Our Lady of Lourdes
Feast day: February 11
Immaculate Virgin who appeared at Lourdes in 1858, patroness of the sick and symbol of divine mercy.
Between February and July 1858, the Virgin Mary appeared eighteen times to Bernadette Soubirous, a humble young girl of Lourdes, France.
At the grotto of Massabielle, Mary asked for penance and prayer and requested that a chapel be built in her honor.
Bernadette dug in the earth and a spring flowed forth, soon becoming a center of many healings and pilgrimages.
In 1862, the bishop of Tarbes officially recognized the supernatural character of the apparitions.
Pope Pius IX had proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854; Lourdes confirmed this teaching in the experience of the faithful.
Her liturgical feast is February 11. Lourdes receives millions of pilgrims and is one of the world's greatest Marian shrines.
Dedicated prayer
To the Immaculate Virgin who appeared at Lourdes, we ask health, conversion, and trust in God's mercy.
Read prayer →