Lourdes

I loved Lourdes and would like to come here and spend a few days. I'd like to wander through all the streets and explore all the little shops, even the ones that sell the tacky souvenirs. I'd like to spend more time examining more closely the inside of the churches and chapels. There is so much to see inside that it is impossible to take it all in in just one afternoon. I found the whole experience quite surreal. I remember as a child getting a postcard from when my Aunty visited and then thinking how sacred it was that she had brought us back real water in a bottle from Lourdes. I remember watching the movie about St Bernadette and thinking how one day I would love to visit...never really believing that I would. So to stand at the grotto yesterday and wash my hands and drink the water was truly amazing. I felt completely at peace in Lourdes and despite the crowds of other pilgrims the whole place was so quiet and peaceful. 

Lourdes is the sight where the Virgin Mary appeared to a young girl Bernadette Soubirous on the 11th February 1858. There were 18 apparitions in total. The 'lady' that appeared to Bernadette told her to bathe in the water, at the time there was no water at the site, but Bernadette followed the lady's instrutions and dug, and a spring did appear. On 25th March the lady told Bernadette that she was the Immaculate Conception. Today thousands of pilgrims visit the grotto to pray and many sick and disabled go there to bathe in the water in the hope of a miracle. To witness the faith that the people who were gathered there yesterday had in the healing powers of the water was a moment of grace. Last night we went back for the candlelight procession where we walked with hundreds of other pilgrims from around the world and said the rosary. It was an unforgettable experience.