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Medal contains water drawn from the Miraculous Spring of Our Lady Apparitions
Grotto in Lourdes France
On Thursday, February 11th, 1858, the fire in the hearth of the "Cachot" went out.
Bernadette, Toinette and a friend, Baloume, went to Massabielle in search of firewood. There, in the Grotto, a Lady
dressed in “white" appeared to Bernadette. On the way home, Bernadette told her sister about her vision. Toinette, who
had seen nothing herself, told their mother who forbade them to return to the Grotto.
But, on Sunday, February 14th, with her father's permission, Bernadette did return, and the Lady appeared to her a second
time. In town, there was talk of some kind of a carnival prank.
On Thursday, February 18th, Madame Milhet - for whom Louise worked occasionally - and her seamstress, went with Bernadette.
They urged her to ask the Lady to sign her name. Smiling, the Lady spoke for the first time, and said, in the local dialect,
"That won't be necessary... Would you be good enough to come here every day for a fortnight ? ... I promise you happiness,
not in this world, but in the next". In town, the two women talked.
For the fourth apparition, on February 19th, there were eight curious onlookers, thirty the following day, and a hundred
on the 21st. That same evening, Bernadette was summoned by Police Superintendent Jacomet, and submitted to a grueling interrogation.
Although forbidden to go there, on February 23rd she returned to the Grotto and the vision she called “aquero"
- or "that" - appeared again.
On February 24th, for her eight apparition, the Lady said, "Penitence", then, "Would you pray to God for the conversion
of sinners ?" The following day she told Bernadette to "Go and drink at the spring and wash in it" and "eat of the grass that
is there". Obediently, Bernadette dug a hole which filled with muddy water.
On February 27th and 28th, and March 1st, "aquero" appeared again at Massabielle, where a clear spring now flowed.
During the thirteenth vision, on March 2nd, the Lady said, "Tell the priests to let the people come in procession
and let a chapel be built". On March 3rd, she repeated her instructions. But the parish priest, Father Peyramale, required
a sign. "First let her tell you her name, then have her make the rosebush at the Grotto flower", he said.
On March 4th, the last day of the fortnight, the Lady said nothing.
Not until the 16th apparition, on March 25th, did she say, "I am the Immaculate Conception". Bernadette ran to repeat
these words to an astonished Father Peyramale.
On April 7th, nearly a thousand people witnessed the "miracle of the candle".
On July 16th, since the authorities had fenced off the Grotto, Bernadette slipped away to the meadow on the far bank
of the Gave for an eighteenth and final meeting with her Lady. "Never had I seen her looking so beautiful", she said.
THE LITANY OF OUR LADY OF LOURDES
(For Private Use Only)
Lord,
have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear
us.
God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God
the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us.
Exalted model of all mothers, Our
Lady of Lourdes,
Pray for us.
Mother who did suffer so much,
Pray for us.
Mother poor and without shelter,
Pray for us.
Mother who did bear along forgotten roads the fruit of thy womb,
Pray for us.
Who did find no
other shelter for thy Son and our God than a wild cave,
and no other cradle than a manger,
Pray for us.
Who
did declare, "I am the Immaculate Conception,"
Pray for us.
Who did appear to a humble peasant
girl in order
to teach us humility,
Pray for us.
Who was clad in a white robe to remind us of purity,
Pray for us.
Who did wear a girdle of blue to remind us of Heaven,
Pray for us.
Who did tread on a rosebush to remind
us of the sufferings
we must endure in order to merit Heaven,
Pray for us.
Who did carry the rosary
to induce us to pray,
Pray for us.
Who had thy hands joined and thy eyes raised to Heaven to draw us to penance,
Pray for us.
Who is the Star of Hope,
Pray for us.
Who prays to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for us,
Pray for us.
Who gives strength to the clergy,
Pray for us.
Who heals the sick,
Pray for us.
Who is the health of the weak,
Refuge of sinners,
Pray for us.
Comforter of the afflicted,
Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, conceived without sin,
pray for us who have recourse to thee.
Lamb
of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins
of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
have mercy on
us.
Pray for us, Our Lady of Lourdes, Holy Mother of God.
That we may be made worthy of the
promises
of Christ.
Let us pray.
Our Lady of Lourdes, so fruitful in miracles, protect, with that hand which nothing can
resist, our Holy Father the Pope. Infuse into us the spirit of faith, hope and charity.
We all believe the truth of thy apparitions, and the unlimited power with which thy Divine Son has armed thee. Hence it is
that we have recourse to thee. Amen.
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