Episode Transcript  

One

The Apparition

Lourdes, France, is a small village at the foot of the Pyrenees on the border between France and Spain. Mary appeared to Bernadette Soubirous eighteen times from this day, February 11th, to July 16, 1858.

Bernadette’s family was so poor that they lived in one room of an old building that used to be a jail, but even the worst jailer refused to keep prisoners there. There was no running water, no plumbing, and obviously no electricity. Bernadette and her sister had to scrounge around the countryside for kindling for the stove. This is why on February 11th, 1858, she went to the dark and rocky grotto near the river to gather firewood. Suddenly, Bernadette heard a noise like the sound of a storm. Frightened, she stood up straight and turned her head toward the grotto where she saw an exceedingly beautiful young girl, 16 or 17 years old. 

The beautiful Lady looked at Bernadette, smiled, and waved to her to come near. Bernadette rubbed her eyes, shut them, and opened them, but the Lady was still there. Without thinking, Bernadette took out her Rosary and fell to her knees. The Lady gave a nod of approval, and then she too took out a Rosary. As Bernadette prayed, the Lady moved the beads through her fingers. Only at the end of each decade did the Lady say the Glory Be with Bernadette. As soon as they finished the Rosary, the Lady disappeared. 

Three days later, on February 14th, Bernadette, her sister, and a friend went to the grotto armed with Holy Water. When she knelt to pray the Rosary, Our Lady appeared, Bernadette threw the Holy Water at her, and she simply smiled, took out her Rosary, and prayed with Bernadette.

The third time Our Lady appeared, she asked Bernadette to come back fifteen times at regular intervals. She also said, “I do not promise to make you happy in this world, but in the next."

What should we conclude from this miraculous event? If the Mother of Jesus is real, then Jesus is real, then everything needs to change!

Two

Prayer

At Lourdes, Mary asked for two things: prayer and penance for the conversion of sinners. Prayer is the first step because our conversion comes through prayer. Why?

Sin is to turn away from God. In prayer, we turn back to God and have immediate contact with Him.So, prayer is the first essential step of our conversion. Then if we keep turning to God in prayer, we will keep converting. Only then can we help others to conversion. First you must put on your oxygen mask. Then help the person next to you. By praying the Rosary with Bernadette at Lourdes, Our Lady showed that the Rosary is the daily prayer she desires.

Three

Penance 

During the apparitions Our Lady said to Bernadette, “Penance! Penance! Penance!”

Mary is trying to get all her children to heaven. So she is calling on her children who are listening to offer prayer and penance for those who won’t listen, because by our prayer and penance, we can help God save souls. Penance can consist of prayer, fasting, almsgiving, works of mercy, service to others, voluntary self-denial, and sacrifices. But above all, the most powerful penance is to accept what you did not choose, do not like, and cannot change, and offer it to Jesus for the conversion of sinners.

Four

Spring of Healing Waters 

On February 25th, 1858, Mary directed Bernadette to a specific spot and told her to drink from the spring and wash in it. There was no spring, so Bernadette was confused. But Our Lady told her to dig in the dirt. Bernadette dug a hole in the dirt with her hand and then washed her face with the mud, and drank the dirty water. Everyone thought she was crazy. That afternoon, some people returned to the Grotto. They shoved a stick in the little hole Bernadette had carved out, and a fountain of water gushed forth.

From that little spring now comes forth a fountain that fills the baths of Lourdes. There are thousands upon thousands, countless more that have never been reported. And there have been seventy miraculous cures medically verified and authenticated by the Catholic Church, each one came after receiving the sacraments of Confession and the Anointing of the Sick!

Five

I am the Immaculate Conception 

In 1854, Pope Pius IX proclaimed the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Four years later, on March 25th, 1858, Bernadette asked the woman appearing to her, “Who are you, what is your name?”  

The Woman slipped her rosary over her right arm. She unfolded her hands and extended them toward the ground (signifying the graces she gives to the world through her intercession). She then folded them at her breast in prayer, raised her eyes to heaven, and said, “I am the Immaculate Conception.” That is who she is, that is her name. 

St. Maximilian Kolbe was captivated by this, which led him to a lifetime of prayer and reflection on the profound relationship between the Holy Spirit and Mary. He never wrote a book, but he dictated his greatest insight about the relationship of the Holy Spirit and Mary to Br. Arnold in his office on the morning of February 17th, 1941; around noon, St. Maximilian was arrested by the Gestapo and ultimately taken to Auschwitz, where he gave his life for another man. 

Here is what Kolbe said, “And who is the Spirit? He is the fruit of the love between the Father and the Son. Now, the fruit of created love is a created conception. Therefore, the fruit of divine love, the prototype of all love, is the first conception. The Holy Spirit is, therefore, the Divine Uncreated Immaculate Conception.”

Then Kolbe said, “At Lourdes, Mary did not define herself as ‘Conceived without sin,” but, as St. Bernadette related…She said in a voice in which you could notice a slight tremor…I am the Immaculate Conception.” 

According to Kolbe, the Holy Spirit is the Uncreated Immaculate Conception, and Mary is the created Immaculate Conception. Mary is the human replica of the Holy Spirit. She is the perfect human expression of the Holy Spirit. She is the human instrument through whom the Holy Spirit works to form Jesus in us and the instrument through whom the Spirit leads us. 

That is why Kolbe wrote, “One thing only need always be there and must always be nourished: being led by Mary, conforming ever more completely to her will.”(504)

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