Santuário de Lourdes — O Dossiê Completo

I. Introdução: o coração mariano da Europa

O Santuário de Nossa Senhora de Lourdes, situado na pequena cidade de Lourdes, no departamento dos Hautes-Pyrénées, no sudoeste da França, é o centro mais importante da peregrinação mariana na Europa e um dos mais visitados do mundo, acolhendo todos os anos entre cinco e seis milhões de peregrinos. Aos pés dos Pirinéus, banhados pelas águas do rio Gave de Pau, Lourdes tornou-se desde 1858 um farol de fé, esperança e consolação para milhões de doentes, pobres e necessitados que vêm à gruta de Massabielle em busca da intercessão da Virgem Maria.

The history of Lourdes begins on 11 February 1858, when the Most Holy Virgin appeared in a grotto on the banks of the Gave to a humble young girl of fourteen, Bernadette Soubirous, the daughter of a desperately poor family. Over the course of eighteen apparitions, the Virgin conveyed a message of prayer, penance and conversion, and revealed her name with the words that have remained engraved in the memory of the Church: "Que sou era Immaculada Counceptiou" — "I am the Immaculate Conception". This event, which took place barely four years after the proclamation of the dogma by Pope Pius IX, constituted a heavenly confirmation of the truth of faith that the Church had defined.

Today, the Domaine de la Grotte —the secinct of the shrine— comprises the grotto of Massabielle, three basilicas, an underground church, the baths where pilgrims bathe, and an extensive complex of buildings and open-air spaces that welcome visitors from all over the world. Devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes has spread across every continent, and there are thousands of replica grottoes in parishes, shrines and homes throughout the Catholic world.

II. As aparições da Virgem (1858)

Contexto histórico e geográfico

In 1858, Lourdes was a small town of some four thousand inabints, situated in the valey of the Gave, in the region of Bigorre, at the foot of the Pyrenees. It was a largely peasant community, Gascon-speaking (Occitan), deeply Catholic though marked by poverty and by hard living conditions. France was living under the Second Empire of Napoleon III, a period of economic prosperity and urban transformation, but rural areas such as the Pyrenees remained untouched by these changes.

The Soubirous family, made up of François, Louise and their eight children, was one of the poorest in Lourdes. François, a miller by trade, had lost the family mill through a legal dispute and had lived in destitution ever since. The family occupied a single room in the former police station, a dark, damp and insalubrious lodging known as «le cachot» (the dungeon), which a cousin of the family had let them use free of charge. Bernadette, the eldest child, was a young girl of frail constitution, asthmatic, small in statusre (barely 1.40 metres), who could neither read nor write. She had been instructed in Christian doctrine by her mother and by the Sisters of Charity, but her knowledge of the catechism was simples and elementary. It was precisely this simplicity and purity of heart that made her worthy to receive the message of the Virgin.

Primeira aparição: 11 de fevereiro de 1858

On Thursday 11 February 1858, Bernadette left her home in the company of her younger sister Toinette (aged eleven) and a friend, Jeanne Abadie, to gather firewood on the banks of the river Gave. The three girls walked to the place known as Massabielle (from the Gascon «Massa-bielha», meaning «old rock»), a natural grotto formed by the river’s erosion of the limestone rock, situated about two quilometres from the centre of Lourdes. It was a place the townspeople avoided, used as a watering place for livestock and known as a gloomy, damp spot.

While the other two girls were crossing the river at a ford, Bernadette, who hesitated for fear of the cold water on account of her asthma, suddenly heard a noise — «like a gust of wind»— and, looking up, saw that the wild rose bushes growing at the mouth of the grotto were swaying as if shaken by a current of air. In the upper hollow of the grotto she saw a figure of extraordinary beauty: a Lady dressed entirely in white, with a sky-blue sash, a golden yellow rose upon each foot, and a rosary in her hands. The Lady was smiling and beckoned her to come closer.

Bernadette, ofuscada, esfregou-lhe os olhos, acreditando que era uma ilusão. Mas a visão persistiu. Ela tirou seu rosário de seu bolso, ajoelhou-se e tentou fazer o sinal da cruz, mas ela não podia — seu braço caiu manco—. Então a senhora cruzou-se, e Bernadette foi então capaz de fazer o sinal da cruz. Ela começou a rezar o Rosário, e como ela fez isso, a Senhora passou as contas de seu próprio rosário através de seus dedos, embora ela mexeu os lábios apenas no Glória Seja. Quando o Rosário foi terminado, a Senhora de repente desapareceu.

Bernadette voltou para casa e, pressionado por sua irmã Toinette, contou a sua mãe o que tinha acontecido. Louise Soubirous, preocupada, proibiu-a de voltar à gruta.

Segunda aparição: 14 de fevereiro

No domingo, 14 de fevereiro, Bernadette sentiu uma força interior pedindo que ela voltasse para a gruta. Depois da missa, acompanhada pela mãe e alguns vizinhos, ela foi para Massabielle. Levava uma garrafa de água benta, que aspergia para a gruta, dizendo: «Se vens de Deus, aproxima-te; se não, vai-te embora». A senhora inclinou a cabeça, sorrindo, e ao vê-la, Bernadette caiu em êxtase. A mãe dela, alarmada, arrastou-a para longe do local à força.

