Lourdes security measures are being stepped up for next week’s feast of the Assumption after a series of recent terrorist attacks in France. The prefect of the Pyrénées region, Beatrice Lagarde, says the authorities even considered cancelling the Mass and procession next Monday, which is normally attended by 25,000 people. Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Lourdes’
Wonderful reasons to be Catholic
Tuesday, May 10th, 2016
Following my recent blog on David Aaronovitch’s memoir, there was a comment by someone going by the name “Terry Mushroom”. I don’t always read all the comments following blogs, but Terry’s was so good I actually wrote it down (a first for me) and wish to share it here for those who might have missed Read more
Straight and gay couples invited to Lourdes
Tuesday, February 16th, 2016
Couples, married or not, heterosexual or homosexual, were invited to spend Valentine’s Day in Lourdes. According to an AFP report, a flyer was put out by Tarbes et Lourdes diocese touting a “couples weekend”. “Come to Lourdes to say I love you,” the flyer stated. It featured the silhouettes of a man and a woman Read more
Campaign for return of St Bernadette’s remains to Lourdes
Tuesday, May 12th, 2015Campaigners are arguing for return of the body of St Bernadette Soubirous to Lourdes, where she reported seeing visions of the Virgin Mary in 1858. An association, which has the support of several of the saint’s descendants, want her body to be returned from a chapel in Nevers in Burgundy. The association argues that the Read more
Lourdes records its 69th official miracle
Tuesday, July 23rd, 2013The sanctuary of Lourdes has announced its 69th official miracle — the curing of an Italian woman following her visit to the baths at the Marian shrine in 1989. Danila Castelli, a wife and mother, had experienced a spontaneous and severe blood pressure hypertensive crisis, as well as other serious health problems for which she Read more
Flooding closes grotto at Lourdes
Friday, June 21st, 2013
Heavy flooding in southwest France has forced the closure of the Marian shrine at Lourdes, for the second time in a year. As hundreds of pilgrims were evacuated from nearby hotels, officials used sandbags and other barriers to minimise damage to the grotto where the Virgin Mary appeared to St Bernadette Soubirous in 1858. About Read more
Too much water at Lourdes: Clean-up under way
Friday, October 26th, 2012A massive clean-up was under way Sunday in the French pilgrimage town of Lourdes, famed for its Catholic sanctuaries, after flash floods forced the evacuation of some 450 pilgrims and closed the main shrine. As the waters receded to reveal thick carpets of mud, serious damage to the sanctuaries became apparent, but they were due Read more
Lourdes shrines reopen after floods
Tuesday, October 23rd, 2012
Shrines in the French mountain town of Lourdes began to reopen on Monday after flash floods that caused hundreds of thousands of euros in damage. Hundreds of pilgrims who had come to visit the famous grotto where the Virgin Mary reportedly appeared to a peasant girl in 1858 had to be evacuated after heavy flooding Read more