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:
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.
