Emma Jane Kirby is a twat of the first water!
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...
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.
****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.
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.
For those who believe, no explanation is necessary; for those who do not, no explanation will suffice.
Why didn’t this get posted on the Religion Forum?