Pope Benedict's Journey of Hope to Lourdes
"I have set myself to learn from her during these three days. The Pope was duty bound to come to Lourdes to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the apparitions."
Address of Pope Benedict XVI, Farewell Ceremony, Airport of Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrenees, Lourdes, Monday, 15 September 2008
Pope Benedict's visit to Lourdes, from Saturday, 13th September, 2008 to Monday, 15th September, 2008, was the second part of this trip to France, the first part was to Paris. The Blessings for Lourdes was the presence of the Vicar of Christ in a comprehensive visit and a greater glimpse into the theology of Lourdes. Giving the pilgrims gathered an even greater Hope, Benedict says he too learned from Our Lady during his visit. Indeed there is a great amount of learning and a wealth of knowledge that can be grasped from his visit regarding Lourdes and the theology of Lourdes.
In his Homily during the Eucharistic Celebration of the Sick, Benedict spoke much about the smile of Our Lady explaining that it is not mere "sentimentality" but rather the height of truth in the spiritual. A smile was Our Lady's response to at different points in the Apparitions to Bernadette. Not only known in Lourdes, St. Theresa of Lisieux was once healed through an apparition in which Our Lady smiled at her. "The lovely one of heaven smiled, and all carolled in their glee" (Dante, Paradiso)
Pope Benedict describes Lourdes as a school for praying the Rosary. This speaks to us as a practical reality. When we go in spirit or in actuality to Lourdes, we go as pilgrims in prayer. And in this pilgrimage the rosary leads us to a "contemplation of the face of Christ" and draws down an "abundance of graces". On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Pope Benedict preaches on the Cross of Jesus relating it to the theology of Lourdes and its spiritual healing of heart and body. Our Lady identified herself to Bernadette saying "I am the Immaculate Conception" and Benedict, in the spirit of Lourdes, brings this wonderful privilege of Our Lady down to the common man, the common and suffering men and women of all times.
What the Pope says about the face of Bernadette is particularly important for the Lourdes Marian Center since the Logo bears the face of Bernadette, which shows her special patronage to the center. Bernadette was enlightened, truly enlightened by the apparitions of the Blessed Mother. Even when she was not in Lourdes, people still noticed the light from the land of light, Lourdes, within her.
Below are highlights from Pope Benedict's journey of faith and hope to Lourdes.
The Cross of Jesus
"The sign of the Cross is a kind of synthesis of our faith, for it tells how much God loves us; it tells us that there is a love in this world that is stronger than death, stronger than our weaknesses and sins. The power of love is stronger than the evil which threatens us. It is this mystery of the universality of God's love for men that Mary came to reveal here, in Lourdes. She invites all people of good will, all those who suffer in heart or body, to raise their eyes towards the Cross of Jesus, so as to discover there the source of life, the source of salvation."
Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Homily of Pope Benedict XVI, Prairie, Lourdes, Sunday, 14 September 2008
Lourdes, Land of Light
"The Mother of God herself let it be known that she liked the touching homage of these thousands of torches, which since that time have continued to shine upon the rock of the apparition and give her glory. From that day, before the grotto, night and day, summer and winter, a burning bush shines out, aflame with the prayers of pilgrims and the sick, who bring their concerns and their needs, but above all their faith and their hope."
"Lourdes is one of the places chosen by God for his beauty to be reflected with particular brightness, hence the importance here of the symbol of light."
Homily of His Holiness Benedict XVI, Torchlight Procession, Rosary Square, Saturday, 13 September 2008
Bernadette's Radiant Face
"Countless people have borne witness to this: when they encountered Bernadette's radiant face, it left a deep impression on their hearts and minds. Whether it was during the apparitions themselves or while she was recounting them, her face was simply shining. Bernadette from that time on had the light of Massabielle dwelling within her."
Homily of His Holiness Benedict XVI, Torchlight Procession, Rosary Square, Saturday, 13 September 2008
The Prayer of the Rosary
"The prayer of the Rosary, so dear to Bernadette and to Lourdes pilgrims, concentrates within itself the depths of the Gospel message. It introduces us to contemplation of the face of Christ. From this prayer of the humble, we can draw an abundance of graces."
Homily of Pope Benedict XVI, Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Prairie, Lourdes, Sunday, 14 September 2008
"May Lourdes, the land of light, continue to be a school for learning to pray the Rosary, which introduces the disciples of Jesus, under the gaze of his Mother, into an authentic and cordial dialogue with his Master!"
Homily of His Holiness Benedict XVI, Torchlight Procession, Rosary Square, Saturday, 13 September 2008
The Immaculate Conception
"The life and faith of believers make it clear that the grace of the Immaculate Conception given to Mary is not merely a personal grace, but a grace for all, a grace given to the entire people of God. In Mary, the Church can already contemplate what she is called to become. Every believer can contemplate, here and now, the perfect fulfilment of his or her own vocation. May each of you always remain full of thanksgiving for what the Lord has chosen to reveal of his plan of salvation through the mystery of Mary: a mystery in which we are involved most intimately since, from the height of the Cross which we celebrate and exalt today, it is revealed to us through the words of Jesus himself that his Mother is our Mother. Inasmuch as we are sons and daughters of Mary, we can profit from all the graces given to her; the incomparable dignity that came to her through her Immaculate Conception shines brightly over us, her children."
Benedict XVI, Angelus, Prairie, Lourdes, Sunday, 14 September 2008
The Smile of Mary
"The psalmist, seeing from afar this maternal bond which unites the Mother of Christ with the people of faith, prophesies regarding the Virgin Mary that "the richest of the people … will seek your smile" (Ps 44:13). In this way, prompted by the inspired word of Scripture, Christians have always sought the smile of Our Lady, this smile which medieval artists were able to represent with such marvellous skill and to show to advantage. This smile of Mary is for all; but it is directed quite particularly to those who suffer, so that they can find comfort and solace therein. To seek Mary's smile is not an act of devotional or outmoded sentimentality, but rather the proper expression of the living and profoundly human relationship which binds us to her whom Christ gave us as our Mother."
"Every time we recite the Magnificat, we become witnesses of her smile."
"Mary's smile is a spring of living water."
Homily of Pope Benedict XVI, Eucharistic Celebration of the Sick, Esplanade of the Basilica of Notre-Dame du Rosaire, Lourdes, Monday, 15 September, 2008
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