The most visited pilgrimage shrine in the Christian world,
Lourdes is not an ancient site but of more recent development. Lourdes
is the site of a Marian apparition in 185

• The pilgrimage season at Lourdes lasts from April through
  October, with the main day being August 15, the Marian Feast of
  Assumption.

• Four to six million pilgrims visit the shrine each year,
  from around the world, and it is estimated that more than 200 million
  pilgrims have come to Lourdes since 1860.

• Other important Marian apparitions have occurred in La
  Salette, France in 1846; in Pontmain, France in 1871; in Knock, Ireland
  in 1879; in Castelpetroso, Italy in 1888; in Fatima, Portugal in
  1916-1917; in Garabandal, Spain in 1961-1965; in Zeitoun, Egypt in
  1968-1968; and in Medjugorje, Yugoslavia in 1981.

History of Lourdes

• The origins of its sanctity begin with the fourteen-year old girl Bernadette Soubirous.

• Between February and July of 1858, Bernadette saw
  apparitions of a white-robed lady 18 times in a small grotto called
  Massabiele, near the town of Lourdes.

• In the apparitions Bernadette was told to instruct the
  village priest to build a chapel in the grotto, which many people would
  soon come to visit.

• On the day of the 16th apparition, March 25, the lady
  revealed herself as the Blessed Virgin Mary. During her ecstatic trance
  in the grotto, Bernadette began to dig in the earth until a small
  puddle of water appeared. Over the next few days the puddle enlarged
  into a pool and eventually became the sacred spring for which Lourdes
  is now so famous.

• Initially only a regional pilgrimage destination, as
  incidents of healing began to be reported, the spring developed an
  international reputation for having therapeutic powers.

• From 1864 to 1872 the site was mostly a regional pilgrimage
  destination attracting approximately 30,000 persons per year. Initially
  the shrine was not known for its curative power but after 1873, when
  incidents of healing at the spring began to be reported, the shrine
  rapidly developed a national and then international reputation for
  having therapeutic powers.

• The increasing number of pilgrims eventually overcrowded the
  original church, built above the grotto in 1876, and in 1958 an
  immense basilica was constructed.

Our Lady of Lourdes

• On the day of the 16th apparition, March 25, the lady
  revealed herself as the Blessed Virgin Mary. She is also called Maria
  de Lourdes.

Purposes of Lourdes

• Pilgrims visiting Lourdes for its healing qualities bathe in pools of water from Bernadette’s spring.

• Reports of miracles of our Lady of Lourdes are thoroughly
  examined and evidence indicates that there are many cases of verifiable
  healings at the grotto.

Theories

• Generally speaking, Marian apparitions occur in Roman
  Catholic countries; the witnesses of the apparitions are usually young
  children between the ages of 6 and 12; the messages given by the
  apparitions to the children are concerned with world affairs of which
  the children had no previous knowledge; and the apparitions make
  accurate predictions of future events.

• Regarding the reasons for the occurrence of Marian
  apparitions, D. Scott Rogo writes that it is "possible that they are
  projections of images latent in our minds which literally become
  temporarily real on rare occasions…..The key to understanding Marian
  apparitions may be in their tendency to occur at times of social
  and/or political crisis. At such times of stress, some form of mass
  telepathic communication may occur in the collective unconscious of the
  threatened culture. This may lead to the formation of a "group mind",
  which, in turn, results in the projection of a Marian visitation.”

Lourdes Rosary and Lourdes water Rosaries

• At the shrine of Sainte Bernadette it is possible to
  purchase rosaries made of wood, glass, pewter and crystal are
  available. Some of these rosaries also contain water from the holy
  spring.

• Pilgrims may also purchase a picture of the Lady of Lourdes apparition.

• Lourdes tours and tours of the surrounding countryside are available to visitors.

Santiago de Compostela

Christian legends tell
that St. James the Elder, one of the twelve apostles of Christ, had
traveled widely on the Iberian Peninsula, bringing Christianity to the
Celtic peoples. Following his martyrdom in Jerusalem around 44 AD, his
relics were supposedly taken back to Spain and enshrined. Due to Roman
persecution however, the early Spanish Christians were forced to abandon
the shrine and, with the depopulation of the area following the fall of
the Roman Empire, the location of the shrine was forgotten. In 813 or
838 AD, so the legend goes, a hermit led by a beckoning star and
celestial music discovered the location of the buried relics.

Historians however, doubt that
St. James ever visited Spain and the idea that his relics were
transported to Iberia is thought to be a fabrication of the Church. The
‘discovery’ of the relics provided a convenient rallying point for
Christian Spain, then confined to a narrow strip at the north of the
Iberian Peninsula, most of which was occupied by the Moors. In addition
to the story of the relics discovery there were also reports of Santiago
Matomoro, or St. James the Moorslayer, appearing on a white horse in
844 AD to lead Christians into battle against the Moors. These two
legends are interpreted by scholars of the Age of Medieval Pilgrimage as
attempts by ecclesiastical authorities to gather popular support for
the overthrow of the Arabs. Furthermore, it is known that officials of
the Cathedral of Santiago actually hired storytellers to travel about
the European countryside spreading ‘news’ of the miracles of St. James
and his relics.

While this deceit and corruption of the Church may
shock some readers, it is a well-authenticated historical fact that
many of the founding legends of medieval pilgrimage shrines were nothing
more than tall tales. Such stories were conjured up by enterprising
church administrators who recognized that the number of pilgrims
visiting and donating money to a shrine was proportional to the
miraculous nature of the founding legend and the degree to which that
legend was promoted. Over the tomb where St. James’ relics were ‘found’,
the first church was constructed in 829 AD and within 100 years
Santiago de Compostela was attracting pilgrims from throughout Europe.
By the twelfth century it had become the center of the greatest
pilgrimage in medieval Europe.

While Jerusalem and Rome were
considered the two most important pilgrimage destinations for
Christians, because Santiago de Compostela was closer and much safer to
visit, it received far more visitors. Four major land routes to Santiago
developed over the centuries. Originating in northern France and
meandering south through other pilgrimage sites, the routes joined,
crossed the Pyrenees Mountains, and then headed to northwestern Spain.
The Benedictines built monasteries and hostels to host the pilgrims
journeying the routes to Santiago, creating what is perhaps the first
major European tourist industry. The emotional appeal and morale boost
provided by the cult of the saint swept through Europe as pilgrims
journeyed to the ‘Field of the Star’ for centuries. While most came as
true believers, a large number came as a stipulation to inheritance, as
an alternative to prison, or simply in hopes of doing a brisk trade with
the great numbers of visitors. The photograph shows a stone sculpture
of St. James in the garb of a wandering pilgrim. The seashells fastened
on his cloak were the badges of the medieval age, signifying a pilgrim’s
visit to the shrine of Santiago.

The old city
of Santiago de Compostela and its grand
cathedral are among the most beautiful
medieval artifacts in all of Europe.
Besides the visual beauty of the place,
the atmosphere is charged with devotion
and holiness. The institution of the
Church may have resorted to some unscrupulous
tactics in advertising the site yet
the many millions of pilgrims who visited
the shrine came with love and sincerity
in their hearts. The presence of that
love is still strongly felt at Santiago
de Compostela.