Terceira aparição: 18 de fevereiro

On Thursday 18 February, Bernadette returned accompanied by a devout woman, Antoinette Nicolau, and by other people. She brought a pen, ink and paper, in case anything needed to be written down. The Lady appeared, and Bernadette, obeying an inner prompting, offered her the paper. The Lady smiled and said to her in Gascon: «Aquo n’ei pas necessari» («That is not necessary»). Then she added: «Me faré la grace de vous aüey tous les jours pendant quinze jours» («I will have the kindness to see you every day for a fortnight»). She asked her to come for fifteen days in succession. Bernadette promised to do so, and the Lady said to her: «Je vous promets de vous rendre heureuse, pas dans ce monde, mais dans l’autre» («I promise to make you happy, not in this world, but in the next»).

A quarta aparição e a luz da vela: 19 de fevereiro

On Friday 19 February, Bernadette went to the grotto and lit a blessed candle. The Lady appeared and Bernadette remained in prayer for an hour. From then on, witnesses began to observe that Bernadette’s face was transfigured during the apparitions, taking on an expression of beatitude that impressed all who were present.

Quinta aparição: 20 de Fevereiro

On Saturday 20 February, the Lady taught Bernadette a prayer that she was to say every day. She also gave her a message of penance: «Penance, penance, penance. Pray to God for sinners. Go and kiss the ground in penance for sinners». Bernadette obeyed at onze, kneeling down and kissing the ground, a gesture she repeated in subsequent apparitions.

Sexta aparição: 21 de Fevereiro

On Sunday 21 February, a crowd of curious onlookers —about a afundared people— had already gathered at Massabielle. The Lady appeared and Bernadette, in ecstasy, repeated the gestures of penance. That day, the police commissioner of Lourdes, Dominique Jacomet, questioned Bernadette as she left the grotto, trying to obtain a retraction from her. But the young girl remained firm and consistent in her account.

Sétima aparição: 23 de fevereiro

On Tuesday 23 February, the crowd had grown to several afundared people. The Lady revealed a secret to Bernadette —one she would never disclose— and repeated to her the message of penance. Dr Dozous, the town physician, examined Bernadette during the ecstasy and found that she was not breathing, yet her pulse was normal. He passed the flame of a candle beneath Bernadette’s hand without her withdrawing it or showing any sign of a burn. The Dr. was deeply impressed and became a firm defender of the authenticity of the apparitions.

Oitava aparição: 24 de Fevereiro

On Wednesday 24 February, the Lady onze again insisted on the message of penance. Bernadette repeated: «Penance, penance, penance. Pray for sinners. Go and kiss the ground in penance for sinners». That day, the crowd had already reached a thousand people.

Nona aparição e ou milagre da primavera: 25 de fevereiro

On Thursday 25 February, the Lady said to Bernadette: «Anatz a la hont, bevetz e lavatz-vos-î» («Go to the spring, drink of it and wash yourselves there»). Bernadette, who could see no spring, understood that she was to go to the back of the grotto, where the Gave formed a small pool. She began to dig the earth with her hands. A little liquid mud appeared. She drank it, used it to wash her face and ate some herbs, as the Virgin had instructed her. Those present thought she had lost her mind: «Bernadette has gone mad», they said. Não one understood the meaning of the gesture.

The following day, the small pool that Bernadette had dug out had become a spring of clear and abundant water that flowed without ceasing. By 28 February, the flow was already considerável, and the authorities, fearing contamination, had the water analysed. The chemical analysis showed that it was pure water, with no special mineral properties. But from that time onwards, the spring has never stopped flowing, at a rate of some 100,000 litres a day, providing water for millions of pilgrims over more than 160 years.

Décima e décima primeira aparições: 26 e 27 de Fevereiro

Na sexta-feira 26 e sábado 27 de fevereiro, Bernadette continuou a ir para a gruta. A Virgem reiterou a mensagem de penitência e oração. A multidão continuou crescendo: vários milhares de pessoas se reuniam em Massabielle, vindo de Lourdes e das aldeias vizinhas.

Décima segunda aparição: 28 de Fevereiro

On Sunday 28 February, the examining magistrate of Lourdes, Clarens, summoned Bernadette and questioned her at length, trying to find contradictions. But the young girl answered with a simplicity and a consistency that disarmed the magistrate. That same day, the maior of Lourdes, Anselme Lacadé, forbade access to the grotto, although the measure proved difficult to enforce because of the crowds.

Décima terceira aparição: 1 de Março

On Monday 1 March, the first public miracle took place. Catherine Latapie, a woman from Loubaixac whose arm had been paralysed by a fall, came to the grotto. She plunged her arm into the water of the spring, and at onze recovered full movement. It was the first of the countless wonders that would be attributed to the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes.

14a aparição: 2 de Março

On Tuesday 2 March, the Lady gave Bernadette a message for the priests: «Diguez als capelans que venguen aicî en processiou e que s’i bastisse ua capèra» («Tell the priests to come here in procession and to build a chapel here»). Bernadette conveyed the message to the parish priest of Lourdes, Father Dominique Peyramale. The priest, a man of firm and prudent character, asked her for a sign: that the Lady should make the wild rose bush of the grotto bloom and that she should reveal her name.

Décima quinta aparição: 3 de Março

On Wednesday 3 March, Bernadette conveyed the parish priest’s request to the Virgin. The Lady smiled, but did not answer directly. The crowd was by now immense: it is reckoned that between eight and ten thousand people had gathered at Massabielle. Father Peyramale, seeing the magnitude of the phenomenon, remained prudent and withheld his approval.

