3. Lourdes
Lourdes was the site of the Marian revelations. They took place in 1858
Since then, millions of believers seeking spiritual renewal come to the
French village to look for the spiritual renewal. But the curious
phenomenon is that atheists come to the place as well. The latter often
turn to the path of Christianity. It is hardly surprising. In this part of
town the healings are quite frequent. They are experienced by the people
who have no hope given by doctors in their illnesses. Medical Bureau in
Lourdes confirmed 68 cases in which there were the miraculous healings.
Many pilgrims declare much greater number of exciting events.
St. Bernadette was the witness of the Virgin Mary revelations in Lourdes.
Mary appeared to her in the cave and told her to drink the water from
the nearby stream, and to pray now. Bernadette had seen Virgin Mary
18 times. The body of the saint was not subjected to the process of
decomposition.
9. Louis Bouriette was a stone mason. For twenty years he
hasn’t seen with his right eye. He lost his eyesight during the
detonation. It was then that his brother died as well... His
granddaughter brought him a little pile of wet earth from the
place, which was pointed by Mary to Bernadette during the
apparition. The man prayed fervently, sitting in a stall with
mud compresses on the eyes. He still believed that God will heal
his sick eyes. When he had finished praying and went out from
the stables, the unusual thing happened – he was blinded with
the brightness outside. He regained his eyesight! It was on the
27th of February 1858. This is the first healing recognized and
confirmed by the Church at Lourdes . It was confirmed by Dr.
Pierre Dozous, who treated Louis for years . It was
scientifically impossible to explain why Louis suddenly regained
his eyesight.
10.
11. Near the Massabielle cave lived a very sick boy. Justin
Louis Duconte-Bouhort was paralyzed from the waist down.
He was only 18 months old and everything indicated that he
will die soon. His distraught mother found that the only hope is
to put him into the wonderful spring. It was a last chance in
the struggle with the disease of the son. On the 2nd of May
1858 she ran to the cave with the child in her arms and plunged
the child into the icy cold water for 15 minutes. Her trust in
God and Mary was enormous. After this bath the child corpus
was very chilled, and the boy still could not move the legs.
However, after a restful night Louis came out of the crib and
started to run! ... And yet the day before he could not even sit!
God heard the prayers of his mother and healed the boy.
12.
13. In 1987, Jean Jacques Bely, suffering from an incurable
neurological illness of MS (multiple sclerosis), participated in
the pilgrimage to Lourdes. There, after receiving the
Sacrament of the Sick, he observed sudden changes
in his body. For the first time in three years he could walk. A
year later, in 1988, he reported it to the Medical Bureau of
Lourdes. Over the next two years, he was a subject of a
permanent medical control, which was to confirm the
miraculous recovery from illness. In 1988 it was found that
his case is medically inexplicable. On the 11th of February
1999 the bishop of Lourdes after 10 years of research has
confirmed officially sixty sixth miraculous healing at
Lourdes.
14.
15. In addition to Lourdes healings a number of
conversions took place there. Many atheists and
doubters turned to God. One of them was a doctor,
Dr Agostino Gemelli. His stay in Lourdes, and the
impression which he experienced there, meant so much
to him that he was converted. He joined the
Franciscan Order, and allocated his assets in the
foundation of the clinic in Rome.
