On this Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, the Universal Church celebrates a day dedicated to praying for those who are sick. Pope Francis provides this reflection for this day:
“Mary’s intercession is like a spring of living water. ‘He who believes in me,’ says Jesus, ‘out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’ (John 7, 38). Mary is the one who believed and, from her womb, rivers of living water have flowed forth to bless human history. The spring that Mary pointed out to St. Bernadette at Lourdes is the humble sign of this spiritual reality. From her believing heart, from her maternal heart, flows living water which purifies and heals. By immersing themselves in the baths at Lourdes, many people have discovered and experienced the gentle maternal love of the Virgin Mary, becoming attached to her in order to bind themselves more closely to her Son! From Mary’s heart, there springs up a gratuitous love which calls forth a response of filial love, called to ever greater refinement. Like every mother, yet better than every mother, Mary is the teacher of love. That is why so many sick people go to Lourdes and elsewhere, to quench their thirst at the ‘spring of love’ and to let themselves be led to the sole source of salvation, Mary’s Son, Jesus the Lord.” Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