Décima sexta aparição: 4 de Março

On Thursday 4 March, the last day of the promised fortnight, more than twenty thousand people came to the grotto, according to the chronicles of the time. The Lady appeared, but não extraordinary sign occurred to satisfy the sceptics. Bernadette, however, was serene. She had kept her promise.

Décima sétima aparição: 25 de Março

After an interval of twenty-one days without apparitions, on 25 March, the feast day of the Annunciation of the Lord, Bernadette onze again felt the inner call and went to the grotto. The Lady appeared. Bernadette asked her name four times, as Father Peyramale had instructed her. Finally, the Lady joined her hands, raised her eyes to heaven and pronounced in the Gascon tongue of the region: «Que sou era Immaculada Counceptiou». Bernadette ran off towards the presbytery, repeating those words she did not understand, and on arriving she said them to Father Peyramale: «I am the Immaculate Conception». The priest was deeply moved: «She has said what I myself do not know!», he exclaimed, for he knew that an illiterate young girl could not have known that theological title. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception had been proclaimed by Pope Pius IX on 8 December 1854, barely four years earlier. The Virgin was coming to confirm the truth defined by the Church.

Décima oitava e última aparição: 16 de Julho

The last apparition took place on 16 July 1858, the feast day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. The grotto had been fenced off by the authorities, and Bernadette could not approach it. She stood on the opposite bank of the Gave, facing the grotto, and there, from a distance, the Virgin appeared to her for the last time, «more beautiful than ever». Bernadette said that the Virgin smiled at her and blessed her. From that day onwards, she had no further visions. Bernadette’s mission had come to an end.

III. Santa Bernadette Soubirous

Infância e juventude

Marie-Bernarde Soubirous, conhecida como Bernadette, nasceu em 7 de janeiro de 1844 no moinho de Boly, em Lourdes, o primogênito de François Soubirous e Louise Castérot. Foi batizada em 9 de janeiro na igreja paroquial de Lourdes. Sua infância foi passada na pobreza, agravada por sua saúde frágil: sofria de asma crônica, que piorava no inverno e provocava graves ataques de falta de ar. Aos doze anos contraiu cólera, da qual se recuperou milagrosamente, mas sua saúde permaneceu prejudicada para sempre.

The family’s economic situation deteriorated steadily. François Soubirous lost the Boly mill, and the Soubirous family moved to ever humbler lodgings. At the time of the apparitions, they were living in the «cachot», a former cell of the municipal prison of Lourdes, of barely four square metres, which a cousin had let them use. The family of eight slept in that cramped space, in conditions of extreme poverty and insalubrity.

Bernadette was a young girl of gentle, patient and reserved character. Her natural intelligence was clear, though her schooling was almost non-existent. She could neither read nor write — she learnt both after the apparitions — and her knowledge of French was limited, for she habitually spoke Gascon. Her catechism was simples, but her faith was firm and her piety sincere. Those who knew her remarked on her honesty, her lack of affectation and her extraordinary humility.

Após as aparições

After the apparitions, Bernadette’s life changed profoundly. She became the centre of attention of Lourdes, of France and soon of the world. She was subjected to countless interrogations by the civil and ecclesiastical authorities. Commissioner Jacomet, Judge Clarens, Prefect Massy and even the Emperor Napoleon III himself tried to obtain from her a retraction or at least a contradiction, but her testimony always remained firm, consistent and simples.

On 17 November 1858, the Bishop of Tarbes, Monsignor Bertrand-Sévère Laurence, set up a commission of enquiry to examinar the facts. The commission questioned Bernadette and numerous witnesses. On 18 January 1862, Bishop Laurence issued a favourable official judgement, declaring: «We judge that the Immaculate Mother of God, the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, truly appeared to Bernadette Soubirous on 11 February 1858 and on subsequent days, on eighteen occasions in all». That same year, construction began on the first chapel above the grotto.

Bernadette, eager to escape from fame and public curiosity, expressed her desire to enter the religious life. In 1866, at the age of twenty-two, she left Lourdes for ever and entered the convent of the Sisters of Charity and Christian Instruction of Nevers, where she received the name of Sister Marie-Bernard. In the convent, she carried out the humblest of duties: she was a nurse, a sacristy assistant and an embroiderer. Her religious life was marked by illness: her asthma worsened, and to it were added tuberculose of the bone and a sérious affliction of the knee. She spent the last years of her life confined to the convent infirmary, offering up her sufferings for the conversion of sinners.

Morte e canonização

Santa Bernadette morreu em 16 de abril de 1879, quarta-feira santa, aos 35 anos, depois de uma longa e dolorosa agonia. Suas últimas palavras foram: «Santa Maria, Mãe de Deus, rogai por mim, pobre pecador». Foi enterrada no cemitério do convento de Nevers.

Seu corpo foi exumado pela primeira vez em 22 de setembro de 1909, na presença das autoridades eclesiásticas e vários médicos. O corpo foi encontrado perfeitamente preservado, sem qualquer sinal de decomposição, apesar de ter ficado por trinta anos na terra úmida. Uma segunda exumação em 3 de abril de 1919 confirmou o mesmo fenômeno. A terceira exumação, em 18 de abril de 1925, foi a última antes de sua beatificação. O corpo de Santa Bernadette permanece incorrupto até hoje, exibido em um relicário de cristal na capela do convento de Nevers, onde milhares de peregrinos vêm para venerar.

