Thursday is the Feast of our Lady of Lourdes, we will celebrate with our Marian Novena and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. The apparitions, so closely linked with the healing of those who are sick, perhaps speak more powerfully than ever in this time of pandemic. Though we should recall that Our Blessed Lady's words have an even more important meaning - the call to Faith, to repentance and to holiness.
Many of those malades (the French word for the sick) who go to Lourdes and are not healed and yet they leave there stronger spiritually, if not physically. They know that their various ailments still have a redemptive character, much like our Lord’s did at Calvary in His Passion and, as long as they do not lose faith in Him, their sufferings will not be in vain!
Bernadette herself entered the convent of the Sisters of Notre Dame in Nevers in 1866, serving our Lord with dignity, grace, and love in what was left of her short life. She passed away from tuberculosis in 1879 and was canonized as a saint in 1933. To this day her body remains incorruptible (that is to say, it shows no signs of decomposition or decay), another sign of the miracles associated with her. Another sign that spiritual health is the master of the physical world.
St. Bernadette once said of the spring she discovered that “one must have faith and pray; the water will have no virtue without faith.” Let us all be inspired by this prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes approach her with faith, hope and love!
O ever immaculate Virgin, Mother of mercy, health of the sick, refuge of sinners, comfort of the afflicted, you know my wants, my troubles, my sufferings; deign to cast upon me a look of mercy. By appearing in the Grotto of Lourdes, you were pleased to make it a privileged sanctuary, whence you dispense your favors, and already many sufferers have obtained the cure of their infirmities, both spiritual and corporal. I come, therefore, with the most unbounded confidence, to implore your maternal intercession. Obtain, O loving Mother, the grant of my requests. I will endeavor to imitate your virtues, that I may one day share your glory, and bless you in eternity. Amen.
MASSES THIS WEEK
SUNDAY
8.30am
10am
Monday 9.30am. St Josephine Bakhita - the African slave girl who became a saint
Tuesday 12 noon (EF). St Cyril of Alexandria
- the Egyptian theologian who helped us to understand the nature of Christ
Wednesday 9.30am. St Scholastica - the Italian foundress of Benedictine monasticism
Thursday 7pm Novena of the Miraculous Medal & Benediction. - Our Lady of Lourdes
Friday 9.30am. Feria
Saturday 12 noon (EF). Our Lady's Saturday
- the beautiful tradition of dedicating Saturday to the Mother of God
Confessions between 11.30am & 11.50am
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