Jesus’ mother Mary, often referred to as Our Lady by Catholics, is believed to have appeared to a thirteen year old girl called Bernadette Soubirous. The apparitions occurred in 1858, in a town called Lourdes in France.
The main request of Our Lady was to ask for people to pray and do penance for sinners.
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Thousands of people have claimed to receive miraculous healing through Lourdes. Over seventy of these cases of healing have been vigorously investigated and recognised as miracles to date.
Bernadette Soubirous (the girl who had the visions of Our Lady) became a nun and died aged 34. She was buried on the convent grounds in Nevers, France. Thirty years later on 22 September, 1909, her body was exhumed in the presence of two doctors and several appointed officials. There was no odour when her coffin was opened and her body remained untouched by the natural laws of nature. The body was exhumed again in 1919 (forty years after her death) and was found to be in the same condition.
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In the Bible (Luke 1:28), God’s angel refers to Jesus’ mother as
“Hail Kecharitomene”, rather than calling her simply Mary.
Kecharitomene (from the Greek verb charitoo), is commonly translated as ‘full of grace ‘ or ‘graced one’.
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