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The close connection between Our Lady
and suffering
Excerpted from Pope John Paul II’s Angelus Address, Sunday,
Feb. 8, 2004
 ...
Mary Most Holy appeared to St. Bernadette Soubirous, presenting
herself as the "Immaculate Conception". This
year is the 150th anniversary of the Dogma of the Immaculate
Conception, proclaimed by my venerable Predecessor Bl. Pius
IX, whose feast we celebrated Feb. 7.
The close connection between Our Lady of Lourdes and
the world of suffering and illness is well known.
The sick have always been the chief persons at the Shrine
which came into being at the Grotto of Massabielle, and over
the years Lourdes has become an authentic stronghold of
life and hope. How could it be otherwise? The Immaculate
Conception of Mary is, in fact, the first fruit of the Redemption
brought about by Christ and the pledge of his victory over
evil. The spring of water bubbling from the ground from which
the Virgin asked Bernadette to drink is reminiscent of the
power of Christ's Spirit who heals human beings completely
and gives them eternal life.
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