She was beatified by Pope Pius XI on 14 June 1925, and canonised by the same pontiff on 8 December 1933, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Her feast day is celebrated on 16 April, the anniversary of her death. She is the padrõess of the sick, of shepherds and of those who suffer persecution for their faith. Her incorrupt body, clothed in the habit of the Sisters of Charity, rests at Nevers beside the chapel that bears her name, and her serene face seems to sleep a sleep of peace.

IV. A primavera milagrosa

Descoberta e propriedades

Em 25 de fevereiro de 1858, quando a Virgem disse a Bernadette para beber e lavar na primavera, nenhuma fonte de qualquer tipo existiu na gruta de Massabielle. A jovem cavou na terra com as mãos num canto úmido da caverna, e um pequeno fluxo de água turva jorrou. Bernadette bebeu a água lamacenta e lavou o rosto. Os presentes foram escandalizados: «Bernadette enlouqueceu», disseram. No entanto, no dia seguinte, o fluxo havia aumentado e se tornado claro e cristalino.

The spring rises on the left-hand side of the grotto, beside the rock. Its flow remains constant at some 100,000 litres a day, whatever the forson of the year. The water has been analysed on many occasions by chemists and independent laboratories, and its composition is that of ordinary mountain water, with no mineral or radioactive properties that might explain the cures attributed to it. This circumstance has reinforced the supernatural character of the prodigies: it is not the water itself that heals, but faith and the intercession of the Virgin.

As curas milagrosas

Since 1858, more than seven thousand cases of inexplicável cures have been documented by the Lourdes Medical Bureau. Of these, 72 had been recognised as miraculous by the Catholic Church by April 2025, after a rigorous process of medical and ecclesial investigation. The process is extremely demanding: the cure must be instantaneous, complete, lasting and scientifically inexplicável.

O Departamento Médico e o Comitê Médico Internacional

The Lourdes Medical Bureau (Bureau des Constatations Médicales) was created in 1883 by Doctor Henri-Ferdinand Dunot de Sainte-Maclou, the first physician responsible for the shrine. Since then it has functioned without interruption, examining the cases of cures that occur during the pilgrimages. The bureau is directed by a chief physician and has a team of doutors of every speciality and nationality, Catholic and non-Catholic, who examine those claiming to have been cured.

In 1954 the International Medical Committee of Lourdes (CMIL) was created, with its seat in Paris and composed of physicians from different countries and creeds. This committee carries out a second review of the cases which the Medical Bureau considers inexplicável. If the CMIL confirms that the case is medically inexplicável, it is referred to the bishop of the cured pilgrim’s place of origin, who appoints a canonical commission to decide whether the cure may be declared miraculous. Finally, it is the bishop who pronounces the official recognition of the miracle.

Alguns dos milagres mais célebres

Marie-Bernarde (1858, the first recognised cure): Catherine Latapie, a thirty-eight-year-old woman from Loubaixac, had had her right arm paralysed for two years as the result of a fall. On 1 March 1858, upon plunging her arm into the water of the spring at the grotto, she immediately recovered its full mobility. It was the first cure attributed to the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes.

Louis Bouriette (1858): Um pedreiro de Lourdes que tinha perdido a visão de seu olho direito através de uma explosão de pólvora. Sua filha lhe trouxe água da gruta; ao lavar o olho, recuperou a visão instantaneamente.

Henrietta Bordenave (1866): A young woman of twenty-seven who suffered from an incurável lachrymal fistula. After bathing in the pool of the shrine, the fistula closed completely and never opened again.

Gabriel Gargam (1885): A five-year-old boy who suffered from cervical glandular tuberculose with suppurating fistulas. He was taken to the pool by his mother and, after immersion, the fistulas closed and the boy was completely cured.

Marie Lemarchand (1894): A young woman of nineteen who suffered from advanced pulmonary tuberculose, considered terminal. After bathing in the pools, she was cured instantaneously. Her case was meticulously documented by Doctor Boissarie, then president of the Medical Bureau.

Johanna Bézenac (1911): A twenty-nine-year-old religious sister who suffered from tuberculous peritonite. After drinking water from Lourdes, she was cured suddenly and completely. Her cure was declared a miracle in 1913.

Alexis Carrel (1903): The celebrated French physician and biologist, future Nobel laureate in Medicine (1912), witnessed at Lourdes the cure of a dying young woman, Marie Bailly, who suffered from advanced tuberculous peritonite. Carrel, who was a sceptic, verified the sudden and inexplicável cure of the patient. Although he never publicly converted, the event marked his life and thought profoundly, and LED him to write on the limits of science in explaining certain phenomena. His testimony appears in the work «The Voyage to Lourdes», published posthumously.

V. As basílicas do santuário

A Cripta (1866)

The first construction of the shrine was the Crypt, hewn out of the living rock above the grotto of Massabielle. It was blessed on 15 May 1866, eight years after the apparitions. The Crypt, in a simples neo-Gothic style, houses an altar recalling that the first chapel of Lourdes was carved into the very rock where the Virgin appeared. It preserves the altar at which Bishop Laurence celebrated Mass during the ceremony of blessing. The Crypt serves as the base and foundation of the upper basilica.

