The miracles of Lourdes
BMJ 2002; 324 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/sbmj.020233 (Published 01 February 2002) Cite this as: BMJ 2002;324:020233
- Oliver Plunkett, intercalating medical student1
- 1Imperial College, London
Nestling in the foothills of the Pyrenees in southern France, Lourdes has enjoyed international recognition since a local peasant girl, Bernadette Soubirous, witnessed the Marian apparitions in 1858. The Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette at the Grotto of Massabielle by the river Gave and requested that a church should be built on the rock over the grotto. Today its sanctuary stands over the alcove in which Mary appeared. Beneath it, the spring welling up from the floor at the back of the grotto has become central to the beliefs and activities of pilgrims from the Catholic church who come to wash themselves in its waters, just as Mary told Bernadette to do.
Pilgrimages
Each season, pilgrimages organised by the Catholic Church and charities arrive in Lourdes. Numbering over 70 000 sick and disabled a year, pilgrims come to seek a miracle or a cure for their illnesses. I joined a pilgrimage as a guest of Father Péadar Murney, who led his parish of Johnstown in the 50th Dublin Diocesan pilgrimage in 1999.
We filled three jumbo jets with seven doctors, hundreds of volunteers and pilgrims, and one and a half tons of supplies and equipment. Prior medical vetting of pilgrims excluded those with alcohol or drug dependencies, difficult psychiatric problems, and those unable to manage without intensive hospital support. Patients who did not need continual medical care can attend, including …
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