December 2014

Dear Friend,

Yes, just what words do come to your lips when someone says “Lourdes?”

When I asked a number of people that same question, the words which they most frequently responded with were:

Miracles, Our Blessed Mother, Bernadette, Peace, Prayer, and Hope.

I wasn’t a bit surprised.  These are some of the same words I’ve also used over and over again when speaking to others about Lourdes and its special spiritual powers.

The story of Lourdes, as we know it today, began on February 11, 1858.  On that cold and damp Thursday morning in Lourdes, France, Our Blessed Mother first appeared to the young peasant girl we now call Saint Bernadette.  In the months which followed, Our Lady would again appear to Bernadette 17 more times.

It didn’t take long before others begin to gather with her at the river “grotto” where these apparitions took place.  Some came out of curiosity, while many more came out of religious devotion.  Today, millions pilgrimage to Lourdes each year.

Most of the people who visit the Lourdes Shrine annually are motivated by a deep religious devotion.  They come to pray for something important.  They come to find peace of mind.  They travel long distances seeking hope for a better or brighter tomorrow.  And probably all come with a legitimate hope that they or someone dear to them might be blessed with a genuine Lourdes miraculous healing.

Over the past century and a half, thousands of documented and undocumented healing miracles have been attributed to Our Lady of Lourdes.  Many of these miracles have been physical and emotional healings, but perhaps the majority have been spiritual healings, really the greatest and most important type of healing.

Few people in the United States will ever have the opportunity to pilgrimage to Lourdes in search of Our Lady’s graces and help at the sacred Lourdes Grotto.  That is why each year the Immaculate Heart of Mary Shrine gives those associated with the Shrine a chance to actually have their prayer petitions taken to Lourdes and placed in prayer petition vault located in “the Grotto of Miracles.”

So I’d thus ask of you, as soon as you finish reading this letter, to please write on the closed prayer petition form each one of your important prayer petitions which you would like to bring to the attention of Our Lady of Lourdes this February 11th.

What would you ask of Our Lady if you had the opportunity to actually kneel before the Sacred Lourdes Grotto?  What healings are you seeking for yourself or someone else dear and special to you?  Are you or a loved one in need of a healing miracle?  How could your life or that of a loved one be made happier and more whole through a prayer answered by Our Lady of Lourdes?

Please do ask and seek that you might find Our Lady saying to you “YES.”

Each year the Immaculate Heart of Mary Shrine commemorates Our Lady’s first February 11th apparition through the celebration of two special Mass Novenas, one prayed here at the Shrine and the second in Lourdes, France.  Thus, the prayer petitions you would like placed in the Lourdes’ Sacred Grotto will also be prayed for in each of these 18 Novena Masses.  Your prayer petitions will not stand alone.  They will also be prayed for by all those actively participating in these two Mass Novenas.

When sending me your 2015 Lourdes’ prayer petitions, I hope you will also be able to enclose a Lourdes’ donation in support of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Shrine.

In addition to the Shrine’s financial needs, your generous donation will also help support our seminary education program.  If you are able to send a donation of $25 or more, I would like to show my appreciation by sending you our 2015 Aurora Borealis Crystal Lourdes Rosary.  This beautiful Lourdes Rosary is pictured and described on the enclosed form.

I look forward to receiving your 2015 Lourdes petitions shortly.  Please do not delay in sending them to me.  And, let’s both pray together that your new year of 2015 might be blessed with an abundance of happiness and good health.

In the love and care of Our Blessed Lady,

Fr. Raymond M. Dien CMC

P.S. If you don’t wish to receive a Lourdes gift rosary, but would still like to send a donation of $25 or more, I’ll see that a Long-burning Lourdes Votive Candle is lit here at Our Lady’s Shrine for your intentions or for the intentions of a loved one.  Also let me know if you would like to memorialize yourself or a loved one here at the Shrine.