Pius XII: Our Lady of Lourdes calls world to heed the truths of Faith
'The Virgin invites us to the blessed grotto in her Divine Son's name for the conversion of our hearts and in the hope of forgiveness. Will we heed her?'
(PerMariam) — On the joyful feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, who announced herself to St. Bernadette Soubirous as the Immaculate Conception, the Church calls to mind the immense dignity, honor and mystery of the Virgin Mother of God who was kept free from the stain of all sin.
Many Popes have written at length upon the import and theological depths of the Immaculate Conception, and among them is found the text of Pope Pius XII “Le Pelerinage de Lourdes.” Written in 1957 ahead of the 100th anniversary of the Lourdes apparitions, Pius recounts the previous teachings of his predecessors in the papal throne, while urging a renewed devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes to combat the crises of the age.
The text remains as relevant for for this year as it was upon its publication in 1957. In honor of the great feast, below are some sections from Le Pelerinage de Lourdes.
Le Pelerinage de Lourdes — Pope Pius XII
Every Christian land is a Marian land; there is not a nation redeemed in the blood of Christ which does not glory in proclaiming Mary its Mother and Patroness. This truth is brought into sharp relief by reflection on the history of France. Devotion to the Mother of God dates back to the early days of France's evangelization, and Chartres, one of the most ancient Marian shrines, still attracts a great number of pilgrims, including thousands of young people.
The Middle Ages, which, especially through Saint Bernard, sang Mary's glory and celebrated her mysteries, witnessed a marvelous flowering of French cathedrals dedicated to our Lady: Le Puy, Rheims, Amiens, Paris, and so many others. . . With their spires upthrust they announce from afar the glory of the Immaculate; they heighten its splendor in the pure light of their stained-glass windows and in the harmonious beauty of their statues. They bear witness above all to the faith of a people which outdid itself in a magnificent display of energy, erecting against the sky of France the permanent homage of its devotion to Mary.
In the cities and the countryside, on the hilltops and overlooking the sea, shrines consecrated to Mary - whether humble chapels or splendid basilicas - little by little enfolded the country in their protective shadow. Princes and shepherds of souls and the faithful without number have come to these shrines through the centuries, to the holy Virgin whom they have greeted with titles expressive of their hope or gratitude.
Here they invoke Notre Dame de Miséricorde [Our Lady of Mercy], de Toute Aide [of All Help], de Bon Secours [of Prompt Succor]. There the pilgrim seeks refuge near Notre Dame de la Garde [Our Lady of Watchfulness], de Pitié, or de Consolation. Elsewhere the pilgrim's prayer rises to Notre Dame de Lumiere [Our Lady of Light], de Paix, de Joie, or d'Esperance [of Hope]. Or he implores the intercession of Notre Dame des Vertus, des Miracles, or des Victoires. It is a wonderful litany of invocations whose unceasing recital tells, from province to province, the blessings which the Mother of God has bestowed on the land of France through the ages.
In many ways the nineteenth century was to become, after the turmoil of the Revolution, a century of Marian favors. To mention but a single instance, everyone is familiar today with the “miraculous medal.” This medal, with its image of “Mary conceived without sin,” was revealed to a humble daughter of Saint Vincent de Paul whom We had the joy of inscribing in the catalogue of Saints, and it has spread its spiritual and material wonders everywhere.
A few years later, from February 11 to July 16, 1858, the Blessed Virgin Mary was pleased, as a new favor, to manifest herself in the territory of the Pyrenees to a pious and pure child of a poor, hardworking, Christian family. “She came to Bernadette,” We once said. “She made her her confidante, her collaboratrix, the instrument of her maternal tenderness and of the merciful power of her Son, to restore the world in Christ through a new and incomparable outpouring of the Redemption.” [Discourse delivered at Lourdes on April 28, 1935: Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli, Discorsi e panegirici (2nd ed., Vatican, 1956) p. 435]
You are quite familiar with the events which took place at Lourdes at that time, the spiritual proportions of which are better measured today. You know, Beloved Sons and Venerable Brethren, the astonishing circumstances under which the voice of that child, the messenger of the Immaculate, compelled the world's recognition despite ridicule, doubt, and opposition. You know the steadfastness and purity of her testimony, wisely put to the test by episcopal authority and approved as early as 1862.
Crowds flocked even then and they still surge into the grotto of the apparitions, to the miraculous spring, and into the shrine erected at Mary's request.
