Posted on 02/09/2008 3:59:15 PM PST by fishhound
Lourdes is a massive Roman Catholic pilgrimage site with more hotels than any other French city, except Paris.
It reminded me of my father's attic - small, overcrowded, fusty, and so stuffed full of junk that the minute I entered I used to panic, desperate to get out again.
So, when I arrived at my very tired-looking hotel, which appeared to be perfumed by the socks of last season's pilgrims and saw its lobby, packed full of gaudy Virgin Mary memorabilia, you will forgive me when the words "Good God!" escaped my lips, and not in any laudatory way.
When I had recovered from my temporary crisis of faith, I set off down the steep hill towards the famous Lourdes shrine.
I had come early in the pilgrimage calendar and almost every shop and hotel I passed was still boarded up.
All, that is, except the souvenir shops which were very much open for business.
Their shelves were full of wonders: Virgin Mother statues arranged in height order from miniature to monster, Holy Mother cigarette lighters and ashtrays, poster-sized holograms which, according to the angle they were tilted at, showed either the bearded Jesus or the fresh-faced Mary.
Unfortunately the quality was not entirely consistent and I am sorry to say that in some of the holograms Mary had a permanent five o'clock shadow.
Surely the "magic of Lourdes" - that was the phrase used by so many people I knew who had come here - had to be more than this.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
Emma Jane Kirby is a twat of the first water!
people will connect more to Mother Mary than they ever will Emma.
TRANSLATION:
Lourdes is cult-infested but has accommodation.
It is French, and therefore dirty.
Paris remains dirty.
What a totally lame article...
I’ve been to Lourdes — I find it a very spiritual city. There are 5.5 million visitors a year, year after year...
People gravitate toward folks who can use capitalization.
It's a fact, and my mom is not named Mary.
That's JESUS's mom, and just His. Not yours or mine.
humblegunner;
I am a Catholic...She is the mother of My Lord, Jesus, and she is my Holy Mother.
God Bless and Keep You.
Fishhound
ping
Roger that, Fishhound!
Last week I met one of the visionaries of Mejegoria at my church. He is making a tour in New England.
I’ve never felt the need to travel to Lourdes or Fatima or any of the other sites where Mary appeared. I’m sure it helps bolster the faith of some, and I know some do it out of desperation for an ill family member, as the parents of a friend who died of leukemia when we were 9.
Some Brit smartass (might have been Aldous Huxley) once said of Lourdes, "I see lots of crutches but no wooden legs...lots of eyeglasses but no glass eyes."
I think he had a point.
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For those who cannot make the journey to France, the Pope will also grant indulgences to Catholics who pray at places of worship dedicated to the Madonna of Lourdes from Feb 2 to Feb 11. Indulgences may also be granted under special circumstances to people too sick to visit the shrine, the Vatican said.
We are the adopted (by Baptism) sons of God, the Mother of God is also our Spiritual Mother.
Jesus just called.
He said quit pre-empting His mom.
He says you have yer own mom, isn't that enough?
Y'all holler at each other now, I'm done playing mediator.
Star Trek Conventions ROCK.
****So, when I arrived at my very tired-looking hotel, which appeared to be perfumed by the socks of last season’s pilgrims and saw its lobby, packed full of gaudy Virgin Mary memorabilia, you will forgive me when the words “Good God!” escaped my lips, and not in any laudatory way.
...
All, that is, except the souvenir shops which were very much open for business. ****
Didn’t Helena, the mother of Constantine have the same reaction when she visited Bethlehem for the first time?
There have been many miracles confirmed there by a medical board, one of whose members is/was an atheist. But out of the vast throngs who go there hoping for a miracle, they are very few and far between.
At least she ended up lighting a candle rather than cursing the darkness. I offered up a humble little prayer for that woman who hoped for so much.
One local family borrowed on their life insurance and flew there with their son afflicted with cerebral palsy and unable to walk or care for himself. He was not cured. But another local related the story of a hearing impaird American whose hearing aid had been dipped in the water, and she was able to hear with it again.
I'm wondering why Ms. Watts went there anyway. She knew beforehand what she would encounter. If it's not your cup of tea, don't go there or trash it for others.
Jesus said from the cross to behold your mother. He was speaking to all of us.
The article fails to mention the reason for the sudden interest in Lourdes: Feb. 11 is the 150th anniversary of the first apparition of the Virgin Mary to Bernadette, if the apparitions really happened.
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