LOURDES

'Lourdes' (Occitan name ''Lorda'') is a town situated in the Southwest of the Hautes-Pyrénées department, lying in the first Pyrenean foothills. It is overlooked from the south by the Pyrenean peaks of Aneto, Montaigu, and Vignemale (3,298m), while around the town there are three summits reaching up to 1,000 m, which are known as the Béout, the Petit Jer and the Grand Jer.
Lourdes was originally a small unremarkable market town lying in the foothills of the Pyrenees. At that time the most prominent feature was the fortified castle which rises up from the centre of the town on a rocky escarpment. Following the claims that there were apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes to Bernadette Soubirous in 1858, Lourdes has developed into a major place of Christian pilgrimage (Mainly Catholic).
Today Lourdes has a population of around 15,000 inhabitants but is able to take in some 5,000,000 pilgrims and tourists every season. Lourdes has the second greatest number of hotels in France after Paris with about 270 establishments.
It is the joint seat of the diocese of Tarbes-et-Lourdes.

Contents

Geography

History

Sanctuary of Lourdes

Hospitalité Notre-Dame de Lourdes

2008 Celebrations

Skepticism and Criticism

Sport

In Popular Culture

References

External links

Geography

Lourdes is located in the area of the prime meridian. It is overlooked from the south by the Pyrennean peaks of 'Aneto', 'Montaigu', and 'Vignemale' (3,298m), while around the town there are three summits reaching up to 1,000m which are known as the 'Béout', the 'Petit Jer' (with its three crosses) and the 'Grand Jer' (with its single cross) which overlook the town. The Pic du Jer is made accessible by the Funiculaire du Pic du Jer. The Béout was once accessible by cable car, although this has fallen into disrepair. A pavilion is still visible on the summit.
Lourdes lies at an altitude of 1,375 ft (420 m) and in a central position through which runs the fast-flowing Gave de Pau River from the south coming from Gavarnie, into which flow several smaller rivers from Barèges and Cauterets. The Gave then branches off to the west towards the Béarn, running past the banks of the grotto and on downstream to Pau and then Biarritz.
On land bordered by a loop of the Gave de Pau is an outcrop of rock called 'Massabielle', (from ''masse vieille'': "old mass"). On the northern aspect of this rock, near the riverbank, is a naturally occurring, irregularly shaped shallow cave or grotto, in which the apparitions of 1858 took place.^[1]

History

During the 8th century, Lourdes and its fortress became the focus of skirmishes between Mirat, the local Moor leader and Charlemagne, King of the Franks. Charlemagne had been laying siege to Mirat in the fortress for some time, but the Moor had so far refused to surrender. According to legend, an eagle unexpectedly appeared and dropped an enormous trout at the feet of Mirat. It was seen as such a bad omen, Mirat was persuaded to surrender to the Queen of the sky by the local bishop. He visited the Black Virgin of Puy to offer gifts, so he could make sure this was the best course of action and astounded by its exceptional beauty he decided to surrender the fort, and convert to Christianity. On the day of his baptism, Mirat took on the name of Lorus, which was given to the town, now known as Lourdes.
After being the residency of Bigorre counts, Lourdes was given to England by the Brétigny Treaty which bought a temporary peace to France during the course of the Hundred Years War with the result that the French lost the town to the English, from 1360. In 1405, Charles VI laid siege to the castle during the course of the Hundred Years War and eventually captured the town from the English following the 18 month siege. Later, during the late 16th century France was ravaged with the Wars of Religion between the Roman Catholics and the Huguenots. In 1569, Count Gabriel de Montgomery attacked the nearby town of Tarbes when Queen Jeanne d’Albret of Navarre established Protestantism there. The town was overrun, in 1592, by forces of the Catholic League and the catholic faith re-established in the area. In 1607 Lourdes finally became part of the Kingdom of France.
The castle became an Estate jail under Louis XV but in 1789, the General Estates Assembly ordered the liberation of prisoners. Following the rise of Napoleon in 1803, he again made the Castle an Estate jail. Towards the end of the Peninsular War between France, Spain, Portugal, and Britain in 1814, British and Allied forces, under the Duke of Wellington, entered France and took control of the region and followed Marshall Soult’s army, defeating the French near the adjoining town of Tarbes before the final battle took place outside Toulouse on 10 April 1814 which brought the war to an end.
Up until 1858, Lourdes was a quiet modest sleepy county-town with a population of only some 4,000 inhabitants. The castle was occupied by an infantry garrison. The town was a place people passed through on their way to the waters at Barèges, Cauterets, Luz-Saint-Sauveur and Bagnères-de-Bigorre, and for the first mountaineers on their way to Gavarnie, when the events which were to change its history took place.
On 11 February 1858, a 14-year-old local girl, Bernadette Soubirous claimed a beautiful lady appeared to her in the remote ''Grotto of Massabielle''. The lady later identified herself as "the Immaculate Conception" and the faithful believe her to be the Blessed Virgin Mary. The lady appeared 18 times, and by 1859 thousands of pilgrims were visiting Lourdes. A statue of Our Lady of Lourdes was erected at the site in 1864. See Our Lady of Lourdes for more details on the apparations.
Since the apparitions, Lourdes has become one of the world's leading Catholic Marian shrines and the number of visitors grow each year. It has such an important place within the Roman Catholic church, that Pope John Paul II visited the shrine twice on 15th August 1983 and 14th-15th August 2004.