A Basílica da Imaculada Conceição (1871)

Known as the Upper Basilica, it was built between 1862 and 1871 upon the rock of Massabielle, directly above the Crypt. It is a neo-Gothic building, 70 metres in length and 70 metres high at its central spire, visível from the whole town of Lourdes. Its façade, elegantly proportioned, presents three doorways with pointed arches and a great central rose window. The interior, of a single nave with side chapels, is adorned with stained-glass windows depicting the life of the Virgin Mary and the scenes of the apparitions. The basilica was consecrated in 1871 and can hold some 550 faithful. Outside, a monumental Way of the Cross in cast bronze, the work of the artist Raffl, winds from the basilica up the hill of Espélugues.

A Basílica de Nossa Senhora do Rosário (1901)

O crescente afluxo de peregrinos fez necessária uma basílica de maior capacidade. Entre 1883 e 1901 foi construída a Basílica de Nossa Senhora do Rosário, situada de frente para a gruta, na esplanada do santuário. Está no estilo neo-bizantino, com uma imponente cúpula central de 51 metros de altura e uma fachada adornada com mosaicos dourados que lembram a Basílica de São Marcos em Veneza. O interior, oval em plano, está rodeado por quinze capelas laterais dedicadas aos mistérios do Rosário, cada uma das quais abriga um mosaico que retrata o mistério correspondente. A basílica pode sustentar até 1.500 fiéis. A grande cúpula está decorada com mosaicos representando a coroação da Virgem Maria e a procissão dos santos. A fachada principal, com duas torres de sino, abre-se para a grande esplanada do Rosário, onde se realizam os grandes encontros de peregrinos.

Basílica subterrânea de São Pio X (1958)

For the centeny of the apparitions, the Basilica of Saint Pius X was built, also known as the Underground Basilica, a temple of prefabricated concrete designed by the architect Pierre Vago. It was inaugurated on 25 March 1958 by Cardinal Angelo Roncalli, the future Pope Saint John XXIII. With a capacity of 25,000 people, it was the largest church in the world at the time of its construction, and it remains one of the largest. Its modern, sober design, with no interior columns, allows an unbstructed view of the altar from any point. It is built underground, partially escavated into the hillside, so as not to alter the landscape of the shrine. Its elliptical shape, 201 metres long and 81 metres wide, calls to mind an upturned ship.

VI. O santuário hoje

O Domaine de la Grotte

The Domaine de la Grotte (Domain of the Grotto) is the secinct of the shrine, an extensive space of some 52 hectares on the banks of the river Gave de Pau, comprising the grotto of Massabielle, the basilicas, the baths, the Rosary esplanade, the pilgrims’ hospital, the chapels of Light and of Adoration, and various reception buildings. Access to the shrine is free of charge and it is open all year round, twenty-four hours a day. The atmosphere of the Domaine is one of deep recollection: the murmur of the river, the singing of the pilgrims, the glow of the candles and the gentle fragrance of incense create an atmosphere of peace that impresses even non-believing visitors.

A gruta de Massabielle

The grotto of Massabielle is the spiritual heart of the shrine. It is a natural cave some twelve metres deep, formed by the erosion of the river Gave in the limestone rock. The grotto has three cavities: the largest, where the statuse of the Virgin stands; a left-hand side cavity where the spring rises; and a third side cavity where the pilgrims’ candles are lit. The statuse of the Virgin, placed in the niche where the Lady appeared, was sculpted in 1864 by the artist Joseph-Hugues Fabisch, according to the indications given by Bernadette. The statuse depicts the Virgin just as Bernadette descreved her: dressed in white, with a blue sash, a golden rose on each foot and a rosary in her hands. Thousands of pilgrims come to the grotto each day to pray, to touch the rock, to light candles and to leave their intentions. The atmosphere in the grotto is of a spiritual density difficult to descreve: the murmur of the river, the prayers whispered in dozens of languages, the flicker of the candles, the brush of hands upon the stone worn smooth by centuries of devotion.

The baths

The baths of Lourdes are facilities situated at the foot of the grotto, beside the spring, where pilgrims may immerse themselves in the water of the source as an act of faith and of petition for healing. The present baths were built in 1955 and consist of seventeen individual baths (twelve for women and five for men), each with room for three or four people. The pilgrims, clothed in a white robe, immerse themselves briefly in the water while praying and entrusting their intentions to the Virgin. Immersion in the baths is one of the most moving moments of the pilgrimage to Lourdes, an act of humility and of faith performed each year by afundareds of thousands of people, the sick and healthy pilgrims alike.

A procissão da luz da tocha

Every evening, as the sun goes down, the Marian torchlight procession takes place, one of the most emblematic and moving ceremonies of the shrine. Thousands of pilgrims, carrying lighted candles, make their way along the Rosary esplanade and through the secinct of the Domaine, praying the Rosary and singing the «Ave Maria of Lourdes». The procession begins with the blessing of the candles at the grotto and culminates with the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament before the basilica. The sight of the esplanade lit by thousands of candles, with the hymns rising to heaven in a score of languages, is one of the most unforgettable experiences for any pilgrim.

A bênção dos doentes

The blessing of the sick is the central act of the pilgrimage to Lourdes. It takes place every afternoon, at the end of the Eucharistic procession, and constitutes the culminating moment of the day. The sick, gathered on the Rosary esplanade in wheelchairs and on stretchers, receive the blessing with the Blessed Sacrament. Thousands of pilgrims pray for them, and the silence becomes absolute at the moment of the blessing. It is an act of profound spiritual weight, in which the faith of the Church is made visível in a moving way: the sick are the protagonists, the privileged ones, those who receive the attention and the love of all.

