Lourdes
A place of Christian pilgrimage
A place of miracles?
Write the title “Lourdes” in your
book with today’s date.
Lourdes, Southern France
• Lourdes is a place in the
South of France
• Many Christians go on
pilgrimage to Lourdes
• Many sick people have been
helped or even cured by
their visit
• It’s a place of pilgrimage
because Mary appeared
there several times
• She appeared to a girl
named Bernadette in 1858
Bernadette’s Story.
Bernadette Soubirous was born in Lourdes,
Southern France. On 11th February 1858,
when she was 14 years old, she went for a walk with her
sister and a friend to collect firewood. When they came
to the river, Bernadette (who was very ill) did not cross
with the two girls, as she did not want to get cold and
wet. While she was waiting by herself she heard a noise
like a gust of wind and when she looked up at the cave,
she saw a lady standing in the niche just above the cave
entrance. The lady was dressed in white, with a blue sash
round her waist and she had a rosary over her arm.
When the sister and friend returned they did not believe
Bernadette’s account of the vision she had seen.
Mary appeared to Bernadette several times,
but no one else could see the vision. One
day she was told by the lady to drink and
wash in the water from the spring at the
cave; she had to scratch in the ground, for
there was little water. However, before the
day was ended, what had at first been a tiny
trickle, became a stream pouring out into the
river.
Even the priest, did not believe Bernadette’s story.
One day he asked her to ask the lady her name, which
Bernadette duly did; the lady replied, ‘I am the
Immaculate Conception’, meaning she (Mary, mother of
Jesus) was born without original sin. As Bernadette was
uneducated and did not understand what the lady had
said to her, the priest knew that Bernadette could not
have made the whole thing up.
In total Mary appeared to Bernadette 18 times. Today
a marble statue of the lady stands in the niche above the
cave (in the same place that Bernadette had had the
visions of her). Pilgrimages and also some healings
continue to this day with thousands of people visiting the
area each year.
Summary
• Summarise the story of
Bernadette at Lourdes.
• What made the priest
believe Bernadette?
• Some people say her story
is unreliable. Why might
this be?
• Many people feel
strengthened by their visit,
even if they don’t receive a
cure; why do you think this
is?
Be sure to answer in full sentences so that what you write makes sense when you
read it back to yourself later.
Name and place
Illness
Age and date of cure
Recognised
Mrs LATAPIE Catherine: France
Ulnar Paralysis due to traumatic elongation of the brachial plexus for
18 months
~38 years old
1-3-1858
18-1-1862
Mr. BOURIETTE, Louis: France
20 year old injury to the right eye with blindness for 2 years
54 years old
1858
March
18-1-1862
Mrs. CAZENAVE, Blaisette: France
Chemosis or chronic conjunctivis with ectropion for 3 years
~50 years old
1858
March
18-1-1862
Mr. BUSQUET Henri: France
Fistular adenitis of the base of the neck (undoubtedly Tubercular) for
15 months
~15 years old
1858
28-4 –
18-1-1862
Mr. Bouhort Justin: France
Chronic post-infective malnutrition with retarded motor
development. Diagnosis at the time: “consumption”
2 years old
6-7-1858
18-1-1862
Mrs. RIZAN Madeleine: France
Left hemiplegia for 24 years
~ 58 years old
1858
17-10-
18-1-1862
Miss MOREAU Marie: France
Major diminution of vision with inflammatory lesions especially of the
right eye, progressing over 10 months
~17 years old
9-11-1858
18-1-1862
Brother SCHWAGER Léo: Switzerland
Multiple sclerosis for five years
28 years old
30-4-1952
18-12-1960
Mrs. COUTEAULT Alice: France
Multiple sclerosis for three years
34 years old
15-5-1952
16-7-1956
Miss BIGOT Marie: France
Arachnoiditis of posterior fossa (blindness, deafness, hemiplegia)
31 years old
32 years ol
1954
8-10-1953
10-10-
15-8-1956
Mrs NOUVEL Ginette: France
Budd-Chiari disease (supra-hepatic venous thrombosis
26 years old
21-9-1954
31-5-1963
Miss ALOI Elisa: Italy
Tubercular osteo-arthritis with fistulae at multiple sites in the right
lower limb
27 years old
5-6-1958
26-5-1965
Miss TAMBURINI Juliette: France
Femoral osteoperiostitis with fistulae, epistaxis, for ten years
22 years old
17-7-1959
11-5-1965
Mr. MICHELI Vittorio: Italy
Sarcoma of pelvis
23 years old
1-6-1963
25-6-1976
Mr. PERRIN Serge: France
Recurrent right hemiplegia, with ocular lesions, due to bilateral
carotid artery disorders
41 years old
1-5-1970
17-6-1978
Miss CIROLLI Delizia: Italy
Ewing’s Sarcoma of right knee
12 years old
1976
24-12-
28-6-1989
Which of these are convincing and which are not? Write down a few examples and explain.
