“What I have to say need not be written down”
“I am the Immaculate Conception”
“I want you to have a chapel built here. I do not promise you happiness in this world but in the next”.
These were the words that were said by  ‘Our lady of Lourdes’ to St. Bernadette.

The place where our lady told saint Bernadette to eat the grass from where a healing spring of water will flow is now covered with glass with pipes that lead the water to two different places. First leads to the holy baths and second to a place where various taps are now placed so that people can fill the healing water in bottles to take back home.

The Baths

The ‘holy baths’ are the places where the healing spring water is flown. Here both sick and healthy people take holy bath to remain in good health or to be cured. There are many volunteers to assist the sick people who are either handicapped or bedridden to take a dip in the holy water.

The Grotto

The grotto is the place where our lady appeared to St Bernadette. Before her appearance this place was merely a forest, across the lake where St. Bernadette often used to cross to collect the wood. The hill in which the grotto is situated, the spring water still flows through the holes of the rocky hills.

The Church

The church is the apple of the eye for all citizens and pilgrims of Lourdes. The exterior of the church has two flights of stairways. One on the left side and the other on your right both lead to the same place. The upper level where the dome is situated there are two Chapels. The Dome has a gold plated cross and crown as seen in the picture.

When we go to the next level, there is a museum called ‘Musee de Lourdes’. In fact, the entire town of Lourdes has several museums dedicated to the life of Bernadette and Jesus Christ.

The Way of the Cross

The Sanctuary-Grotto is situated at the foothills of the mountain where the pilgrims walk the way of the cross. The statues depicting each station are built around the corners as we climb up on the mountain.

The Candlelight procession

At 9 pm, people gather near the Grotto for a candle light procession. As we walked though the church premises holding candles, we said the rosary in ten different languages. When we finally assembled outside the church we raised the statue of our lady singing ‘Ave Ave Ave Maria…’