Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes

CCMers at one of the many Lourdes grotto replicas in the U.S.

Today is the Feast Day of Our Lady of Lourdes.  In this Church approved apparition, the Blessed Mother appeared to a young peasant girl, St. Bernadette Soubirous, at a small cave in France in 1858.  Our Lady told Bernadette, "I am the Immaculate Conception." during one of the apparitions.  Many pilgrims still journey to Lourdes to this day to pray and seek healing.  May our hearts be transformed and healed by Christ through intercession of our Queen Mother.  (You can learn about the dogma of the Immaculate Conception by reading our post about it here.)

Prayer from the Breviary on the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes:
"God of mercy,
we celebrate the feast of Mary,
the sinless mother of God. 
May her prayers help us
to rise above human weakness. 
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reign with and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen."