On 11th February 1858, a young girl had an unexpected encounter that would change her whole life and that of an entire village. “I saw a lady dressed in white: she was wearing a white dress, a white veil too, a blue sash and a yellow rose on each foot.” Bernadette made the sign of the Cross and recited the rosary with the Lady.
“The beginnings of a meeting are often obscure. What about the first apparition that was in total silence? It is in human history that God reveals himself. A look back at the founding event of the pilgrimages to Lourdes.
In the cachot, life was wretched. There was no more wood… Going to Massabielle, on this 11th February, Bernadette was unaware that she was journeying towards God. What she did not know was that she had been chosen. In the harsh reality of her ordinary life, Our Lady was waiting for her and expecting her for a meeting, a calling, a mission. In the same way, in the Gospel, the Apostles were called from the midst of their boats and nets (Matt. 4:18-22).
For us too, ordinary life, at work, in our families, in our villages or neighbourhoods, is the very place where God goes before us, joins us, here where our faith is being lived out. And the choice made by Mary is also the choice made by the Church: the selection of, the preference for the poor.” (A Brief Look at Bernadette and the message of Lourdes, P.55, Michel de Roton rector of the Sanctuary 1971-1977 and 1993-1997)
Programme for the feast of our Lady of Lourdes, 11th february 2022
Thursday 10th February:
8:15 p.m.: Musical Ode with the petits chanteurs à la Croix de Bois
9:00 p.m.: Marian torchlight procession.
Friday 11th February:
10:00 a.m.: International Mass followed by Angelus at the Grotto with evocation of the first apparition of the Virgin Mary to Bernadette.
3:00 pm Rosary in English at the Grotto
3:30 p.m. Rosary in French at the Grotto with the petits chanteurs à la Croix de Bois
5:00 p.m.: Eucharistic procession and blessing of the sick.
9:00 p.m.: Marian torchlight procession with the petits chanteurs à la Croix de Bois
Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes from 3rd – 11th February 2022
Mary, Our Lady of Lourdes,
we turn to you,
with our hearts full of trust.
You who appeared to Bernadette
in the hollow of the rock of Massabielle on 11th February 1858,
to reveal your name to her and guide her to your Son,
give us the grace to keep the Faith,
to persevere in Hope and to live in Love.
In these difficult times for the world,
help us, Mother of all grace, woman of hope,
on our on-going journey on the path of the Gospel.
May your protection allow us to glimpse,
in the midst of these testing times,
the radiant signs of the presence of God in our lives.
We especially commend to you those
who are suffering and worried,
who feel weak and without hope.
We pray for those we love
and those we do not love enough.
We entrust to you the Church and her clergy,
that Christ will always be the foundation stone on which they lean
to announce the Good News of Salvation.
We commend ourselves, Virgin Mary,
to your maternal protection.
Amen
Every day, say a decade of the rosary and recite the invocations three times
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us
Saint Bernadette, pray for us
Go to Mass and communion, preferably on 11th February.
On 10-12th February, the Lourdes February Days will bring together at the Sanctuary both face-to-face and live-streamed, the 850 international pilgrimage stakeholders (pilgrimage directors, hospitality presidents, religious tourism professionals, Sanctuary partners, etc.).
