Why is Lourdes so special for Catholics?

Answer 1

Lourdes is important to Christians because Our Lady appeared to St Bernadette and led her to a spring with healing water. Many people have been healed from the water and many Catholics go on pilgrimage to Lourdes.

.

Roman Catholic AnswerThe most important thing about Lourdes is God's message to us, which He sent via the Blessed Virgin Mary: poverty, prayer, penance, and the Church. The healings are just miracles attesting to the fact that this is a genuine miracle and we are to listen to it. In all the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin she has only appeared to reinforce the message of the Scriptures and Holy Church. Below are two links about Lourdes and its message, and the third link is to a book about St. Bernadette's writings.

Answer 2

A:Many Catholic shrines are associated with alleged apparitions of the virgin Mary. In the case of Lourdes, Bernadette Soubirous, a 14-year-old peasant girl, told her mother that she had seen a 'lady' in the cave of Massabielle, about a mile from Lourdes, while she was gathering firewood with her sister and a friend. Similar appearances of the lady were reported on seventeen further occasions that year, and many Christians believe the sightings to have been of Mary mother of Jesus.

When a location becomes known for having been visited by the Holy Mother, it becomes a place of pilgrimage and donations to the local church quickly allow for the construction of impressive shrines and for the betterment of the church and its community. Pope Pius IX authorised the local bishop to permit the veneration of the Virgin Mary in Lourdes in 1862. Lourdes is now a site for Catholic pilgrimage, receiving over 80,000 pilgrims a year. It renowned for its cures and approximately 7000 people have sought to have cures confirmed as miracles, but only 68 of these have been declared as scientifically inexplicable by both the Lourdes Medical Bureau and the Catholic Church. This number is so small as to suggest that these cases were likely to have been cured or gone into remission anyway.

The truth of the apparitions of Lourdes is not an article of faith for Catholics.

Answer 3

It is a great place of pilgrimage. In 1858, a young girl called Bernadette Soubirous, saw a number of apparitions of the Virgin Mary. She later became St. Bernadette. Since then millions of people from all over the world have visited Lourdes, which is in France. They come to the place where the apparitions happened. They pray there, they bathe there, they go to Mass, the have processions, they visit the places that were important in St. Bernadette's life and do many other things. It attracts many very sick people in hope of a cure and even some spiritual reward for being there. It is a very special place for anyone that has visited it. Mainly Catholics, but also other Christians and even non-Christians visit it.

Answer 4

Lourdes is the home of the Grotto of Massabielle, one of the most important shrines in the Catholic Faith. Approximately five million pilgrims, of whom a great number are sick or handicapped desiring a cure, come to Lourdes each year to drink the water from the Holy Spring.

Answer 5

When a location becomes known for having been visited by the Holy Mother, it becomes a place of pilgrimage and donations to the local church quickly allow for the construction of impressive shrines and for the betterment of the church and its community. In this case, a 14-year-old peasant girl, Bernadette Soubirous, told her mother that she had seen a 'lady' in the cave of Massabielle, about a mile from Lourdes, while she was gathering firewood with her sister and a friend. Similar appearances of the lady were reported on seventeen further occasions that year, and many Christians believe the sightings to have been of Mary mother of Jesus.

Pope Pius IX authorised the local bishop to permit the veneration of the Virgin Mary in Lourdes in 1862. Lourdes is now a site for Catholic pilgrimage, receiving over 80,000 pilgrims a year. It renowned for its cures and approximately 7000 people have sought to have cures confirmed as miracles, but only 68 of these have been declared as scientifically inexplicable by both the Lourdes Medical Bureau and the Catholic Church. This number is so small as to suggest that these cases were likely to have been cured or gone into remission anyway.

While Lourdes is important for the Catholic Church, it is not at all important for other Christians, most of whom are barely aware of its existence.

For more information, please visit: http://christianity.answers.com/catholicism/visions-of-the-virgin-mary

Answer 6

Many Catholic shrines are associated with alleged apparitions of the virgin Mary. In the case of Lourdes, Bernadette Soubirous, a 14-year-old peasant girl, told her mother that she had seen a 'lady' in the cave of Massabielle, about a mile from Lourdes, while she was gathering firewood with her sister and a friend. Similar appearances of the lady were reported on seventeen further occasions that year, and many Christians believe the sightings to have been of Mary mother of Jesus.

When a location becomes known for having been visited by the Holy Mother, it becomes a place of pilgrimage and donations to the local church quickly allow for the construction of impressive shrines and for the betterment of the church and its community. Pope Pius IX authorised the local bishop to permit the veneration of the Virgin Mary in Lourdes in 1862. Lourdes is now a site for Catholic pilgrimage, receiving over 80,000 pilgrims a year. It renowned for its cures and approximately 7000 people have sought to have cures confirmed as miracles, but only 68 of these have been declared as scientifically inexplicable by both the Lourdes Medical Bureau and the Catholic Church. This number is so small as to suggest that these cases were likely to have been cured or gone into remission anyway.

The truth of the apparitions of Lourdes is not an article of faith for Catholics.
For more information, please visit: http://christianity.answers.com/catholicism/visions-of-the-virgin-mary

Answer 7

Catholic Answer
The most important thing about Lourdes is God's message to us, which He sent via the Blessed Virgin Mary: poverty, prayer, penance, and the Church. The healings are just miracles attesting to the fact that this is a genuine miracle and we are to listen to it. In all the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin she has only appeared to reinforce the message of the Scriptures and Holy Church. Below are two links about Lourdes and its message, and the third link is to a book about St. Bernadette's writings.

http://www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/approved_apparitions/lourdes/miracles1.html

http://en.lourdes-france.org/deepen/cures-and-miracles

http://www.Amazon.com/Holy-Life-Writings-Bernadette-Lourdes/dp/158617116X

http://www.ewtn.com/library/mary/bernlife.htm

Answer 8

For Catholics Lourdes is one of the most visited places in the world. It is important because in 1858 there were 18 apparitions to St. Bernadette. It is also where Our Lady confirmed that she was the Immaculate Conception, a very important element of the Catholic faith.

Answer 9

Mary appeared to St. Bernadette in Lourdes to deliver a message of penance. Also, many miracles have happened here.

Answer 10

Lourdes is a special place because it is where Saint Bernadette had 18 visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary.