February 11 is the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes
February 11 is the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes, honoring one of the most well-known Marian devotions in the world. The celebration commemorates the apparitions of the Virgin Mary to Bernadette Soubirous, a 14-year-old peasant girl, in 1858, in the city of Lourdes, in the south of France.
According to accounts, Our Lady appeared to Bernadette in a grotto in the Massabielle region, identifying herself as the "Immaculate Conception". During the 18 apparitions, the Virgin asked for prayers, penance and the construction of a chapel on the site. Since then, Lourdes has become one of the largest centers of Catholic pilgrimage, attracting millions of faithful annually in search of physical and spiritual healing.
The grotto of Lourdes, where a miraculous spring was discovered under the guidance of Our Lady, is considered sacred. Many pilgrims report cures attributed to the waters of this spring, and hundreds of these cases have been officially recognized by the Catholic Church.
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