Sanctuary of Lourdes

:''Main article: Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes''
Yearly from March to October the 'Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes' or the 'Domain' (as it is most commonly known) is the place of mass pilgrimages from Europe and other parts of the world. The spring water from the grotto is believed by some to possess healing properties, however there have been from the beginning sceptics of the miracles reported to have taken place in Lourdes. A common mis-conception is that miracles are the core of the Sanctuary of Lourdes, and the reasons for visits. Although this is probably the case for some visitors, the majority of pilgrims come as part of their Christian faith, and to help those in need.
An estimated 200 million people have visited the shrine since 1860 [1], and the Roman Catholic Church has officially recognized 68 miracle healings. Especially impressive are candlelight and sacrament processions. Tours from all over the world are organized to visit the Sanctuary. Connected with this pilgrimage is often the consumption of or bathing in the ''Lourdes Water'' which wells out of the Grotto.
At the time of the apparitions the grotto was on common land which was used by the villagers variously for pasturing animals, collecting firewood and as a garbage dump, and it possessed a reputation for being an unpleasant place.^[2]

Hospitalité Notre-Dame de Lourdes

During one of the Virgin Mary’s apparitions to St Bernadette in 1858, she asked that people come in procession to the Grotto. Ever since then there has been a ‘ministry of welcome’ in Lourdes, receiving and caring for all the pilgrims who come to the apparition site, especially the sick and infirm.
The HNDL is active in Lourdes during the main pilgrimage season (which normally lasts from Easter until November), and it also provides people to welcome pilgrims at the Piscines (Baths) during the winter.
Pilgrimages run with many different organisations & charities, many are from a specific region (For example British pilgrims generally travel with their own diocese or archdiocese) whilst others are based around a specific type of pilgrim. An example of this is the UK's Handicapped Children's Pilgrimage Trust (HCPT). They travel in different groups which are all numbered- e.g. group 83 which leaves from Coventry. The groups take handicapped children and their carers on a pilgrimage to Lourdes, which gives them all an excellent opportunity to see the religious benefits of this place.

2008 Celebrations

In 2008, Lourdes is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the first apparition with a number of events, especially during the pilgrimage season. The Lourdes authorities have set up a website dedicated to 2008: Lourdes 2008
As well as announcing the plans for Lourdes 2008, the Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes made an unexpected statement concerning the question of miracles in Lourdes. In his words: ''“For the Church, as well as for the believer, a pilgrimage to Mary is more than a journey to a miracle. It is a journey of love, of prayer and of the suffering community.”'' ^[3]

Skepticism and Criticism

Since the earliest of the apparitions, Lourdes has been the subject of intense debate regarding their nature. The earliest investigators, including the priest Abbé Dominique Peyramale, and the Police Commissioner M. Dominique Jacomet, were both initially convinced they were dealing with a hoax (each later changed his mind), and several researchers have since called several aspects of the Lourdes phenomenon into question.
The apparitions at Lourdes took place against the backdrop of a rich network of superstitious beliefs, which were common throughout the Pyrenean region in the 19th century. In the decades leading up to 1858, several children in small Pyrenean villages (on both sides of the border) claimed to see apparitions of the Virgin Mary in remote locations. Critics argue that Bernadette was simply repeating a well-tried trick to gain attention and notoriety.
Although Bernadette herself is known to have shunned attention and personal gain from the apparitions^[4], it is clear that her family, previously in severe poverty, became very wealthy and influential as a result. Critics argue that the family encouraged Bernadette in order to escape their poverty. Bernadette is recorded as saying: "I only hope they don't get rich."^[5]
Modern Lourdes has no shortage of glitz on display. Visitors may be shocked or repelled by the blatant commercialism practised in Lourdes, with neon-emblazoned gift shops overflowing with tacky souvenirs and dubious holy artifacts.^[6] Critics argue that the Lourdes phenomenon is nothing more than a significant money spinner for the town and the region, which therefore has a strong vested interest in keeping the pilgrims coming.^[7]. Whilst this commercialization is undoubtedly repugnant it is worth noting that that church itself distances itself from it. The myriad of trinket shops are privately owned and hawkers & souvenir stalls are strictly forbidden inside the sanctuary itself.
Many people remain skeptical about Lourdes and its supposed healing power, arguing that any improvement offered by the shrine is no more than the placebo effect, and that the ceremonies and processions are no better than faith-healing on a grand scale. In the 1980s, a priest called Ralph DiOrio practiced faith healing which he claimed was due to the power of Lourdes, although never submitted to scientific scrutiny. DiOrio, who may have been influenced by other prominent faith healers such as Kathryn Kuhlman, was strongly criticized by James Randi in his book The Faith Healers.^[8]

Sport

Although inevitably the town is most famous for its shrines it is also notable for its Rugby team which during the mid-twentieth century was one of the most successful teams in France winning the national championship 8 times from 1948 to 1968. Their most famous player is Jean Prat who represented his country 51 times.
There is also an amateur football team called Football Club Lourdais XI.

In Popular Culture

★ The movie "Song of Bernadette" based on the occurrences at Lourdes won 4 Academy Awards in 1944.

References

1. Ruth Harris, ''Lourdes: Body and Spirit in the Secular Age'', Penguin Books, 1999, p. 52.
2. Ruth Harris, ''Lourdes: Body and Spirit in the Secular Age'', Penguin Books, 1999, p. 53.
3. Lourdes 2008
4. She was seen to ''"turn down money repeatedly, spontaneously and steadfastly"'' saying that ''"it burns me"'' when people tried to give her money.(Bernadette Speaks, Rene Laurentin, p550, 1999 English ed. ISBN 0-8198-1154-8
5. "Bernadette Speaks", Rene Laurentin, p. 553, 1999 English ed. ISBN 0-8198-1154-8
6. Malcolm Muggeridge contrasts the ''"tawdry relics, the bric-a-brac of piety"'' with the spiritual phenomena he describes experiencing in Lourdes.("Jesus Rediscovered", A Visit To Lourdes, Fontana 1969.[2]
7. ''"Consuming Visions -Mass Culture and the Lourdes Shrine, Suzanne Kaufman"'', Book reviewed by Lawrence S. Cunningham University of Notre Dame, Commonweal 23 Sept 2005.[3]
8. The Faith Healers, , James, Randi, Prometheus Books, 1989, ISBN 0-87975-535-0 page 218, 222-223



★ The Miracle Joint at Lourdes, "Essays" by Woolsey Teller, Copyright 1945 by The Truth Seeker Company, Inc. (prejudiced essay)

★ History of Our Lady of Lourdes

★ Catholic Association UK

External links

★ The Official Website of the Lourdes Sanctuaries

★ Lourdes 2008, Official site for the 150th anniversary of the apparitions

★ Lourdes, by Robert Hugh Benson, 1914, from Project Gutenberg

★ Catholic Association UK, details more information on Lourdes.

★ Lourdes Sanctuary 360 panoramas