucharistic species reserved in the tabernacle are designated by this same name.

1331 Holy Communion, because by this sacrament we unite ourselves to Christ, who makes us sharers in his Body and Blood to form a single body.1 Cor 10: 16-17 We also call it: the holy things (ta hagia; sancta)Apostolic Constitutions 8, 13,12 PG 1,1108; Didache 9, 5; 10:6: SCh: 248,176- 178 - the first meaning of the phrase "communion of saints" in the Apostles' Creed - the bread of angels, bread from heaven, medicine of immortality,St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Eph. 20, 2 SCh 10, 76 viaticum....

1332 Holy Mass (Missa), because the liturgy in which the mystery of salvation is accomplished concludes with the sending forth (missio) of the faithful, so that they may fulfill God's will in their daily lives.

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