LOURDES SHRINE-by Elena Saiz

LOURDES SHRINE by Elena Saiz 3º A

The Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes is a set of buildings and dedicated to the cult of the Virgin Mary in France places. The complex includes the basilicas of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady of the Rosary and St. Pius X, also the Grotto of the Apparitions, where the Virgin appeared to Bernadette Soubirous, according to Catholic belief.
The February 11, 1858, the Virgin Mary appeared to the girl Bernadette Soubirous eighteen times in total, in the grotto of Massabielle.
From there Lourdes has manifested itself as a major center for healing and hundreds of caves and shrines dedicated to the Virgin of Lourdes crowned the world.
The Sanctuary of Lourdes is the second destination of Catholic pilgrimage after Rome and certainly one of the most visited places in France. Today, the Sanctuary of Lourdes is a cosmopolitan place, a universal sanctuary whose strength lies in the diversity of its people. Regarded as the first destination of pilgrimage marina in the world, peregrine visitors come to Lourdes come from every continent. Each year, more than 6 million people come to this place, among which are the young and especially the sick, who come in search of relief and hope. Three symbols characterize this sanctuary: the Water sign of purification, the Rock, site of the apparitions, and Light, which represents faith.

Last summer,I was there and it was  a wonderful experience, but also, it was a very sad and emotional time to see too many sick people with great faith and hope in their healing.