February 11 - Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes

 On this day, 168 years ago, at Lourdes, France, “the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette Soubirous, a poor/uneducated/physically frail young girl whose family lived on the margins of society and practiced the faith imperfectly.

By human standards, she seemed an unlikely choice.

Yet the Church has always recognized that God delights in raising up the lowly. Mary’s choice of Bernadette powerfully reflects this Gospel logic so often affirmed in Vatican teaching on divine grace and humility.

Over the course of the apparitions, Mary revealed herself as the Immaculate Conception, affirming the doctrine solemnly defined only four years earlier.

In 1862, after careful theological/medical investigation, ecclesiastical authority formally approved the apparitions, allowing public devotion.

Since then, Lourdes has become one of the world’s most important pilgrimage sites—not primarily because of physical cures, but because it leads souls back to Christ through repentance/prayer/trust in God’s mercy, themes consistently emphasized by the Holy See in its teaching on Marian devotion.

The healings associated with Lourdes are never presented by the Church as magic or spectacle. Vatican commissions have insisted on rigorous medical scrutiny, underscoring that any authentic healing ultimately comes from Jesus Christ.

Mary’s role, as the Church teaches, is always maternal/intercessory, drawing attention away from herself, toward her Son.

At Lourdes, the simple/enduring message entrusted to Bernadette focused on prayer/penance/conversion of heart, joined to charity toward the suffering.

Recognizing this profound spiritual meaning, Pope John Paul II designated February 11 as the World Day of the Sick, inviting the whole Church to contemplate the mystery of suffering in light of Christ’s redemptive love, to renew concrete acts of compassion toward the ill/the vulnerable.” (Samurai Christi Media)

So many take-aways for reflection during this beautiful Feast.

One, Mama Mary has continued to call us, the whole world to pray/do penance/have a conversion of heart, to point us all back to her Son, Jesus Christ, and to God our Father.

Two, Mama Mary as our Mother.

“Mary is the Mother of the Church, was given this role by Jesus before He gave His life on the Cross. She was present when the Church began and is essential to its foundation. Mary is the perfect disciple of Christ, the Head of the Church. She’s in complete union with God, her entire being points to Him”.

  In his homily, St. Josemaria Escriva said “she is a mother who anticipates our requests. Knowing our needs, she comes quickly to our aid. If we recall that God’s mercies come to us through the hands of our Lady, each of us can find many reasons for feeling that Mary is our mother in a very special way.

For example, recall the marriage at Cana.

Our Lady was a guest at one of those noisy country weddings. She, a woman, a housewife, a concerned mother, was the only one who noticed the wine was running out, to notice something was lacking and calls Her Son Jesus’ attention.”

Third, Mama Mary as our intercessor who fully believed in the will of God, of His Son Jesus Christ. "Do whatever He tells you. "Ad Jesum per Mariam, to Jesus through Mary.

  This phrase attributed to “[Saint] Louis Grignion de Montfort encouraged all “to entrust ourselves to Mary in imitation of Christ, to give oneself entirely to the Blessed Virgin, in order to belong entirely to Jesus Christ through her.” (International Marian Research Institute)

  “Mary never seeks attention for herself. Whenever she is praised, she uses it to glorify the Lord.

   Mary never desires anything for herself. Whenever she is given anything, she gives it to the Lord.

  Mary never serves herself. She serves her spiritual children by loving, guiding, comforting, and interceding for them. She faithfully serves the Lord and brings her children to Him.”