Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - December 8, will mark the beginning of Celebrations for 150th anniversary of the Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lourdes. This jubilee year 2008, the third since he Jubilee of 1908 (50th anniversary) and 1958 (centenary), is set in “the context of new evangelisation” said Bishop Jacques Perrier, Bishop of Tarbes et Lourdes, when he presented the programme for the Jubilee Year at the Holy See press Office this morning
. “I Shrines and pilgrimages," the prelate went on, "today occupy an important place in religious life, especially among people who do not habitually follow religious practices. Shrine are places of silent evangelisation." In this context he indicated that a Mariological-Marian congress due to be held in Lourdes from September 4 to 8, 2008, on the theme of "the apparitions of the Virgin Mary: history faith and theology" will consider "the inducement to convert exercised by shrines in general and by Marian shrines in particular.". The bishop of Lourdes highlighted how, "in the vast mission of the Church, there are 12 fields in which Lourdes possesses special competency, thanks to
its original message and to its 150 years of history. "The mission of the Church in each of these fields," he added, "will become apparent during the Jubilee Year with pilgrimages, meetings and
initiatives." For example "the mission of the Church to the sick will be made manifest thanks to the UNITALSI pilgrimages," and missions are also envisaged with volunteers, with young people, with the disabled, to appeal for unity among Christians, to call for conversion, for peace, etc.
The Bishop of Tarbes et Lourdes The bishop then indicated how from July 15 to 20, 2008, to coincide with World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia, various groups of young Christian artists will perform in Lourdes. The "path of the Jubilee" which the pilgrims will be invited to follow, symbolically leads from Baptism to the Eucharist and includes four stages: the parish baptistery where Bernadette was baptised; the hut where her family lived which, "with its poverty and darkness, is a cause for reflection on the paradoxical nature of divine preferences;" the road to the grotto; and the chapel of the hospice where Bernadette received First Communion on June 3, 1858.
Numerous publications are appearing to coincide with the Jubilee, intended for people of all ages and from all Christian backgrounds. The event will also be celebrated with a Jubilee Mass composed by Br. Jean Paul Lecot, musical director of the Shrine of Lourdes. On December 8, in homage to John Paul II, the inauguration will take place of mosaics representing the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary on the facade of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, the work of Fr. Marko Ivan Rupnik. Concerning the possibility of a pilgrimage by the Pope to Lourdes for the
150th anniversary, Bishop Perrier confirmed that Benedict XVI would visit "though we still do not know the exact date.", in a letter in July the Pope said: “I entrust to the Lord the hope of being present at this significant moment of the Jubilee year”. Celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the apparitions at the grotto in Lourdes will conclude on 8 December 2008.(S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 13/11/2007; righe 32, parole 470)