There is the moving procession of the lowly, the sick, and the afflicted. There is the impressive pilgrimage of thousands of the faithful from a particular diocese or country. There is the quiet visit of a troubled soul seeking truth. “No one,” We once said, “has ever seen such a procession of suffering in one spot on earth, never such radiance of peace, serenity, and joy!” [Ibid., p. 437]
Nor will anyone ever know, We might add, the full sum of the benefits which the world owes to the aid of the Virgin! “O specus felix, decorate divae Matris aspectu! Veneranda rupes, unde vitales scatuere pleno gurgite Iymhae!" ["O blessed grotto, favored by Mary's presence! O hallowed rock whence spring the living waters of a flowing stream!" - Office of feast of the Apparitions, Hymn for II Vespers]
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It was especially reserved to this great Pope of the Eucharist {St. Pius X} to emphasize and promote the wonderful harmony existing at Lourdes between Eucharistic worship and Marian prayer. "Devotion to the Mother of God," he noted, “has led to a flowering at Lourdes of remarkable and ardent devotion to Christ our Lord.” [Letter of July 12, 1914: AAS 6: 1914, p. 377]
It could not have been otherwise. Everything about Mary directs us to her Son, our only Savior, in anticipation of whose merits she was immaculate and full of grace. Everything about Mary raises us to the praise of the adorable Trinity; and so it was that Bernadette, praying her rosary before the grotto, learned from the words and bearing of the Blessed Virgin how she should give glory to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We are pleased in this centenary year to adopt as Our own the homage rendered by Saint Pius X:
“The unique glory of the shrine of Lourdes lies in the fact that people are drawn there from everywhere by Mary to adore Jesus Christ in the august Sacrament, so that this shrine - at once a center of Marian devotion and a throne of the Eucharistic mystery - surpasses in glory, it seems, all others in the Catholic world.” [Brief of April 25, 1911: Arch. brev. ap., Pius X, an. 1911, Div. Lib. IX, pars I, f. 337.]
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In a society which is barely conscious of the ills which assail it, which conceals its miseries and injustices beneath a prosperous, glittering, and trouble-free exterior, the Immaculate Virgin, whom sin has never touched, manifests herself to an innocent child. With a mother's compassion she looks upon this world redeemed by her Son's blood, where sin accomplishes so much ruin daily, and three times makes her urgent appeal: “Penance, penance, penance!” She even appeals for outward expressions: “Go kiss the earth in penance for sinners.” And to this gesture must be added a prayer: “Pray to God for sinners.”
As in the days of John the Baptist, as at the start of Jesus' ministry, this command, strong and rigorous, shows men the way which leads back to God: “Repent!"[Matt. 3:2 & 4:17] Who would dare to say that this appeal for the conversion of hearts is untimely today?
But the Mother of God could come to her children only as a messenger of forgiveness and hope. Already the water flows at her feet: “Omnes sitientes, venite ad aquas, et haurietis salutem a Domino.” [Office of the feast of the Apparitions, first Response of Third Nocturne.] At this spring where gentle Bernadette was the first to go to drink and wash, all miseries of soul and body will flow away. “And I went and washed and I see,” the grateful pilgrim will be able to reply, in the words of the blind man of the Gospel. [John 9:11]
But as was true for the crowds which pressed around Jesus, the healing of bodily ills is still a gesture of mercy and a sign of that power which the Son of Man has to forgive sins. [cf Mark 2:10] The Virgin invites us to the blessed grotto in her Divine Son's name for the conversion of our hearts and in the hope of forgiveness. Will we heed her?
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But in itself this experience of a few brief days of pilgrimage is not usually sufficient to engrave in indelible letters the call of Mary to a genuine spiritual conversion. That is why We exhort the shepherds of dioceses and all priests to outdo one another in zeal that the centenary pilgrimages may benefit by preparation, and, above all, by a follow-up which will be as conducive as possible to a profound and lasting action of grace.
Only on condition of a return to regular reception of the sacraments, a regard for Christian morals in everyday life, entry into the ranks of Catholic Action and other apostolates recommended by the Church, can the great crowds expected to gather at Lourdes in 1958 yield - according to the expectations of the Immaculate Virgin herself - the fruits of salvation so necessary to mankind today.
But however important it may be, the conversion of the individual pilgrim is not enough. We exhort you in this jubilee year, Beloved Sons and Venerable Brothers, to inspire among the faithful entrusted to your care a common effort for the Christian renewal of society in answer to Mary's appeal.
“May blind spirits . . . be illumined by the light of truth and justice,” Pius XI asked during the Marian feasts of the Jubilee of the Redemption, “so that those who have gone astray into error may be brought back to the straight path, that a just liberty may be granted the Church everywhere, and that an era of peace and true prosperity may come upon all the nations.” [Letter of January 10, 1935: AAS 27, p. 7.]
But the world, which today affords so many justifiable reasons for pride and hope, is also undergoing a terrible temptation to materialism which has been denounced by Our Predecessors and Ourselves on many occasions.
