11 February 2025 - Our Lady of Lourdes - Tuesday of the 5th week in Ordinary Time - Genesis 1:20—2:4a

In our reading from Genesis today, we hear about the fifth, sixth, and seventh day of the creation story. There is a parallel creation story in Genesis about Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden.  Mary is seen as the new Eve, especially in the writings of many of the Church Fathers.  

Irenaeus of Lyons, from the 2nd century, states that the knot of Eve’s disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. What Eve had bound fast through unbelief, this did the Blessed Virgin Mary set free through faith. Just as Eve disobeyed God, Mary was obedient to the will of God. 

I bring up Mary today because we commemorate the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes. In December 1854, Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception to the world, stating that from the moment of Mary’s conception in the womb of her mother, Mary, by grace of God, and by the merits of her yet unborn son, was kept free from the stain of original sin. Just three years later, starting on February 11, 1858, a beautiful lady appeared in apparitions to 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous, a young girl from a poor family in the village of Lourdes in the mountains of France. In this series of apparitions, on March 25, the beautiful lady identified herself to Bernadette as the Immaculate Conception. At the time of the apparitions, Bernadette’s family was not fully immersed in the Catholic faith and would not have been aware of this title of Mary. In 1862, the local Bishop approved of these apparitions as being a visitation from our Blessed Mother. Pope John Paul II, very strong in his devotion to Mary, visited Lourdes three times. Bernadette herself became a nun with the Sisters of Charity. She died at the age of 35 after a life of very fragile health.  Bernadette was canonized a saint in 1933. 

Lourdes is one of the major Marian pilgrimage sites in the world, attracting millions of pilgrims each year.  Many miraculous cures are attributed to Our Lady of Lourdes and the blessed waters that are found in a stream there.  Having been to Lourdes myself, I can attest to the holiness of this wonderful place of pilgrimage and the faith of those who come there. As we commemorate Our Lady of Lourdes today, let us present our prayers through our Blessed Mother as she approaches her son on our behalf.