Lourdes is a small town located in the Pyrenees Mountains in southwestern France. It is well known for the Marian apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes, which occurred in 1858. A Marian apparition is when the Blessed Virgin Mary supposedly appears supernaturally to one or more people. The apparition is usually named for the town in which the appearances take place.

On February 11th, 1858, a local 14-year-old girl by the name of Bernadette Soubirous was collecting firewood with her sister and friend, and was trying to cross a stream in front of a grotto without getting wet. She was leaning down to take off her shoes when she heard the sound of rushing wind, but everything was still. When she stood, she saw a bright light, and then a white figure. She described it as a small young lady. This was the first reported of 18 visions she had.

During the time between the first and 18th vision, locals thought her to be insane, but later her claims were proven to be true. A spring formed only days after Bernadette dug in a muddy spot in the ground near the grotto. As requested by Our Lady Of Lourdes, a church was later built on site. Later, after Bernadetteâ??s death, she was canonized and declared a saint. Her incorrupt body can be viewed in the Church of St. Gildard in Nevers, France.

The spring that formed in 1858 during the Marian apparition occurrences is said to have miraculous healing properties, and is what draws tourists on pilgrimage to Lourdes in present day. In the 150 years since Bernadette dug up the spring, over 67 inexplicable cured illnesses have been reported. Since the late 1850â??s, people have flocked from all over the world to drink and bathe in the spring water, the majority of them being pilgrims. Until 1880, there were only two bathing pools that were filled by manual pumps. Before the priests that ran the Church and bathing house fully knew of the amount of water the sping could put out, the water of the pools was changed only twice daily. The bath houses that stand currently were built in 1955, and were upgraded in 1972 and 1980. It holds 17 separate bathing cubicles, with 11 for women and 6 for men. An estimation of 350,000 people use the tubs each year. Traditionally, visitors of the spring would draw jugs of water to take home to their loved ones who were unable to travel to Lourdes themselves, but in the summer of 2007, this was banned as part of a new anti-terrorism regulation.

I myself would love to visit Lourdes to learn more about the Marian apparitions, St. Bernadette, and perhaps even visit the Church of St. Gildard to view her body. I imagine that it would be quite humbling to be in such a place that something so miraculous took place at.