This materialism is not confined to that condemned philosophy which dictates the policies and economy of a large segment of mankind. It rages also in a love of money which creates ever greater havoc as modern enterprises expand, and which, unfortunately, determines many of the decisions which weigh heavy on the life of the people. It finds expression in the cult of the body, in excessive desire for comforts, and in flight from all the austerities of life. It encourages scorn for human life, even for life which is destroyed before seeing the light of day.
This materialism is present in the unrestrained search for pleasure, which flaunts itself shamelessly and tries, through reading matter and entertainments, to seduce souls which are still pure. It shows itself in lack of interest in one's brother, in selfishness which crushes him, in justice which deprives him of his rights - in a word, in that concept of life which regulates everything exclusively in terms of material prosperity and earthly satisfactions.
“And I will say to my soul. the rich man said, Soul, thou hast many good things laid up for many years; take thy ease, eat, drink, be merry. But God said to him, Thou fool, this night do they demand thy soul of thee.” [Luke 12:19-20]
To a society which in its public life often contests the supreme rights of God, to a society which would gain the whole world at the expense of its own soul and thus hasten to its own destruction, the Virgin Mother has sent a cry of alarm. [cf Mark 8:36]
May priests be attentive to her appeal and have the courage to preach the great truths of salvation fearlessly. The only lasting renewal, in fact, will be one based on the changeless principles of faith, and it is the duty of priests to form the consciences of Christian people.
Just as the Immaculate, compassionate of our miseries, but discerning our real needs, came to men to remind them of the essential and austere steps of religious conversion, so the ministers of the Word of God should, with supernatural confidence, point out to souls the narrow road which leads to life.[26] They will do this without forgetting the spirit of kindness and patience which they profess, but also without concealing anything of the Gospel's demands.[27] In the school of Mary they will learn to live not only that they may give Christ to the world, but also, if need be, to await with faith the hour of Jesus and to remain at the foot of the cross.
Assembled around their priests, the faithful must cooperate in this effort for renewal. Wherever Providence has placed a man, there is always more to be done for God's cause. Our thoughts turn first to the host of consecrated souls who, within the framework of the Church, devote themselves to innumerable good works. Their religious vows dedicate them more than others to fight victoriously under Mary's banner against the onslaught which inordinate lust for freedom, riches, and pleasure makes on the world. In response to the Immaculate, they will resolve to oppose the attacks of evil with the weapons of prayer and penance and by triumphs of charity.
Our thoughts turn also to Christian families, to ask them to remain faithful to their vital mission in society. May they consecrate themselves in this jubilee year to the Immaculate Heart of Mary! For married couples this act of piety will be a valuable aid in performing their conjugal duties of chastity and faithfulness. It will keep pure the atmosphere in which their children grow up. Even more, it will make the family, inspired by its devotion to Mary, a living center of social rebirth and apostolic influence.
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Go to her, you who are crushed by material misery, defenseless against the hardships of life and the indifference of men. Go to her, you who are assailed by sorrows and moral trials. Go to her, beloved invalids and infirm, you who are sincerely welcomed and honored at Lourdes as the suffering members of our Lord. Go to her and receive peace of heart, strength for your daily duties, joy for the sacrifice you offer.
The Immaculate Virgin, who knows the secret ways by which grace operates in souls and the silent work of this supernatural leaven in this world, knows also the great price which God attaches to your sufferings united to those of the Savior. They can greatly contribute, We have no doubt, to this Christian renewal of society which We implore of God through the powerful intercession of His Mother.
In response to the prayers of the sick, of the humble, of all the pilgrims to Lourdes, may Mary turn her maternal gaze upon those still outside the limits of the only fold, the Church, that they may come together in unity. May she look upon those who are in search, who are thirsty for truth, and lead them to the source of living waters.
May she cast her glance upon the vast continents and their limitless human areas where Christ is unfortunately so little known, so little loved; and may she obtain for the Church freedom and the joy of being able to respond everywhere, always youthful, holy, and apostolic, to the longing of men.
“Kindly come,” said the Virgin to Bernadette. This discreet invitation, which does not compel but is addressed to the heart and requests with delicacy a free and generous response, the Mother of God addresses again to her children in France and the whole world. Christians will not remain deaf to this appeal; they will go to Mary. It is to each of them that We wish to say at the conclusion of this letter with St. Bernard:
“In dangers, difficulties, and doubts, think of Mary, invoke Mary's aid...If you follow her, you will not stray; if you entreat her, you will not lose hope; if you reflect upon her, you will not err; if she supports you, you will not fall; if she protects you, you will not fear; if she leads you, you will not grow weary; if she is propitious, you will reach your goal.”