At Lourdes the visitor cannot fail to sense a reassuring presence of the Blessed Virgin Mary and also that this presence clearly directs people towards Christ .
In Lourdes prayer is centred on the Eucharist. Daily Mass is followed by a procession with the Blessed Sacrament among the sick; this is the privileged moment of healing visibly connected with Christ.
Another fundamental element is the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation the time when most events of healing occur, perhaps less evident but certainly more peace restoring; the healing of spirit.
Another important element is the Anointing of the Sick in keeping with directions issued by the Second Vatican Council.
Lourdes with its message of penance, prayer, pilgrimages and devout practices is for all people a call to perfection.
In 1953, on the centenary of the definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, Pius XII issued the Fulgens corona Encyclical which opened as follows: “ It would seem that the Blessed Virgin Mary herself wished in a miraculous manner to confirm amidst the applause of the whole Church, the sentence pronounced by Pius IX.