Dear Friend,

Even before your grandparents were born, people had been praying for decades at the “Grotto of Miracles” in Lourdes, France. It’s hard to believe, but February 11, 2008, marks the 150th Anniversary of Our Blessed Mother’s first apparition at Lourdes.

On that day Our Blessed Mother spoke to one poor, uneducated, and very young little girl named Bernadette. And now, 150 years later, thousands of people daily, with their rosaries in hand, like Bernadette, still kneel before that very same riverside grotto.

While the popularity of many religious devotions come and go, the devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes appeals to more people with each passing year.

If you visited Lourdes today, you would be surprised by the number of people praying before the grotto day and night. In a single day you could easily hear a hundred different languages being spoken. You would see people, not only from Europe, Canada, and the United States, but also from Asia, Africa, and South America. Lourdes is, without doubt, one of the greatest religious centers on the face of this earth.

Again, if you visited Lourdes today, you might ask yourself, “why have all these people come here?” The answer would be quite obvious. These tens of thousands of people came on pilgrimage to Lourdes for the very same reasons which brought you to Lourdes. They also came seeking a healing, a cure, a miracle, a favorable answer to a very special prayer. They came to seek the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes.

One might wonder why people don’t simply pray for their special healing needs in the privacy of their own parish church, or perhaps in a shrine closer to their homes? Why do people travel thousands of miles, from all corners of this earth, to pray to Our Blessed Lady at the Grotto of Lourdes?

I say it again, the answer is simple. Over the past 150 years, hundreds, if not thousands of healing miracles have occurred at Lourdes. But why do these miracles happen at Lourdes and not in our parish churches? That is indeed a real mystery. One can simply say that there is something very special about Lourdes, and that for some reason known to God alone, at Lourdes diseases are cured, the blind see, the deaf regain their hearing, and the troubled find peace of mind.

So today, 150 years after Our Blessed Lady’s first Lourdes Apparition, I strongly encourage you to please turn to Our Lady of Lourdes as you seek a special healing in your own life or in the life of a loved one.

Since you probably will not have the opportunity to travel to Lourdes this anniversary year, you can still have your special needs placed at the Lourdes Grotto by simply writing them on the enclosed 150th Anniversary Prayer Petition Form. I will see that your prayer requests are then sent to Lourdes and placed in the Grotto’s prayer vault. There they will be prayed for, not only in a Lourdes Anniversary Mass, but also by the thousands of pilgrims who are requested to pray for all Lourdes petitions.

Each of your healing needs will also be prayed for in a special 150th Anniversary Lourdes Mass Novena to be celebrated here at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Shrine.

This special Anniversary Mass Novena will begin on February 11, the official Feast Day Anniversary. And since that Feast Day is really only a few weeks away, I encourage you to please return your Prayer Petition Form as soon as possible. I want to make sure that your prayer requests are actually in Lourdes by February 11.

While there is never any guarantee that your particular prayer petitions will be answered in the exact way you might be requesting, I remind you again that more prayer requests seem to find a favorable answer at Lourdes than at any other place in this world. So please, seek the Lord’s help today through the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes.

When sending your 150th Anniversary prayer petitions, I hope you would also be able to enclose an anniversary donation in support of our Shrine’s ministry and the education of our seminarians. If you are able to give a donation of $20 or more, I’d like to show my appreciation by sending you a Lourdes, Touch of Rose, Holy Water Font. This gift is pictured and described in detail on the enclosed form.

I look forward to hearing from you shortly and receiving your 2008 Anniversary Mass Novena petitions. Let us pray your new year begins with a real miracle of grace.

In the love and care of Our Blessed Lady,



Fr. Bartholomew, CMC

P.S. If for some reason you do not wish to receive our 2008 Lourdes appreciation gift, but would still like to send a donation of $25 or more, I’ll see that a Long-burning Anniversary Lourdes Votive Candle is lit here at Our Lady’s Shrine for your intentions or those of a loved one.