Lourdes is a French town at the front of the Pyrenees and has become one of the most important places for Christian pilgrimages.

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Lourdes is a French town at the front of the Pyrenees and has become one of the most important places for Christian pilgrimages. Between February 11th and July 16th 1858, a 14-year-old French girl named Bernadette had a series of visions within this town. She had 18 apparitions in total, and it was during the 9th that the vision revealed herself as the Virgin Mary. During this vision Mary told Bernadette that the water was special, was holy and a spring of water began to flow at the place she indicated. Gradually, Lourdes became a center for pilgrimage. It has developed into a large busy town with a peaceful area surrounding the grotto. Pilgrims arrive in great numbers throughout the year from all over the world.

The Grotto is a plain cavity in the rock, where herds of pigs used to shelter. Since the apparitions the grotto has become a place of prayer, of gathering and devotion. Within the grotto there is a statue of Mary. Above this statue one can read "Que soy era Immaculada Conceptiou". It is in the dialect of the Lourdes, that, on 25th March 1858, the Virgin Mary announced herself to Bernadette: "I am the Immaculate Conception". To the back of the Grotto, at the left of the Alter, one can see the flowing spring that Bernadette discovered on 25th February 1858. This water, so that it is available to everyone, has been channeled towards taps and the baths. Inside the Grotto, behind the alter there is a box where people place their prayer petitions. Above this box, hang crutches, signs of the grace received here.

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The Grotto is a place of silence for the crowds; it is a place where anyone can make their prayer. This makes the Grotto very important, a meeting place with God and with people.

By pressing their hands against the rocks, or by kissing them the pilgrims show their faith in God, who is the rock. He is seen as the rock upon which we can all rest on and build their life upon.

By drinking the water of the spring, pilgrims answer the request made by the Virgin Mary to Bernadette: "go, drink of the spring and wash ...

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