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50 000 cram Lourdes for mass
11/02/2008 18:05 - (SA)
Lourdes - About 50 000 Catholic pilgrims descended on this French town for a mass commemorating the 150th anniversary of when the Virgin Mary is believed to have appeared to a young shepherdess.
More than 25 bishops and 800 priests were in attendance at the service celebrated by Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes Jacques Perrier and Archbishop of Marseille Bernard Panafieu.
The mass took place in a field opposite the Massabielle shrine where the mother of Jesus Christ is said to have first appeared in a vision to Bernadette Soubirous on February 11 1858.
The town of Lourdes in southwestern France is one of the main pilgrimage sites for the Catholic Church, attracting millions of believers from around the world who venerate the Virgin and often make the trip in hope of a cure.
Accompanied by a 30-member choir, readings for the mass were given in several languages, including English, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese and Polish.
Perrier said in his homily to the pilgrims: "Lourdes is a presence that pacifies, that gives confidence and that allows Bernadette to face difficulties."
A day of prayer was set to follow the mass, as well as a torchlight procession in honour of the Virgin Mary in the evening.
The celebrations began on December 8 2007 and will run through until December 8 2008. They commemorate a total of 18 visions believed to have been seen by Bernadette between February and July of 1858.
Pope expected to make pilgrimage
For the Catholic Church, her visions confirmed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception - proclaimed four years later by Pope Pius IX - which declares that Mary was "without sin" when Jesus Christ was conceived.
Pope Benedict XVI is expected to make a pilgrimage to Lourdes sometime in September, marking a high point for the jubilee year.
In December, the Vatican announced the pope would grant indulgences for a limited time to pilgrims who visited Lourdes for the 150th anniversary.
In the Catholic Church, indulgences are remittances of suffering for sins. In order to go to heaven, it is believed one must 'repair' the harm committed on earth before death.
- AFP
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