rd), town (1990 pop. 16,581), Hautes-Pyrénées dept., SW France, at the foot of the Pyrénées. It is famous for its Roman Catholic shrine where Our Lady of Lourdes (Feast: Feb. 11) is believed to have repeatedly appeared (1858) to St. Bernadette Bernadette, Saint , 1844–79, French peasant girl who claimed to see the Virgin Mary in apparitions at a grotto near Lourdes, her home, in 1858. She was born Marie Bernarde Soubirous...... Click the link for more information. . Millions of people make the pilgrimage to Lourdes each year, drawn by their faith in the miraculous cures attributed to the waters of the shrine.
Bibliography
See R. Harris, Lourdes (1999).
Lourdes
Pilgrimage site in southwestern France, situated southwest of Toulouse at the foot of the Pyrenees. The town and its fortress formed a strategic stronghold in medieval times, but its modern significance dates from 1858, when a 14-year-old girl had repeated visions of the Virgin Mary (see Bernadette of Lourdes). The visions were declared authentic by Pope Pius IX in 1862. The underground spring in the grotto where Bernadette had her visions was declared to have miraculous qualities, and Lourdes has since become one of the foremost destinations for Roman Catholic pilgrims. Nearly 3 million visit annually, many of them sick or disabled people hoping to be healed. A basilica was built above the grotto in 1876, and a vast underground church was added in 1958.
Lourdes
Lourdes
a city in southwestern France at the foot of the Pyrenees in the department of Hautes-Pyrenees. Population, 18,000 (1968). Railroad junction. Lourdes has marble quarries and mineral springs.
In the 19th century, Lourdes became a place of pilgrimage (the cult of the Virgin Mary) because of a legend propagated by the Catholic Church about a “miraculous appearance of the Virgin” (in 1858) to Bernadette Soubirous, a 14-year-old inhabitant of Lourdes (canonized in 1933) and about the allegedly miraculous powers of a spring not far from the spot where the “miracle” occurred. E. Zola’s novel Lourdes (1894) exposes the deception practiced upon the pilgrims (chiefly invalids hoping for a miraculous recovery in Lourdes) by the clergy and by enterprising businessmen enriching themselves from religious fanaticism.
In 1958, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the “miracle at Lourdes,” celebrations were held there with the participation of the higher clergy, clerical organizations, and governmental and military figures from the NATO countries. There are a number of cult monuments in Lourdes, including the huge underground Basilica of Pius X (capacity, 20,000 people; completed in 1958; architect, P. Vago).
REFERENCE
Stolarek, Z. “Gorod chudes” svoimi i chuzhimi glazami (Lurd segodnia). Moscow, 1961. (Translated from Polish.)How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content.
| ?Page tools | ||
|---|---|---|
|