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[Catholic Caucus] Penance! Penance! Penance! — She came to Bernadette | Reject the "Cult of the Body"In many ways the nineteenth century was to become, after the turmoil of the Revolution, a century of Marian favors. To mention but a single instance, everyone is familiar today with the "miraculous medal." This medal, with its image of "Mary conceived without sin," was revealed to a humble daughter of Saint Vincent de Paul... . A few years later, from February 11 to July 16, 1858, the Blessed Virgin Mary was pleased, as a new favor, to manifest herself in the territory...

Abp. Viganò Petitions Holy See to Reopen Lourdes Healing Pools Catholics join campaign after authorities succumb to coronavirus scare ROME (ChurchMilitant.com) - Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò and other leading Catholic figures are denouncing the closure of the miraculous pools at the shrine of Lourdes and appealing to the Vatican's apostolic delegate to reopen the baths immediately for pilgrims seeking healing.   "The decision to close all the pools 'as a precaution' and 'until further notice,' as stated by the sanctuary, has disconcerted and aggrieved the Catholic faithful all over the world," the online petition Keep Lourdes Open states.   "Those who deny the miraculous nature of the...

ROME - As the number of people testing positive for the coronavirus in Europe continued to grow, the French Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes announced that pilgrims were still welcome, but the pools the sick bathe in hoping for healing would be closed temporarily. “Our first concern will always be the safety and health of the pilgrims and the shrine’s working community,” said a note posted Feb. 28 on the shrine’s website. “As a precaution, the pools have been closed until further notice.” In the center of Rome, the French Church of St. Louis, home of three famous Caravaggio...

OME (CNS) — As the number of people testing positive for the coronavirus in Europe continued to grow, the French Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes announced that pilgrims were still welcome, but the pools the sick bathe in hoping for healing would be closed temporarily. “Our first concern will always be the safety and health of the pilgrims and the shrine’s working community,” said a note posted Feb. 28 on the shrine’s website. “As a precaution, the pools have been closed until further notice.” In the center of Rome, the French Church of St. Louis, home of three famous...

Sister Bernadette Moriau was miraculously cured in July 2008A French bishop declared Sunday that the recovery a long-debilitated nun made after she visited the shrine in Lourdes was a miracle, the 70th event to be recognised as an act of divine intervention at the world-famous pilgrimage site. Bishop Jacques Benoit-Gonin of Beauvais proclaimed the miracle nearly a decade after Bernadette Moriau attended a blessing of the sick ceremony at the Lourdes sanctuary in southern France. The Bishop of Lourdes, Nicolas Brouwet announced the declaration during Mass at the shrine’s basilica. The shrine in southern France where apparitions of Mary, Jesus’s...

White Greater Double “My bow shall appear in the clouds and I will remember My covenant with you.” THE LESSONS AT MATINS on February 11th, 1854 (Thursday in Sexagesima week) recalled these words, and the world soon learned that on this very day Mary had appeared, more fair than the sign of hope which typified her at the time of the deluge. Portents, the realization of which we see in these days, were being multiplied. Mankind had grown old, and seemed about to perish in a deluge more dreadful than the former one. “I am the Immaculate Conception,” said...

During the night of 12-13 October it had rained throughout, soaking the ground and the pilgrims who make their way to Fátima from all directions by the thousands. By foot, by cart and even by car they came, entering the bowl of the Cova from the Fátima-Leiria road, which today still passes in front of the large square of the Basilica. From there they made their way down the gently slope to the place where a trestle had been erected over the little holm oak of the apparitions. Today on the site is the modern glass and steel Capelhina (little...

Fr. Don Miller, OFM Image: Saint Bernadette Soubirous en 1861 ou 1862 | photo by abbé P. Bernadou Saint Bernadette Soubirous Saint of the Day for April 16 (January 7, 1844 – April 16, 1879)  Saint Bernadette Soubirous’s Story Bernadette Soubirous was born in 1844, the first child of an extremely poor miller in the town of Lourdes in southern France. The family was living in the basement of a dilapidated building when on February 11, 1858, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette in a cave above the banks of the Gave River near Lourdes. Bernadette, 14 years...

February 11, 2017 Saturday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Gn 3:9-24The LORD God called to Adam and asked him, "Where are you?"He answered, "I heard you in the garden;but I was afraid, because I was naked,so I hid myself."Then he asked, "Who told you that you were naked?You have eaten, then,from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!"The man replied, "The woman whom you put here with me she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it."The LORD God then asked the woman,"Why did you do such a thing?"The...

Thousands of Catholic pilgrims thronged to the French shrine of Lourdes on Monday for Assumption celebrations held under tight security after the murder of a priest, the latest victim in a series of jihadist attacks. The gathering at the sanctuary in the foothills of the Pyrenees is the first major Catholic event in France since priest Jacques Hamel was killed by two jihadists who stormed his church during mass on July 26 and slit his throat. Groups from across Europe, the Middle East and Asia traveled to Lourdes for the occasion, one of the biggest in the Christian calendar. "We've...

