Witnessing, praying and serving in union with Lourdes! This is what the Family of Our Lady of Lourdes wants all the members of the Confraternity throughout the world to experience.
The Our Lady of Lourdes Family is a community of prayer where we celebrate Our Lady of Lourdes by cultivating love of the Immaculate Conception and Saint Bernadette as a family. The Family’s role is also to evangelise through sharing and fellowship, and by trying to bring together all those around the world who want to experience this pilgrimage with Mary and Bernadette in their hearts.
After the death of Fr André Cabes (former rector of the Sanctuary and facilitator of the Family of Our Lady of Lourdes), which had a profound effect on all members, Fr Michel Daubanes, rector of the Sanctuary, appointed Fr Emmanuel Mvomo as the Family’s new coordinator, to disseminate the life and activities of the Family of Our Lady of Lourdes. In this way, the Family participates in the great symphony of Lourdes, not alongside the Sanctuary, but as an integral part of it.
The Family of Our Lady of Lourdes is made up of nearly 300 people spread across Europe, America, Africa and Asia… The members of the Family have different ways of coming together. In Lourdes, members meet once a month to share prayer and a meal. In Miami, they meet on the 11th of each month for a time of conversation and prayer. Following the example of Mary and Bernadette, each group is encouraged to experience this meeting as a time of grace given by the Lord.
Gatherings of the Family of our Lady of Lourdes
– On the first Saturday of each month, the rosary is celebrated at 3.30pm at the Grotto in the presence of the Family of Our Lady of Lourdes and its banner. It will be recited for the intentions of the whole Family, in Lourdes and throughout the world, and is broadcast on TV Lourdes and YouTube. It is also available to view on demand for those who want to join from other parts of the world.
– Every Saturday at 11.15am at the Rosary Basilica there is a mass for the intentions of the Family of Our Lady of Lourdes.
– On the 11th of each month, the 11.15am Mass at the Rosary Basilica will be celebrated for the intentions of the Family of Our Lady of Lourdes. The mass will be broadcast live by TV Lourdes, giving all members the opportunity to come together in communion.
– Members of the Family are invited to take an active part in the Processions on Marian feasts and solemnities. In particular on 11th and 18th February; 25th March; 15th and 22nd August and 8th December (also broadcast live on TV Lourdes).
Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception
The Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception, canonically established in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes by the Bishop of Tarbes on 8th December 1872, was raised to an Archconfraternity by Popes Pius IX and then Leo XIII, first in France and then the whole world. Saint Pius X gave it its title and enriched it with spiritual privileges.
In the Holy Year of Mercy (8th December 2015-20th November 2016), Mgr. Nicolas Brouwet, then Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes, wanted to make serving the mission entrusted by Mary to Bernadette of Lourdes, a sign of greater commitment by everyone (individuals, families, communities, Sanctuaries, institutions) so that the Church might manifest itself ever more as ‘an oasis of mercy’, offering wounded bodies and hearts the source of healing and forgiveness. The aim was to make the grace of the apparition at the Grotto of Massabielle ever more present in all walks of life. Four years after the proclamation of the dogma of her immaculate conception, the Mother of God revealed her name to Bernadette, when she told her on 25th March 1858, “I am the Immaculate Conception”. United by the bonds of prayer and charity, the people and institutions involved enable the ‘sound like a gust of wind’ that was heard at Lourdes on 11th February 1858 to continue to be heard today in the hearts of so many people.
CONTACT
* Fr Emmanuel Mvomo, CFIC
“Chapelain” of the Sanctuary, FNDL “chapelain”
Tel + 33 (0)7 51 21 50 01
* Sister Geneviève Pagès, Sister of Charity of Nevers
Tel. + 33 (0)6 22 73 30 29
Family of Our Lady of Lourdes
1 avenue Mgr. Thèas
65108 Lourdes Cedex
email: famillendl@lourdes-france.com
