Writer Vittorio Messori investigates Lourdes apparitions

Video and News Story - RomeReports.com:

Italian journalist Vittorio Messori is widely known for tackling current issues within the Catholic Church. Previously, he has published two books about John Paul II and Joseph Ratzinger.

Now, he is focusing his attention on the apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes. He believes the authenticity of the message, lies in the credibility of Bernadette's testimony, since she says she saw the apparition directly. It's also the topic of his latest book Bernadette non ci ha ingannati, or Bernadette Does Not Deceive.

VITTORIO MESSORI
Journalist and Writer“History can show that the apparitions of Lourders are authentic. And when we have a faith crisis, which also happens to me, naturally, when we have doubts, when we have problems, then we can seize that which is true, and that is Lourdes.”

Messori says the message of Lourdes can help many people reconcile with their Catholic faith, because her apparitions appear to strengthen the Pope's authority.

VITTORIO MESSORI
Journalist and Writer“Let's not forget that Lourdes is very Catholic. Our Lady appears always with a rosary in hand, she appears four years after a dogma on her Immaculate Conception, as if to confirm what Pius IX did. Our Lady appears according to the several cycles of the liturgy. It's why Lourdes is the place that the Popes have loved more.”

The Italian writer is also working on his next book, also dealing with Lourdes. He will attempt to explain why the grotto in Lourdes was the best place for Our Lady's apparition.

VITTORIO MESSORI
Journalist and Writer“In the fist book, I've been dedicated entirely to examining Bernadette's credibility. The second book will be called “Return to that Grotto,” where I will respond to questions about that mystery. Because we believers may say, why an insignificant town as Lourdes? Why a person as humanly insignificant as Bernadette?”

Vittorio Messori, was raised in an agnostic environment. He decided to document supernatural interventions, apparitions and miracles of Our Lady, because he considers them to be God's manifestations, that can reinforce the faith.

Vatican's Secret Archives to show documents of the Immaculate Conception and of St. Bernadette

Vatican's Secret Archives to show documents of the Immaculate Conception and of St. Bernadette

The following news story is from RomeReports.com:

In February 2012, the Vatican's Secret Archives will show a 100 of its prized documents. Among them, is the original parchment that holds the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. It's titled the 'Bolla Ineffabilis Deus.' It dates back to 1854 and it's signed by Pius IX.
 
Also on display will be a letter St. Marie Bernadette Soubirous sent to pope Pius IX in 1876. It deals with the apparitions of the Virgin of Lourdes, which is one of the few appearances recognized by the Vatican. The letter is hand-written in French, by the very Bernadette Soubirous.

Doctor Says Many Are Cured in Lourdes

The following excerpt from Zenit is about the miracles in Lourdes:

ZENIT - Doctor Says Many Are Cured in Lourdes

Invites Physicians to Attend Congress for Their Own Healing

LOURDES, France, FEB. 8, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The former head of the Lourdes Medical Bureau is affirming that all people can receive a cure at Our Lady's shrine if they pray and hope for it with perseverance.

Doctor Patrick Theillier, who retired from leadership of the bureau last year, stated this in an interview with France Catholique.

The cure, he explained, "might not be as spectacular as to be considered a miracle."

However, the physician added, it can affect "in a profound and lasting way the person who experiences it, in all his being, body, soul and spirit."

Doctor Theillier affirmed that "these cures are truly innumerable."

The bureau is a medical organization run by doctors that operates within the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, which, among other things, is responsible for the medical investigation of cures associated with the shrine.

The doctor noted that there are, of course, miraculous cures as well in Lourdes, and 67 have been officially recognized as such.

He affirmed that these miracles are sometimes "necessary," such as at the beginning of the Church. "For faith to increase, it must be supported by miracles," Doctor Theillier said.

Moral sufferings

Yet today, he continued, perhaps more than a century ago, we have a need "to be relieved from moral sufferings and the wounds of life, of a psychological-spiritual order, which goes beyond medicine."

"Here is where Lourdes responds to a very present need, which undoubtedly corresponds more to its original message," the physician stated.

He asserted that these types of "miracles" are "much greater" than the bodily cures, as souls are "regenerated." These miracles, he said, can take place if you desire them, hope with faith, and pray to God.

"Extraordinary physical cures have become rare," Doctor Theillier observed, given that "God acts in the first place through human mediation, through medicine and doctors."

This year, Lourdes will be the site of the international congress for the World Federation for the Catholic Medical Associations. The theme for this May 6-7 event will be "Medicine and Faith."

