Nine months before Christmas and the celebration of the birth of Christ, the Catholic Church commemorates the Annunciation, the announcement made to Mary of the imminent birth of Christ.
But in Lourdes we also celebrate an event that, in 1858, changed the life of the small town of 4000 inhabitants …
Programme for 25th March in Lourdes
The night before:
8:30 p.m.: Rosary by torchlight
25th March:
9:30 a.m.: Mass in the Immaculate Conception Basilica
10:00 a.m.: Mass in the Pius X Basilica to commemorate the dedication of the basilica by Cardinal Roncalli, presided over by Mgr. Jean-marc Micas, bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes.
11:15 a.m.: Mass in the Rosary Basilica
12 noon: Angelus at the Grotto and evocation of the apparition
2:00 p.m.: Opportunity to make the water gesture
3:00 p.m.: Rosary at the Grotto and evocation of the apparition
4:00 p.m.: Evocation of the apparition and talk by a “chapelain”
4:30 p.m.: Mass at the Rosary Basilica
5:15 p.m.: Adoration and blessing of the pilgrims
8:30 p.m.: Rosary by torchlight
25th March 1858, sixteenth apparition
During the three weeks when there was no apparition, in a calm that, for officials, seemed to bode well, Bernadette wrapped herself in silence. However, the following day’s feast aroused a subtle hope; those who were convinced that it was the Blessed Virgin who had been appearing to Bernadette, thought that she may well appear for her Annunciation.
Surprise! The buzz that had been circulating for a week attracted a few dozen people.
The young white girl was there, faithful to the appointment she had fixed, for Bernadette alone. After a long absence, the taste of a friendship rediscovered, added to the joy of the previous apparitions.
After Bernadette had made several attempts to put together a sentence that she had tried to learn by heart but had been unable to remember, the vision finally revealed its name: “She raised her eyes to heaven, stretched out her hands which were and open towards the earth then joined them in a sign of prayer, and said to me: Que soy era Immaculada Councepciou.” Bernadette left hurriedly and, on the way back, constantly repeated these that words she did not understand.
These words disturbed the priest. Bernadette was unaware of this theological expression which referred to the Blessed Virgin. Four years earlier, in 1854, Pope Pius IX had made it a truth of the Catholic faith (the dogma of the Immaculate Conception).
Gospel according to Saint Luke, 1:28
“The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.’ But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High…”
