Reflections on Lourdes Theme

Aspects of the pastoral theme for Lourdes 2020, ‘I am the Immaculate Conception’

The following thoughts are taken from the presentation of the pastoral theme prepared by the Rector and chaplains of the Lourdes Sanctuary for pilgrims in 2020.

It was at the third apparition, 18th February 1858, that Bernadette, egged on by the adults accompanying her, respectfully asked the Lady, “Madam, would you be so kind as to put your name in writing?” The Lady smiled saying, “That will not be necessary”, but continued in a similarly respectful tone, “Would you do me the honour of coming here each day for a fortnight?”

Through this exchange the Lady declined to give her name as though it were a label but offered Bernadette instead the opportunity of getting to know her as a person. “We spoke as one person talks to another”, Bernadette would explain. Over the next few weeks Bernadette faced many difficulties as she tried to fulfil her promise to come to the Grotto.

On some occasions she was disappointed because the Lady did not come. But, on fourteen days she did appear, sometimes silent, sometimes giving her messages for the priests and the public – “Penance! penance! penance!” “Go and tell the priests to build a chapel here. I want people to come in procession.” – but also engaging in intimate private conversation with Bernadette. The crowds saw expressions of joy and sadness pass across Bernadette’s face, reflecting those she alone could see on the Lady.

The fourteenth day came and went; the spring had been unearthed and begun to flow; yet still the Lady had not disclosed her name. Then, early in the morning of 25th March, Bernadette felt a great urge to return to the Grotto, which she had not visited for three weeks. The Lady came and Bernadette repeated her question, which had become urgent because the parish priest refused to act on the Lady’s request until she provided her name. At the fourth request the Lady opened her arms towards the ground and in a single movement raised them again joining her hands at her breast, she raised her eyes towards heaven and said in Bernadette’s local dialect, “I am the Immaculate Conception”.

Bernadette had no idea what the title meant but repeated the words to herself parrot fashion as she ran to blurt them out to the parish priest. He was so overcome that he did not enlighten her but merely challenged the verbal construction and sent her away brusquely saying they would discuss the matter later. It was not till that evening that a sympathetic layman, who had been following her story

and witnessed some of her interrogations by the authorities, explained the meaning to her.

There were many at the time who, like the parish priest, thought that Bernadette must have somehow confused the words spoken by the Lady. They instantly recognised the title as referring to the Virgin Mary, whose immaculate conception, honoured by the Faithful for centuries, had been solemnly defined by Pope Pius IX only four years previously. “But”, they argued, “a person cannot be a conception”. She must have said something like, “I am the immaculate virgin” or, “the one who was conceived immaculate”.

Bernadette stuck to her version. So what can we see as the deeper meaning that can be drawn from Our Lady’s words?

Mary’s conception took place at a moment in time but she does not refer to herself as one who is the beneficiary of a past event. She says, “I AM” echoing language used by her Son, “I am the way, the truth and the life”. Her immaculate conception has an eternal significance. For a long time theologians had objected that Mary could not have been preserved from original sin, since, like all the human race, her redemption had to await the sacrificial life and death of her Son. It was a British theologian of the 13th century who resolved this problem by arguing that God who chose Mary from the beginning preserved her from sin from the first moment of her conception by applying to her the merits that her Son was later to gain.

Mary’s “Yes” to the angel, though freely given, was known to God from the beginning. Through that acceptance Mary would open herself completely to God’s saving power and allow herself to be intimately associated with her Son’s saving sacrifice. It was for this unique role that she was preserved immaculate, to be God’s perfect creature, the model and exemplar of all that we are called to be.

In choosing this title and through the beautiful gesture in which she lifted her arms and looked up to heaven, Mary referred all her gifts to God, “who has looked down on the lowliness of his handmaid”.

Every yes to God creates stories of salvation for us and for others. [...] God desires and awaits our 'yes'.

Pope Francis