Authorities are tightening security at the famous French pilgrimage site of Lourdes over fears it could be a major target for terrorists after a spate of Islamist attacks across the country. Tens of thousands of pilgrims are expected to descend on the site on the feast of the Assumption next Monday for Mass and a procession. Security has been high after a series of terror attacks culminating in the brutal murder of a Catholic priest by two Islamists last month, but authorities have decided to allow the pilgrimage to continue as usual. Béatrice Lagarde, prefect of the Haute-Pyrénées region, told...

Love-themed tours are being offered in the Milan Cathedral for Valentine's Day -- and they'll include homosexual couples. The organization responsible for the restoration and maintenance of the cathedral, La Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo ("The Venerable Factory of the Cathedral"), is sponsoring the romantic tours, with the aim of raising funds for the renovation. The program includes a visit to the Church's spires at sunset. Unlike other tours, which are open to the general public and may include children, this one is aimed specifically at adult couples. If their donation surpasses 80 euros, a personalized certificate is issued as "a...

"A sword will pierce your own soul too, so that the thoughts of many might be revealed." Have you ever wondered what it would be like if people's real motives could be on public display? Some people who aren't usually well thought of could be shown to have pure hearts, wanting good for everyone, envy, wanting others to lose the good things they have, for no one. This is called "simplicity"."I don't need all that, I can handle things on my own." But what would you do if you ever got to the point of "how could it have...

The Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes is celebrated on the 11th of February. On this important Feast Day, here are my thoughts: AT LOURDES AS THE IMMACULATE- The French Shrine of Lourdes is famous and known throughout the world. In this picturesque French Town which is at the foot of the Pyrenees, Our Lady appeared eighteen times to Saint Bernadette Soubirous in 1858. Confirming the dogma proclaimed by Blessed Pope Pius, the Ninth four years earlier, the Mother of God spoke to the little visionary and presented herself as "The Immaculate Conception". She was required to go to the...

LOURDES, France (CNS) -- About 60 retired or active duty U.S. military personnel packed their uniforms, flags, wheelchairs, canes and the inevitable emotional baggage of their daily struggles to take part in a pilgrimage to Lourdes. While many of these men and women, who had been injured in some way in the line of duty, went to seek peace and healing from this sacred place, some said they also found enormous and unexpected blessings from the people they encountered on their journey. The soldiers, together with family members or caregivers, took part in a "Warriors to Lourdes" pilgrimage, sponsored by...

The Truth About Miracles Some of the greatest gifts God has given to the Church for evangelism are the gifts of miracles. As a Pentecostal before I became Catholic, I always believed God still performs miracles, but I never saw anything close to what Catholics too often take for granted in both the number and kind of miracles God pours out upon his One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church in every generation. Everything from the raising of the dead, to restorative miracles of the body and more have been experienced in the Church for 2,000 years fulfilling our Lord’s...

This may be old new for some of you, but it is nice to have good news once in a while.. and repetita iuvant.On the site of Sandro Magister I was reminded that the Holy Father took personal interest in appointing the new bishop of the Diocese of Lourdes in France, a young bishop -hitherto auxiliary in Nanterre, Most Rev. Nicholas Brouwet, who has a bit of a traditional liturgy streak in him. He is only 50 and was ordained in 1992, which makes me feel a bit of an underachiever… thanks be to God.Of note in the article is...

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS JOHN PAUL II FOR THE 12th WORLD DAY OF THE SICK (SHRINE OF LOURDES, FRANCE, FEBRUARY 11, 2004) To my Venerable Brother Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragán President of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care 1. The World Day of the Sick, an event held on a different Continent each year, takes on a singular meaning this time. Indeed, it will take place in Lourdes, France, site of the apparition of the Blessed Virgin on 11 February 1858, which since that time has become the destination of many pilgrimages. In that mountainous region, Our Lady wished...

Lourdes healing hailed as ‘remarkable’ The incredible recovery of a French man, who walked the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage route in Spain after being cured of a paralysed left leg following a trip to Lourdes is being examined as a possible 68th miracle of the shrine Serge Francois, a TV repair worker said he felt a warm glow spread down his herniated leg during a visit to Lourdes in 2002.After having prayed at the Lourdes Grotto (above) Mr Francois reported the healing to the international Medical Committee of Lourdes (CMIL) and 20 doctors have agreed on the remarkable nature of...

I was reflecting on whether the appearance of Sarah Palin on the scene in 2008 had any deeper significance than a mere political phenomenon. Perhaps it is no more than that. But the timing and some of the other circumstances indicate that it may be much more. Interestingly, Sarah Palin's 44th birthday, which occurred on February 11, 2008, coincided with the beginning of the sesquicentennial, or 150th, anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to a young French girl, Bernadette Soubirous, in the village of Lourdes, France. Lourdes is principally known for the numerous cures that have taken...