A hospitalidade de Nossa Senhora de Lourdes

O cuidado dos doentes em Lourdes é possibilitado pela Hospitalidade de Nossa Senhora de Lourdes, organização fundada em 1880 pelo padre François Picard, capelão do santuário. É composta por milhares de voluntários — homens e mulheres de todas as idades e origens — que dedicam o seu tempo e esforço ao acompanhamento, ao cuidado e ao serviço dos peregrinos doentes. Os hospitaleiros, homens e mulheres, distinguem-se pelo seu uniforme: uma braçadeira azul e branca, e uma medalha da Virgem. O seu trabalho altruísta e alegre é um dos testemunhos mais eloquentes do espírito de Lourdes: a caridade vivida na sua forma mais concreta e cativante.

VII. Os milagres aprovados pela Igreja

O processo de reconhecimento

O reconhecimento de um milagre em Lourdes segue um procedimento rigoroso e extremamente exigente, considerado o mais rigoroso do mundo em matéria de curas extraordinárias. O processo compreende várias etapas:

In the first place, the person who claims to have been cured must present themselves before the Lourdes Medical Bureau, where a team of doutors from different specialities examines their clinical history, prévious diagnoses and current state of health. The bureau is open to doutors of any creed, including non-Catholics. If the majority of the doutors consider that the cure has no scientific explanation, the case is declared «medically inexplicável».

The case is then referred to the Lourdes International Medical Committee (CMIL), composed of some thirty doutors from different countries and specialities, which carries out a second investigation. If the CMIL confirms that the cure is medically inexplicável, the case passes to the ecclesiastical authority: the bishop of the cured person’s place of origin appoints a canonical commission to study the case from a theological perspective. Finally, the bishop issues a decree recognising the miraculous character of the cure. By April 2025, 72 cures had culminated in episcopal recognition as miraculous.

Curas reconhecidas como milagrosas

A lista oficial de milagres reconhecidos pela Igreja estende-se de 1858 até os dias atuais. Alguns dos mais representativos, além dos já mencionados, incluem:

Marie Savoie (1894): A young woman of nineteen who suffered from advanced pulmonary and laryngeal tuberculose, which had left her voice completely lost. After immersion in the baths, she recovered her voice and was cured of all her ailments. The miracle was recognised in 1898.

Serge Perrin (1970): A French citizen who suffered from Foix-Alajouanine syndrome, a serious neurological disease that had caused him partial paralysis, blindness and sensory disorders. After travelling to Lourdes on pilgrimage, experienced a sudden and complete cure. The miracle was recognised in 1978.

Delicia Cirolli (1976): An Italian girl of twelve who suffered from Ewing’s sarcoma in her right knee, a malignant bone cancer with metastasis. Dr. had planned to amputate her leg to save her life. On her return from a pilgrimage to Lourdes, the doutors confirmed the complete disappearance of the tumour. The miracle was recognised in 1982.

Jean-Pierre Bély (1987): A Frenchman of thirty-one who suffered from multiple sclerose in an advanced stage, confined to a wheelchair. After immersing himself in the baths of Lourdes, he experienced an immediate and progressive improvement, until he completely recovered his mobility. The miracle was recognised in 1999.

Anna Santaniello (1952): An Italian woman of forty-one who suffered from a serious rheumatic heart disease, considered irreversível. After drinking water from Lourdes, she was completely cured. The miracle was recognised in 1964.

VIII. Ilustres peregrinos e visitas papais

Os Papas em Lourdes

Lourdes received the visit of several Pontiffs, who have wished to demonstrate by their presence the importance of the shrine for the universal Church.

Papa São Pio X, a great devotee of Our Lady of Lourdes, extended the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes to the whole Church in 1907 and promulgated the Litany of Loreto. Eu also approved the statustes of the Hospitality of Our Lady of Lourdes.

Papa Pio XII, que como Cardeal Secretário de Estado visitou Lourdes em 1935 como legado papal, proclamou em 1958 o Ano Jubilar do Centenário das Aparições e promulgou a encíclica «Le pèlerinage de Lourdes». Na sua mensagem, recordou que Lourdes é «o santuário da penitência, da oração e da caridade».

Papa Saint- John Paul II, the Pontiff most devoted to Lourdes in recent history, visited the shrine on two occasions. The first, on 15 August 1983, on the occasion of the Holy Year of the management, in a visit that left a profound mark upon the shrine. The second, on 14 and 15 August 2004, when he made his second pilgrimage to Lourdes, carrying the Cross of the Sick, already gravely afflicted by Parkinson’s disease. It was a deeply moving visit: the Pope, visibly ill, prostrated himself before the grotto and received the blessing with the Blessed Sacrament together with the other sick. It was the last great international pilgrimage of his pontificate, a testimony to his devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes and to his solidarity with those who suffer.

Papa Bento XVI visitou Lourdes em 14 e 15 de Setembro de 2008, por ocasião do 150o aniversário das aparições. Presidiu a procissão da luz da tocha, celebrou a Missa na esplanada do Rosário e visitou a gruta em oração. No seu discurso, recordou que «Lourdes é o lugar do amor humilde e confiante, o lugar onde todos nós aprendemos que o amor de Deus não conhece medida».

