Penitential Life as Love and Charity!

Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes

Is 66:10-14; Jn 2:1-11

Today we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. 

Our Lady of Lourdes is a title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary, recalling her apparitions in 1958 at the grotto in Lourdes, France, to Saint Bernadette, a fourteen-year-old peasant girl. In her 18 apparitions, Mary revealed to Bernadette the importance of prayer and conversion. However, the more significant message of Mary at Lourdes was doctrinal in nature. In her 16^th apparition, Mary would reveal, ‘I am the Immaculate Conception.’ Mary also instructed Bernadette to dig nearby and a spring with healing properties started flowing, lasting till date. After a detailed investigation, the Mother Church approved the apparitions for devotion in 1862. Today, the shrine is a popular place of pilgrimage offering the devotees spiritual and physical healing. We cannot forget that the Marian shrine is also a place of deep spiritual renewal for the faithful. 

The feast leaves behind some key messages for our reflection.

1.The feast of Our Lady of Lourdes is a powerful reminder of poverty, simplicity, and humility. Mary could have appeared to a wealthier and more educated girl than Bernadette. However, Our Lady of Nazareth, the poor village woman, found in Bernadette her own self and life. Hence, the choice of Bernadette and her person speaks much about Mary herself and what she loves in people. Mary’s choice is a heart that earnestly loves God and neighbors.

2. In her apparitions, Mary helped Bernadette understand the place and meaning of the cross and suffering in the Christian life. However, not many of us appreciate or embrace what the cross entails. Mary’s call to embrace a penitential life holds a greater relevance for Christian life. The spiritual value and significance of self-denial, prayer, and sacrifice have not lost their relevance even in these most advanced times. We cannot forget that Mary put forward penitential life as a cure and solution for the complexities of the modern world. 

3. Another important sign at Lourdes was Mary always appearing with her hands held together in prayer. Hence, the most powerful message in her apparitions concerns what it means to be a faithful Christian. As we seek our way ‘To Jesus through Mary,’ we need to imbibe her example and model our lives on her holiness and humility. Mary has shown us that there is no other powerful weapon for Christians than prayer. 

Let us pray that we may be inspired by Our Lady of Lourdes to embrace a penitential life as a sign of our love and charity towards ourselves and the world. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar