Our Lady of Lourdes/World Day of the Sick - Feb. 11

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MariaChristi

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Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today’s Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes inspires us with increased love and gratitude to God for giving Mary to us! Today we also celebrate “World Day of the Sick”:
…Each year the Pope releases a special message for the World Day of the Sick that is celebrated fittingly on February 11, feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. … As Pope Fracnsi wrote in this year’s letter, this day was instituted by Saint John Paul II in 1992, and first celebrated at Lourdes on 11 February 1993…”
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Pope Francis continued: “Like Saint Bernadette, we stand beneath the watchful gaze of Mary. The humble maiden of Lourdes tells us that the Virgin, whom she called “the Lovely Lady”, looked at her as one person looks at another. Those simple words describe the fullness of a relationship. Bernadette, poor, illiterate and ill, felt that Mary was looking at her as a person. The Lovely Lady spoke to her with great respect and without condescension. This reminds us that every person is, and always remains, a human being, and is to be treated as such. The sick and the those who are disabled, even severely, have their own inalienable dignity and mission in life. They never become simply objects. If at times they appear merely passive, in reality that is never the case.
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After her visit to the Grotto, thanks to her prayer, Bernadette turned her frailty into support for others. Thanks to her love, she was able to enrich her neighbours and, above all, to offer her life for the salvation of humanity. The fact that the Lovely Lady asked her to pray for sinners reminds us that the infirm and the suffering desire not only to be healed, but also to live a truly Christian life, even to the point of offering it as authentic missionary disciples of Christ. Mary gave Bernadette the vocation of serving the sick and called her to become a Sister of Charity, a mission that she carried out in so exemplary a way as to become a model for every healthcare worker. Let us ask Mary Immaculate for the grace always to relate to the sick as persons who certainly need assistance, at times even for the simplest of things, but who have a gift of their own to share with others.”… (underlining is mine)
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Father Rosica also shared this reflection, in Zenit:
…Bernadette’s simple faith and trust in God inspires me and many to not be afraid to share the stories of our religious experience and convictions with those around us. Do we fear indifference, hostility, being ridiculed or sidelined? I take courage in the response of young Bernadette to the chief of police of Lourdes who said that she did not convince him of the events that had taken place at a grotto near the river. Bernadette said: “The Lady did not instruct me to convince you, but to tell you.”
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May we never tire in telling those around us of the great things that God has done for us and for humanity.
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Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us and the sick. St. Bernadette, pray for us and the sick.
 
MariaChristi said:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today’s Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes inspires us with increased love and gratitude to God for giving Mary to us! Today we also celebrate “World Day of the Sick”:

Father Rosica also shared this reflection, in Zenit:
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👍
 
Our Lady of Lourdes, please pray for the sick all over the world, especially those who are not receiving proper care or are being abused and neglected. Intercede with the Lord your most Holy Son, that they are comforted, that the quality of their care is improved, that they are instilled with hope and the light of the Holy Spirit.

Please also pray that caregivers the world over are strengthened and renewed. Give them strength and rest and a renewal of spirit. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen
 
esieffe said:
Our Lady of Lourdes, please pray for the sick all over the world, especially those who are not receiving proper care or are being abused and neglected. Intercede with the Lord your most Holy Son, that they are comforted, that the quality of their care is improved, that they are instilled with hope and the light of the Holy Spirit.

Please also pray that caregivers the world over are strengthened and renewed. Give them strength and rest and a renewal of spirit. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen
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Amen!

I am sick myself, but I know our Lady now because of St. Louis Demontfort and St. Alphonsus Liguori, so I am happy. I feel so bad for those who are sick, and parents of sick children, when they don’t know our Good Shepherd and our Lovely Lady. We must pray for them, so that they also may wash and drink from Mary’s fountain of love!

As St. Bonaventure says to Mary: “the fountain of thy goodness inebriates the thirsty; and the aspect of the countenance draws men away from sin.”

So good is Our Lovely Lady!
 
esieffe said:
Our Lady of Lourdes, please pray for the sick all over the world, especially those who are not receiving proper care or are being abused and neglected. Intercede with the Lord your most Holy Son, that they are comforted, that the quality of their care is improved, that they are instilled with hope and the light of the Holy Spirit.

Please also pray that caregivers the world over are strengthened and renewed. Give them strength and rest and a renewal of spirit. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen
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Amen.

+++

Here is the official website of Lourdes where you can submit a prayer which is then taken to the Grotto and left there for a while. You can also request a candle to be lit at the Grotto. You can also watch the Grotto LIVE.
en.lourdes-france.org/
 
esieffe said:
Our Lady of Lourdes, please pray for the sick all over the world, especially those who are not receiving proper care or are being abused and neglected. Intercede with the Lord your most Holy Son, that they are comforted, that the quality of their care is improved, that they are instilled with hope and the light of the Holy Spirit.

Please also pray that caregivers the world over are strengthened and renewed. Give them strength and rest and a renewal of spirit. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen
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Dear esieffe, and also RPRPsych

Thanks for your prayers, and also for the “thumbs up”.
 
Abba said:
Amen.

+++

Here is the official website of Lourdes where you can submit a prayer which is then taken to the Grotto and left there for a while. You can also request a candle to be lit at the Grotto. You can also watch the Grotto LIVE.
en.lourdes-france.org/
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Dear Abba,

Thanks so much for the links!
 
patricius79 said:
So beautiful! Truly Mary is the Lovely Lady!

Here, also, is a good article about this feast day from catholic culture:

catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2017-02-11
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Dear Brother Pat,

Thanks so much, as always for your replies, and also for the link.

It is so sweet to read the way St. Bernadette spoke of “The Lady” – how innocent a child she was at 14 yet with a heart so open to God and Mary.

Thanks also for sharing this:
patricius79 said:
I am sick myself, but I know our Lady now because of St. Louis Demontfort and St. Alphonsus Liguori, so I am happy. I feel so bad for those who are sick, and parents of sick children, when they don’t know our Good Shepherd and our Lovely Lady. We must pray for them, so that they also may wash and drink from Mary’s fountain of love!

As St. Bonaventure says to Mary: “the fountain of thy goodness inebriates the thirsty; and the aspect of the countenance draws men away from sin.”

So good is Our Lovely Lady!
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May you and all of us continue to grow in holiness through the intercession of our Mother Mary and all the saints, especially those like St. Louis De Montfort, St. Alphonsus, St. Bonaventure and others who wrote so beautifully of Mary and helped many to love her more.
 
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