In this video, Anne DeSantis, Executive Director of the St. Raymond Nonnatus Foundation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, discusses the apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes and reflects on how we can embrace the Blessed Mother’s example during Lent.

Transcript:

I love the story of St. Bernadette Soubirous and the Blessed Mother who appeared to her, 18 times in 1858. Bernadette was a young girl, only 14 years old, and she was not able to read or write, but she had a thirst inside of her, to love God and to honor God. And she went to this special place to pray.

She was finishing the last decade of the rosary, and the Blessed Mother had a very special message for her during that time. And the Blessed Mother appeared to her in a white dress with a sash and roses at her feet. And she was startled at first. But what she came away with was that the Blessed Mother told St. Bernadette that she wanted that chapel to be built. And the next day she asked her to dig in the ground, and that’s exactly what she did. After the 24th of February, in 1858, St. Bernadette came back and she started to dig a little bit and water came up. And so that was kind of the beginning of Lourdes as we know it where people are blessed by the holy water there.

As we’re coming into this time of Lent, it’s a time of penance, it’s a time of prayer, it’s a time of giving of ourselves. My message to all of you that are watching this video right now, is the hope that you can find in your faith during this time of Lent. If you’re going through some type of suffering right now, whether it be someone in your family, a friend, that’s really going through a challenging time, you can imitate Christ and be there for them through the messages of Our Lady of Lourdes, because healing is for you and it’s for all of us. The Lord wishes us to know how much he loves us. And this is a message of hope. Know how much God loves you, and try to demonstrate that love to other people, through the sacrifices that you can make for them.