Lourdes and the Immaculate Conception

“O my mother, in your heart I placed all my anguish of my heart and it is there that I gain strength and courage.” — Saint Bernadette’s Personal Notebook

Our Lady of Lourdes is perhaps the most prominent Feast Day of the month. In 1858, 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous received 18 visits from a “Lady” in Lourdes, France. The visitations started on Feb, 11th, the day we now celebrate.

After several visits, Bernadette asked the “Lady” her name. The vision replied in the local dialect, “Que soy era Immaculada Counceptiou.” The translation is, “I am the Immaculate Conception.” Bernadette was astonished. She did not know what the phrase could mean. The official Lourdes Sanctuaire site explains, “Bernadette was ignorant of the fact that this theological expression was assigned to the Blessed Virgin. Four years earlier, in 1854, Pope Pius IX declared this a truth of the Catholic Faith.”

An ‘Important Belief’

The Immaculate Conception is an important belief that dates back to the early Church. Mary was the new tabernacle who was spared from original sin in order to be a pure and holy vessel for carrying Jesus. Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary by Brant Pitre is a beautiful book that explains the biblical foundations of Mary’s immaculate conception and the significance of having a relationship with Jesus’ mother. Another great resource to learn about the key points of the Catholic Church’s Immaculate Conception doctrine is catholic.com. But I digress, let’s get back to Lourdes.

Bernadette’s visions helped to further the knowledge and love of our Blessed Mother and her immaculate conception. Visitors to the natural grotto where Mary appeared found healing. Word spread that miracles had occurred. Droves of people flocked to Lourdes hoping to see Mary and be healed. The Lourdes Sanctuaire site tells Saint Bernadette’s life story, recounts all of her Marian apparitions and the healings that occurred.

Strong Devotion

Traces of Our Lady of Lourdes and the Immaculate Conception are all over Saint Mary-of-the-Woods. Saint Mother Theodore Guerin had a strong devotion to Mary. Once she was able to associate with the Archconfraternity in France, who promised to assist the fledgling congregation of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, her devotion deepened still. Mother Theodore wrote in her Journals and Letters of this day, “We became in a particular manner Children of Mary, that the Blessed Virgin deigned to take the poor children of the Woods of Indiana under her maternal protection. It was not long before we experienced the effects of this protection.” The Sisters of Providence were among the first congregations to spread the Manual of the Archconfraternity and encourage devotion to Mary’s Immaculate Heart.

Years after Saint Mother Theodore passed, the effects of Mary’s intercession and love still permeated the Woods. The campus church was dedicated to Immaculada Counceptiou in 1907. Many Sisters of Providence through the years have taken their religious vows and celebrated anniversaries on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Dec. 8th. It is a widely lauded Feast Day as Sisters celebrate their Jubilarian anniversaries of 60, 70, 75, or even 80 years of being a Sister.

Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes

In 1918, Mother Mary Cleophas Foley promised the Blessed Mother a shrine in honor of Lourdes, should World War I end before the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. The armistice was signed on Nov. 11 and so began construction of the Wood’s Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes. The Grotto was designed with the exact measurements from the original in France.

The lasting effects of a devotion to Mary can be seen throughout the Woods campus to this day. As Saint Bernadette says in the quote above, there is strength and courage to be gained by having a relationship with Mary.

Do you feel called to understand or deepen your relationship with the Blessed Mother? Check out 33 Days to Morning Glory, a do-it-yourself retreat and guide for consecration to Jesus through Mary. The author Father Michael Gaitley explains, “I wrote this book for one main reason: Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary (Marian consecration) truly is “the surest, easiest, shortest, and the most perfect means” to becoming a saint, and there should be an easy and updated way to dive in to such a blessing.”