Pilgrimages Of Europe - Lourdes, France

The story of the apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Lourdes has been recorded in detail in handwritten documents. In the mid-1800s Lourdes was an obscure village in the south of France at the foot of the Pyrenees. The Soubirous family was reduced to poverty when Monsieur Soubirous lost his job at the water mill due to an accident. Bernadette, his eldest child, was often sent to collect wood. On an icy day in February 1858, she saw a vision of a white lady in a grotto by the river. During the last of 18 apparitions, the lady revealed her identity, calling herself the Immaculate Conception. Each year, especially in summer, special trains depart from all points of Europe bound for Lourdes, which has become the major pilgrimage site for the sick and infirm. Large groups of bedridden patients and the disabled are acompanied by helpers, including doctors and nurses. They visit the site in the grotto where Mary appeared, and where so many have been cured by the holy waters.