Our Lady of Lourdes
Lourdes, France
A pilgrimage in nine stops to the grotto of the Immaculate Conception
In 1858 Our Lady appeared eighteen times to a poor, sickly girl named Bernadette Soubirous at a grotto by the river Gave. Lourdes became the great shrine of the sick — a place people come not always to be cured, but always to be healed. Walk it here over nine days, one station a day, especially if illness, distance, or age keep you from going in person.
The nine days
Day 1 · Setting out — The Call
On the road to the Pyrenees
Day 2 · Arrival — The Grotto
Massabielle — the hollow in the rock
Day 3 · Healing — The Spring
The water gesture at the Baths
Day 4 · Turning — The Turning
The chapels of Reconciliation
Day 5 · Suffering united — The Way of the Cross
The stations on the hillside
Day 6 · Entrustment — I Am the Immaculate Conception
The Upper Basilica, above the grotto
Day 7 · Prayer with Mary — The Rosary
The Rosary Basilica — fifteen mosaic chapels
Day 8 · The Real Presence — The Blessing of the Sick
The Eucharistic procession, five o'clock
Day 9 · Light & sending — The River of Light
The torchlight procession, nine o'clock