The Charisms of Lourdes
Healing: The Charism of Lourdes
As we welcome the relics of St Bernadette to the United Kingdom we have an opportunity to reflect on what makes Lourdes so special. What is it that makes Lourdes so unique and such a popular pilgrimage destination? What is the central charism of Lourdes that makes it so appealing?
At the heart of the shrine today stands the Reconciliation Chapel, where pilgrims can find spiritual healing through the sacrament of Confession. In the past this building was used to house the sick who visited Lourdes. This building highlights the key charism of Lourdes being healing. On the 150th anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady to St Bernadette Pope Benedict XVI said:
“Mary, appearing to St. Bernadette, opened a privileged place to encounter the divine love which heals and saves.”
Lourdes is a place where we encounter God’s love and where we can find healing – but not just the physical healing of the miracles that have famously taken place there. It is also a place of spiritual, emotional, and psychological healing.
Spiritual Healing
On first encountering Mary, St Bernadette’s first instinct was to pray the rosary. At first, she struggled, but with Mary’s encouragement the words began to come.
Many pilgrims who travel to Lourdes already have great faith. They go in answer to Mary’s call for people to come in procession and they seek to grow in strength in their faith by their visit. But for many others Lourdes is a place of spiritual healing. It is a place where those who are struggling with their faith can find it renewed, or where those who have visited merely out of curiosity, suddenly have their eyes opened to the love of God. In Lourdes many discover or rediscover prayer – whether in praying as part of the crowd attending one of the liturgies, or in solitude silently in front of the grotto, it is a place where we can all find the time to refocus on our relationship with God.
One of the key messages of Mary to St Bernadette was also our need to pray for the conversion of sinners and to be renewed by the spring of water. The very discovery of this spring, took place with St Bernadette on her knees scooping up a muddy puddle and putting it to her lips. This incredible act of humility and penance, opened up for us the healing waters which we now wash in, seeking to be renewed in our faith. Through the ministry that takes place in the Chapel of Reconciliation Lourdes is also a place where the Sacrament of Reconciliation – with its provision at the heart of the shrine each day.
Emotional Healing
As news of St Bernadette’s visions of Mary began to spread, people gathered around the grotto in growing numbers, hoping to get a glimpse of the mysterious lady that she saw.
For many people Lourdes is a place where they rediscover God working in humanity. Lourdes is a place of love. It is where people volunteer to serve and care for the sick and the most vulnerable of our society, just as the Lord commanded us to love our neighbour. It is a place of shared joy and of comfort. In living in this place, even for a few days, our eyes are opened to the way that the Lord wants the world to be, and the witness that is given in Lourdes inspires many to be healed from past occasions when they have not experienced love from their brothers and sisters. This emotional healing can also lead to the opening of our hearts to new callings linked to the service that we give – to the priesthood and religious life, to the medical or caring profession.
Psychological Healing
On explaining the news of what she has seen St Bernadette was initially rejected by the priest and the elders of her community. She was seen as a nuisance and causing a disturbance to the peace of her small town.
Many of us need psychological healing, but many of us do not realise this until we arrive in Lourdes. We need healing from the things that have hurt us such as rejection or ridicule from those we love and trust. Many of us have also needed healing from loneliness and isolation. Despite so often being busy, Lourdes is a place that brings peace. Perhaps in our witness of the love around us, or in the community that we almost immediately become a part of, but certainly in the time we give to prayer in this holy place, we can discover a path away from those things that cause us hurt and towards a life of forgiveness and hope.
Physical Healing
Just before the twelfth apparition in 1858, Catherine Latapie, who had paralysed two fingers in an accident two years before, met with St Bernadette and simply washed her hands in the newly found spring. Instantly her hand was healed. During the seventeenth apparition it is said that St Bernadette went into such a deep ecstasy that the flame of a candle burned on her fingers for 15 minutes without leaving a mark.
Lourdes is probably most famous for being a place of miraculous physical healings. From the earliest days, those who have travelled to Lourdes have witnessed incredible things. From those who are paralysed being able to walk, to the blind being able to see, there are many miracles associated with this place. To date, 70 confirmed miracles have taken place, but thousands more are under investigation by the Lourdes Medical Bureau using the most up-to-date of scientific research, with those with and without faith investigating whether there is a medical explanation for a healing that has taken place.
Throughout our lives we all need healing from something, but as a result of the events of the last couple of years this need for healing is even more evident. The visit of St Bernadette’s relics to the U.K. in September and October 2022 are a chance for us to be reminded of the healing that can be found in Lourdes, which always brings hope and joy to those who visit.