To read the complete article, please visit the following link: Doctor Says Many are Cured in Lourdes

For More Information: World Congress FIAMC Lourdes 2010

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Here is some additional backgound information regarding the miracles in Lourdes: 

Saint Bernadette (born Maria-Bernada Sobirós) had reported 18 apparitions of the Virgin Mary during Febrauary to July of 1858 in Lourdes, France.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

As Bernadette later reported to her family and to church and civil investigators, at the ninth visitation the lady told Bernadette to drink from the spring that flowed under the rock, and eat the plants that grew freely there. Although there was no known spring, and the ground was muddy, Bernadette saw the lady pointing with her finger to the spot, and said later she assumed the lady meant that the spring was underground. She did as she was told by first digging a muddy patch with her bare hands and then attempting to drink the brackish drops.She tried three times, failing each time. On the fourth try, the droplets were clearer and she drank them. She then ate some of the plants. When finally she turned to the crowd, her face was smeared with mud and no spring had been revealed. Understandably, this caused skepticism among onlookers. In the next few days, however, a spring began to flow from the muddy patch first dug by Bernadette. Some devout people followed her example by drinking and washing in the water, which was soon reported to have healing properties.

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I believe a gospel connection can be made to Our Lady's message given to Saint Bernadette regarding the spring water at Lourdes and its subsequent healing properties. 

In John 9:1-11 it states, As he (Jesus) went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"

"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. "Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, "Isn't this the same man who used to sit and beg?" Some claimed that he was.

Others said, "No, he only looks like him."

But he himself insisted, "I am the man."

"How then were your eyes opened?" they demanded.

He replied, "The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see."

The scripture clearly defines the role of God working through signs and wonders.  The Virgin Mary was sent to Bernadette to help continue the Lord's work on earth through graces of salvation and healing.  People from all over the world travel to the shrine and visit the Grotto of Lourdes to wash in the water while praying for God's healing. 

Regarding miraculous cures, Dr. Theillier clearly stated that "67 have been officially recognized" in Lourdes. 

Woman Healed During Visit to Our Lady of Lourdes

Healing ‘gift’ from Lourdes visit frees ALS victim from wheelchair

The following story on Catholic News Agency (CNA) reported that Antonia Raco claimed she was healed of ALS while visiting the shrine at Our Lady of Lourdes in France.

Turin, Italy, Aug 25, 2009 / 12:03 am (CNA).- A woman who suffered from a severe nerve disease now no longer uses her wheelchair and has even gone for a run, after she visited to Lourdes earlier in August. The woman credits the baths at Lourdes for the ‘gift’ of her improved health.

Antonia Raco, 50, had been in a wheelchair for four years because of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. She made a trip to the shrine at Lourdes on August 5.

''Ever since I came back I have been walking, doing everything normally, and I've even run,'' Raco told ANSA.Raco, who is from a village near the southern Italian city of Potenza, said she would rather talk about the change as “a gift, an act of mercy, rather than a miracle.”
She reported to ANSA that when she was in the healing bath at Lourdes, “I felt a voice encouraging me and a strong pain in my legs.”

On Tuesday, Raco will be examined by a specialist at the prestigious Molinette Hospital in Turin. The hospital’s specialist, Adriano Chiro, has been treating her since 2006, according to Italian news reports.

Lourdes, France has been the site of pilgrimage and devotion since the 1858 Marian visions of peasant girl St. Bernadette Soubirous at a grotto.

Following the guidance of the Virgin Mary, Bernadette scraped away soil besides the grotto until a spring of water began trickling out.

The spring produces 27,000 gallons of water every day. Many miracles have been attributed to the shrine’s waters and Our Lady of Lourdes.

(More details regarding the story can be found on Zenit.org)

Saint Bernadette's Incorrupt Body a Sign from God

Excerpt from Wikipedia regarding Saint Bernadette:

Bernadette Soubirous - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Saint Bernadette (born Maria-Bernada Sobirós (Marie-Bernarde Soubirous)); January 7, 1844 – April 16, 1879), was a miller's daughter from the town of Lourdes in southern France. From February 11 to July 16, 1858, she reported 18 apparitions of 'a small young lady.' Despite initial skepticism from the Roman Catholic Church, these claims were eventually declared to be worthy of belief after a canonical investigation, and the apparition is known as Our Lady of Lourdes. After her death, Bernadette's body reportedly remained incorrupt, and the shrine at Lourdes went on to become a major site for pilgrimage, attracting millions of Catholics each year. On December 8, 1933, she was canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church; her Feast Day is celebrated on April 16."

Excerpt from CatholicPilgrims.com :

A crystal coffin was made for Saint Bernadette's body. She was placed in a chapel in the Church of St. Gildard at the convent in Nevers where she lived for thirteen years. She has remained undisturbed and on view in this chapel since August 3, 1925. The Sisters of Charity and Christian Instruction at Nevers are not secretive about the body of St. Bernadette. They welcome visitors, and encourage learning about the life example and messages of their sister saint.

For other news regarding signs, wonders and miracles, please visit Christian-Miracles.com