Papa Francisco você not visited Lourdes in person, but he has expressed his devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes on repeated occasions and has sent his personal delegates to the great celebrations of the shrine. In 2013, on the occasion of World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, recalled that «Lourdes teaches us that faith is not a theory, but an encounter with a Mother who accompanies us».

Outros números ilustres

Saint- Thérèse of Lisieux (Santa Teresa do Menino Jesus) visitou Lourdes com seu pai em 1887, durante a peregrinação nacional francesa. Ela tinha então quatorze anos, e sua experiência em Lourdes era espiritual e intensa, embora ela mesma mais tarde confessasse que esperava uma cura milagrosa para seu pai, que não aconteceu. O seu tempo em Lourdes foi, no entanto, um momento importante no seu caminho para a santidade.

Saint- Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) visited Lourdes on several occasions. Her devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes was well known, and she used to refer to Lourdes as «the shrine where the love of God becomes visível in the faces of the poor and the sick». In 1993, during her last visit, she knelt for a long while before the grotto, absorved in deep prayer.

O Imperador Napoleão III E a Imperatriz Eugénie de Montijo mostrou interesse nas aparições desde o início. A Imperatriz, espanhola de nascimento e profundamente católica, foi uma firme defensora de Bernadette e da causa do santuário. Graças à sua influência, o Imperador autorizou a compra dos terrenos de Massabielle pelo Bispo de Tarbes em 1861, e a construção do santuário foi capaz de começar sem obstáculos administrativos.

IX. Práticas devocionais

A água de Lourdes

The water from the spring of Massabielle is the most visível and popular sign of devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes. Since 1858, pilgrims have drunk the water, washed with it, carried it to their homes and distributed it among the sick. The water of Lourdes has no special medicinal properties —chemical analyses have demonstrated this repeatedly— but for believers it is a sacramental, a visível sign of the invisível grace of God. Millions of bottles and containers of Lourdes water are distributed every eear throughout the world. Pilgrims usually take it home as a keepsake and as an object of devotion, to be used in times of illness or of spiritual need. The shrine provides public taps where pilgrims may fill their containers free of charge.

A procissão eucarística

Todas as tardes, às 17:00, realiza-se a procissão do Santíssimo Sacramento ao longo da esplanada do Rosário. É o ato central do dia em Lourdes. O Santíssimo Sacramento, levado por um padre sob uma copa, move-se lentamente através da esplanada em meio a hinos e orações, enquanto os peregrinos ajoelham-se enquanto passa. A procissão culmina na bênção dos doentes, o momento mais comovente do dia. O silêncio absoluto que cai durante a bênção, quebrado apenas pelo vento e pelo murmúrio do rio, tem uma densidade espiritual que move crentes e não crentes.

O Caminho da Cruz em Espelugues

The monumental Way of the Cross at Lourdes was inaugurated in 1912 and winds its way up the hill of Espélugues, to the east of the shrine. It consists of fourteen stations represented in cast-bronze sculptural groups, the work of the sculptor Raffl, depicting the scenes of the Passion according to the classical tradition. The route, approximately 1.5 quilometres long, climbs the hill among the trees and offers panoramic views of the shrine and of the town of Lourdes. Many pilgrims make the Way of the Cross praying in silence, in an atmosphere of recollection that contrasts with the bustle of the esplanade. It is one of the most deeply rooted devotional practices of the shrine, especially during Lent and Holy Week.

O Rosário

Our Lady of Lourdes appeared with a rosary in her hands, and the prayer of the Rosary lies at the heart of the shrine’s spirituality. During the apparitions, Bernadette prayed the Rosary while the Virgin passed the beads of her own, joining her lips only at the Glory Be. Since then, the Rosary has been the prayer par excellence of the pilgrims of Lourdes. It is prayed at the grotto, in the basilicas, on the esplanade, in the processions. The shrine possesses the Rosary Basilica, whose fifteen side chapels are dedicated to the mysteries. Every day the Rosary is prayed in many languages, and the participation of the pilgrims is massive and fervent.

X. Impacto cultural e expansão mundial

A réplica Lourdes grutas em todo o mundo

Devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes has spread across every continent, and there are thousands of replica grottoes of Massabielle in parishes, shrines, convents and homes throughout the world. It is estimated that there are more than two thousand replicas in France alone, and several tens of thousands across the Catholic world. Many of them are faithful reproduztions of the original grotto, with the statuse of the Virgin in the same position, the spring and the candles. Among the most famous replicas are the Lourdes Grotto at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in Bombay (India), the Lourdes Grotto at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles (United States), and the Lourdes Grotto at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in San Leopoldo (Brazil). In Spain there are numerous replicas, such as that of the Royal Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in Madrid, that of the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes at Torrecidade (Huesca), and that of the Basilica of La Merced in Barcelona.

O hino «Ave Maria de Lourdes»

The best-known hymn of the shrine is the «Ave Maria of Lourdes», also known as «The Lourdes Prayer». Its words, composed by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux in the twelfth century, were set to music in their present version for the Lourdes pilgrimages. The melody, simples and deeply moving, is sung by the pilgrims at the torchlight procession and at all the ceremonies of the shrine. The best-known version runs: «Ave, ave, ave Maria. Ave, ave, ave Maria». The hymn has become a universal symbol of Marian devotion, recognisable even to those who have never visited Lourdes.

