Our Lady of Lourdes appeared to St. Bernadette Soubirous in 1858 as a woman dressed in a white dress and veil, a blue sash, and a yellow rose on each foot. Over the course of several apparitions, this woman revealed herself to be “the Immaculate Conception,” one of the most well-known titles of Mary today.
During this series of appearances, Mary instructed the young Bernadette to dig in the nearby dirt. Her digging revealed a healing spring of water from which the Church has officially declared 70 miracles. A miracle is determined if the illness that was healed was exclusively attributed to divine power, beyond the power of created nature, and subject to the perception of the senses.
The feast of Our Lady of Lourdes is celebrated on February 11th. Here are 3 miracles performed by Our Lady of Lourdes and approved by the Catholic Church that you need to know about.
1.) Catherine Latapie
The miraculous healing of Catherine Latapie was the first documented miracle after the apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes. In 1856, Latapie had fallen from a tree, leaving her right hand mostly paralyzed. At the time of the apparitions, she was at the end of her 3rd pregnancy.
On March 1st, 1858, Latapie rose at 3 in the morning, woke her young children and set off for Lourdes. Arriving at dawn, she met with Bernadette at the infamous grotto and washed her hand in the healing spring water. In the presence of over 1,500 people, Latapie’s hand miraculously regained function.
She returned home to give birth to her 3rd child allowing us to be sure of the date of the cure. Her child, Jean-Baptiste, grew up to become an ordained priest in 1882. In 1862, her case was officially documented a miracle amongst those “presenting a supernatural character.”
2.) Louis Bouriette
One of the most well-known miracles, Bouriette was 55 when he visited the grotto of Lourdes in March of 1858 to seek healing. He was rendered blind in his right eye from a mine explosion, which had also killed his brother.
Known in the local area for his Christian faith, he had heard of the apparition and told his daughter to fetch the healing water saying, “Go and get me some of that water. The Blessed Virgin, if it be her, has only to wish it, and I shall be cured.”
Sure enough, his eye was miraculously healed after repeatedly rubbing it with the muddy spring water. His doctor confirmed that no physical explanation could warrant such an immediate healing. In 1862, his miracle was officially confirmed and documented.
3.) Sister Bernadette Moriau
The more recent healing of Sr. Moriau was declared the 70th miracle of Our Lady of Lourdes in 2018. Suffering from spinal pain which left her disabled and wheelchair-bound, Sr. Moriau went on a pilgrimage to Lourdes in 2008 to receive a blessing of the sick where the apparitions of Mary had taken place.
After she was blessed, she said, “ I felt a [surge of] well-being throughout my body, a relaxation, warmth… I returned to my room and there, a voice told me to ‘take off your braces.’” After doing so, Sr. Moriau was surprised to find that she was able to completely leave behind her wheelchair, braces, and pain.
After being reviewed extensively by the International Medical Committee of Lourdes, it was determined that her healing could not be medically explained and was officially declared a miracle in 2018.
Visit The Station of the Cross for more authentic Catholic media content and listen to this episode of Mother Miriam Live to hear how Our Lady of Lourdes contributed to her conversion to the Catholic faith.
Our Lady of Lourdes, Pray for Us!
