Our Lady of Lourdes Necklaces

Our Lord has a way of choosing the humblest among us as instruments to proclaim His glory. So He did with young, sickly, poorly educated and catechized Bernadette Soubirous, a rural French teenager, in 1858. Out collecting firewood, Bernadette experienced a vision of Our Lady, dressed in white with a blue sash and holding the rosary. She spoke respectfully to Bernadette and met with her multiple times over the course of several weeks.

The Lady referred to herself as the Immaculate Conception, an important point, as the dogma of the Immaculate Conception had just been instituted four years prior. Our Lady shared much wisdom with Bernadette, requested that a church be built on the grounds, and revealed a miraculous spring of healing water to her. Bernadette, despite being criminalized for her visions of the Immaculate Conception, persevered in sharing her encounter, and was called to the vocation of religious life. She died at a young age, fulfilling Our Lady's promise that, "I do not promise to make you happy in this life, but in the other."

Millions of pilgrims have visited the Shrine since the 1800s, and over 60 miraculous cures have been independently attributed to the healing power of Lourdes, although many more have occurred…not just healing of the body, but healing of souls and strengthening of faith.

The feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes is February 11, World Day of the Sick, and a medal honoring this apparition of Our Lady would be a heartfelt and thoughtful gift for a sick and suffering loved one, who perhaps may not make the physical trip to Lourdes, France.