Posted on 04/29/2008 1:41:41 PM PDT by NYer
Paris, Apr 29, 2008 / 12:37 pm (CNA).- The Bishops’ Conference of France has officially announced that Pope Benedict XVI will travel to France for the 150th anniversary of the Marian apparitions that took place in Lourdes.
The trip, which is scheduled for September 12-15, 2008, will begin with a greeting by French officials after which the Holy Father will head to the College des Bernardins where he will address the “world of culture.” Then the Pope will pray vespers at the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Following the prayer service, he will address young people gathered at the Cathedral.
On Saturday, September 13, the Pope will celebrate Mass in Paris and afterwards travel to Lourdes. “During his visit to Paris, Benedict XVI desires to meet with representatives of other Christian confessions and of the Jewish and Muslim communities,” the French bishops’ said in their statement.
“In Lourdes on Saturday afternoon, the Pope will carry out the first stages of the jubilee way. That night, at the end of the candlelight procession, he will address the pilgrims,” the bishops said.
On Sunday, September 14, the Holy Father will “preside at Mass for the pilgrims. That afternoon, he will meet with the Bishops’ Conference of France and end the day with a Eucharistic procession.”
Finally, on Monday morning, the Pope will take part in the fourth stage of the jubilee way and will bless the infirm during a Eucharistic celebration. He will return to Rome on Monday afternoon.
“The bishops of France express to the Holy Father their gratitude and invite the faithful to mobilize themselves to warmly welcome the Pope and to give thanks to God for his message in Lourdes,” the bishops said in conclusion.
More information on the trip can be found at: www.pape-france.org and www.papeaparis.org
While no firm evidence exists to indicate that the grotto of Lourdes was a sacred place in ancient times, there is a powerful healing energy present that has made the site, in only 140 years, the most visited pilgrimage shrine in all Christendom. The origins of the pilgrimage to Lourdes began with Bernadette Soubirous, the fourteen year old daughter of devout Christian peasants. Between February 11 and July 16, 1858, Bernadette saw apparitions of a white-robed lady 18 times in a small grotto called Massabiele, along the banks of the river Gave de Pau. In the apparitions the lady told Bernadette to "go tell the village priest to build a chapel here" and that many people would soon come in procession to the holy grotto. On the day of the 16th apparition, March 25, the lady revealed herself as Mary. During her ecstatic trance in front of the grotto that day, Bernadette suddenly rose from her knees, walked a short distance, and fell to the ground. Fervently she began to dig in the earth until a small puddle of water appeared. Over the next few days the puddle gradually formed into a pool and eventually became the sacred spring for which Lourdes is now so famous.
This will give the Boston Herald’s Margery Egan more material to condemn the Pope for not coming to Boston. How dare he recognize the Catholics in the rest of the world! Doesn’t the Pope know who she is?!
Thank you for the brief history of the Shrine. I’m looking forward to this visit, too.
Would it not be wonderful to be at Lourdes when the Pope is there and to attend Mass? I watched on EWTN when Pope John Paul the Great went to Lourdes a couple of years before his death. Lourdes is beautiful as well as a holy place.
God knows French Christendom needs it.
I understand P. Benedict XVI is fluent in the French language - better than his English. Maybe dimwit Joy Behar will mock his German accent in French when he is at Lourdes??? Oh, wait. I don’t think Joy knows any other language but NY accented English.
A place of great peace! It was wonderful to see the Holy Father at the Shrine.
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