Miracles Case Study
Jean-Pierre Bely
Make a note of this subtitle and date
in your book.
Multiple Sclerosis
• This is a chronic (long-lasting
and progressive) disease
• It’s commonly diagnosed in
young adults (but it can start
anywhere between 15 – 50)
• It disrupts the messages
between the brain, spinal cord,
and the rest of the body
• This leads to problems with
movement and vision as well
as pain
Note down 3 symptoms of MS
from the following slide
What can be done for sufferers?
Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis
• Blurred or double vision
• Red-green colour distortion
• Potential blindness in one
eye
• Muscle weakness in the
extremities
• Problems with coordination
and balance
• Pain or loss of feeling
• Lack of concentration,
attention, memory and
judgement
Who suffers and what can be done?
• Women are more likely to develop MS than
men
• It’s slightly more likely to develop if close
relatives have the disease
• It’s possible that attacks may be triggered by a
virus
• Treatments such as steroids will temporarily
help with the symptoms
• However, there’s no known cure
How are miracles at Lourdes
verified?
What do the Catholic Church classify
as a miracle?
Miracles at Lourdes, France
• Many miracles have been
reported at Lourdes
• All miracles must be
investigated by the
Lourdes Medical Office
and the Lourdes
International Medical
Committee
• ‘It must be a sudden and
permanent recovery from
a terminal disease that
has resisted all previous
treatment.’
Note down some key facts about
the following case study
Is this an example of a
miracle or not?
Yes because…
No because…
Jean-Pierre Bély…
• Jean-Pierre Bely was a 51 years old, married father of
2 when he received a miraculous cure at Lourdes
• He was an anaesthesia and intensive-care nurse
• In 1972 he began to suffer growing neurological
incapacity, which was eventually diagnosed as a
severe form of multiple sclerosis
• By 1984 he was walking with a cane; by 1985 he
required a wheelchair
• 2 years later, he was bedridden and needed looking
after
Jean-Pierre Bély…
• Jean-Pierre Bely went on pilgrimage to Lourdes in
1987
• He received the Sacrament of the Sick on October 9th
• He was suddenly overcome by a powerful sense of
interior liberation and peace
• The following night, he woke up suddenly and found
he could walk for the first time since 1984
• Bely travelled to the station in his wheelchair, so as
not to appear different from his "companions in
sickness“
A Miraculous Experience
"I was lying in the sickroom, lying on
the bed and felt terribly cold like an
intense chill in my bones. But slowly it
got warmer and warmer until it felt
like a fire burning through the whole
of my body. I was overwhelmed by it.
I heard this voice, like an order, 'Get
up and walk!'. And then, all of a
sudden, I don't know how, I found
myself sitting up on the bed - my legs
dangling over the edge and I started
to touch the back of my hands. I
realised I regained mobility and
sensitivity in my spine and shoulders,
which had been blocked for years.
They were normal. In fact, you could
say that I'd found normality again."
Jean-Pierre Bély…
• He had regained complete use of his physical faculties, and
the medical reports showed no trace of illness
• He has since been seen annually by doctors, his neurologist,
and the head of the Department of Neurology of the
University Hospital of Poitiers
• Bishop of Angulema, Claude Dagens, wrote:
"In the name of the Church, I publicly recognize the
authentic character of the cure that Mr. Jean-Pierre Bely
received in Lourdes on October 9, 1987. This immediate and
complete cure is a personal gift of God to this person and an
effective sign of Christ the Saviour through the intercession
of Our Lady of Lourdes."
The Outcomes of his Claims
• He is only the 66th person whose claims have been
approved by the Catholic hierarchy
• It took 12 years to investigate his case
What the sceptics say…
• Bertrand Fontaine (a neurologist in Paris) points out
that MS sufferers:
"sometimes people have long periods of remission",
and scoffed at "talk about miraculous cures"
• Bertrand Fontaine also said:
"While spiritual strength can help a patient to
overcome a serious illness, it cannot make an
infection or a tumour disappear, nor, in the case of
multiple sclerosis, can it repair the damage to the
medullary sheaths that the disease attacks.”:
How do you explain this healing?
Write a paragraph explaining how
you think this this man received his
healing?
“There is no such thing as a miracle”
• This is a Part E essay homework due in two
weeks time.
• Talk about what a miracle is in your intro.
• Make sure you include information on why
some people might agree (include examples)
• Also discuss why people may disagree.
• Conclude with your own opinion.
• As always there’s help on my website…