Lourdes is a well known place of pilgrimage in the south of France.
Since we're on holiday relatively close to Lourdes we decided to pay this city a visit. My wife and I are not religious ourselves, but we are interested in religions. We like the norms and values used by many religions.
The story behind this pilgrimage is about a 14 year old girl named Bernadette Soubirous. Bernadette, a poor and uneducated peasant, claimed that the Virgin Mary appeared to her 18 times in a cave in Lourdes, instructing her to pray, do penance, and dig in the ground, where a spring of water miraculously appeared in 1858.
The Catholic Church eventually recognized the apparitions as authentic. The Basilica of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception was built above the grotto. The Grotto is a symbol of faith and healing and attracts millions of pilgrims from around the world.
When you walk towards the Basilique Notre Dame du Rosaire you can clearly see it's a place of pilgrimage. Everywhere you walk you see a lot of nuns and priests, but we've also seen a lot of old, disabled and sick people that were often brought to the holy place in wheelchairs.
When we arrived on the square we saw the giant towers of the Basilique and the stairs leading towards it.
One of the towers in the front has a huge golden crown with a cross on top of it.
In the back you can see a medieval castle which is a museum now.
As we climbed up the stairs we got to see the square, crown and cross from the other side. In
The decorations are really detailed and beautiful. The Catholic church is well known for its decorations.
In front of the Basilique is a very detailed mosaic of a man. I had to look up who it was, but ChatGPT brought me the answer:
Pope Pius IX. He was the pope who officially defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854. This dogma declares that the Virgin Mary was free from original sin from the moment of her conception. This declaration played a significant role in Catholic devotion
The front of the Basilique has some more detailed mosaic art.
The towers of the basilique looked very cool in the sunlight.
We also went into the basilique. There was a church service going on when we entered the building. It was really special. The acoustics in churches is really great and it was beautiful hearing people sing.
The basilique also had some 'side chambers'. Again with a lot of beautiful and detailed artwork.
In another room in the basilique was a statue of Virgin Mary. You could buy and light candles in this room which a lot of people did. We also bought and lit a candle.
After leaving the basilique we went to the cave where Bernadette would have seen the appearance of Virgin Mary. There was a line of people waiting to make a short walk in the small cave. Almost everyone toughed the walls of the caves. A lot of people also had pictures of family, rosaries, crosses or cloths which they held against the walls of the cave.
In front of the cave they also held a sort of church service which attracted a lot of people.
Next to the cave there are a lot of water taps. The water from the taps comes from the spring in the cave and is said to be healing water.
There were numerous people filling up bottles and even jerrycans with this water from the spring.
We also filled a bottle with water.
And then the other side of Lourdes. When walking back to our car we came across a lot of souvenir shops. You can find souvenir shops in every major city nowadays, but these were all in the theme of the catholic church and Virgin Mary. Statues, candles, water bottles, caps, pocket knives and beer openers. You name it and they have it with a picture of Virgin Mary on it.
We did sponsor one of the shops by buying a couple of tiny bottles where poored some of the holy water in, so we can give it to our loved ones at home.
Although I'm not religious myself, I do find Lourdes a very special place. I could see that a lot of people find peace there and helps them cope with problems they have. It always feels special to visit places like this and I would recommend anyone to visit Lourdes too.
I hope you enjoyed reading my blog.
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