Cinema e literatura sobre Bernadette

A história de Bernadette Soubirous foi levada ao cinema e à literatura em muitas ocasiões. O filme mais famoso é «The Song of Bernadette» (1943), dirigido por Henry King e estrelado por Jennifer Jones, que ganhou o Oscar de Melhor Atriz por seu retrato de Bernadette. O filme, baseado no romance de mesmo nome de Franz Werfel (1941), é um clássico do cinema religioso e foi homenageado com quatro Oscars. Werfel, um escritor judeu austríaco exilado, escreveu o romance em cumprimento de uma promessa que tinha feito a Nossa Senhora de Lourdes quando foi salvo da perseguição nazista.

Other notável films include «Bernadette» (1988), a French production directed by Jean Delannoy and starring Sydney Penny, which recounts the life of the saint with great fidelity; and «Lourdes» (2009), a film by the Austrian diretor Jessica Hausner, which approaches the phenomenon of the pilgrimages from a contemporary perspective. Numerous documentaries and television séries have also been produzd about the apparitions, the miracles and the life of the shrine.

Lourdes na cultura popular

Lourdes transcended the strictly religious sphere to become a universal cultural phenomenon. The name of Lourdes is known throughout the world, even by those who are not Catholic, as a byword for pilgrimage, for popular faith and for the search for healing. The image of the grotto of Massabielle, with the statuse of the Virgin in its niche and the thousands of lighted candles, is one of the most recognisable icons of Catholicism. The word «Lourdes» appears in songs, novels, films and works of art all over the world. The shrine also welcomes numerous non-Catholic and non-believing visitors, who come drawn by the beauty of the place, the atmosphere of peace and the human phenomenon of pilgrimage.

XI. Cronologia de Lourdes

• 11 de Fevereiro de 1858: Primeira aparição da Virgem a Bernadette Soubirous na gruta de Massabielle.
• 25 de Fevereiro de 1858: A Virgem instrui Bernadette a cavar na terra e descobrir a primavera.
• 25 de Março de 1858: A Virgem identifica-se como «a Imaculada Conceição».
• 16 de Julho de 1858: Décima oitava e última aparição.
• 18 de Janeiro de 1862: O Bispo Laurence aprova oficialmente as aparições.
• 1862-1871: Construção da Basílica da Imaculada Conceição.
• 15 de Maio de 1866: Bênção da Cripta do santuário.
• 1866: Bernadette entra no convento de Nevers.
• 1871: Consagração da Basílica da Imaculada Conceição.
• 16 de Abril de 1879: Morte de Santa Bernadette em Nevers.
• 1883-1901: Construção da Basílica de Nossa Senhora do Rosário.
• 1883: Criação da Lourdes Medical Bureau.
• 1907: São Pio X estende a festa de Nossa Senhora de Lourdes a toda a Igreja.
• 8 de Dezembro de 1933: Canonização de Santa Bernadette pelo Papa Pio XI.
• 1958: Construction and inauguration of the Underground Basilica of Saint Pius X for the centeny of the apparitions.
• 15 de Agosto de 1983: Primeira visita do Papa João Paulo II a Lourdes.
• 14-15 de Agosto de 2004: Segunda peregrinação do Papa João Paulo II a Lourdes, já gravemente doente.
• 14-15 de Setembro de 2008: Visita do Papa Bento XVI por ocasião do 150o aniversário das aparições.
• 11 de Fevereiro de 2008: Abertura do Ano Jubilar do 150o aniversário das aparições.
• 2018: Celebração do 160o aniversário das aparições, com peregrinações extraordinárias de todo o mundo.
• 11 de Fevereiro de 2024 Dia Mundial do Doente, instituído por São João Paulo II em 1992, comemorado de forma especial em Lourdes.

Fontes oficiais: Santuário de Lourdes: curas reconhecidas; reconhecimento.

n

XII. A mensagem de Lourdes: oração, penitência e conversão

A mensagem que a Virgem transmitiu em Lourdes é de uma simplicidade e profundidade que não perderam a sua relevância. A Virgem não deu longos discursos e não revelou grandes segredos: pediu oração, penitência e conversão. «Pena, penitência, penitência», repetiu em várias aparições. «Orai a Deus pelos pecadores». «Vai e beija o chão em penitência pelos pecadores». Ela também pediu que fosse construída uma capela e que os fiéis viessem em procissão ao lugar das aparições.

A mensagem de Lourdes é, em essência, um apelo à conversão do coração, à humildade, à oração confiante e à solidariedade com aqueles que sofrem. Lourdes não é lugar de espetáculo, mas de encontro: encontro com a Virgem, encontro com os doentes, encontro consigo mesmo e com Deus. O santuário é, acima de tudo, uma escola de caridade. O cuidado dos doentes, o acolhimento dado aos peregrinos, a oração comunitária, a participação nos sacramentos — especialmente a confissão e a Eucaristia — são as expressões concretas desta mensagem.

The permanent miracle of Lourdes is not only the physical cures —striking, but exceptional— but the spiritual transformation experienced by the millions of people who come to the shrine. Pilgrims who arrive burdened with doubts, with sufferings, with despair, and who depart with a peace and a joy that cannot be explained by natural causes. That is, perhaps, the greatest miracle of Lourdes: the certainty, palpável in the atmosphere of the Domaine, that the Virgin is truly present in that place, as she promised, and that her maternal love continues to accompany her pilgrim children on earth.