Three days before Valentine’s Day, Catholics celebrate the Feast Day of Our Lady of Lourdes. The first Lourdes Apparition of Our Lady to St. Bernadette was on February 11, 1858. While healing and other miracles about Lourdes in France are well-known, the National Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes (NSOLL) in Kanlaon, Quezon City is like a well-kept secret.
A confessed Marian devotee, I and my family went to Lourdes (believe it or not, I made my husband drive all the way from Paris, which we now call his penitential drive) to thank her for her powerful intercession. After reading a book about all the answered prayers, my daughter and I started sending prayer requests online to www.PrayerRequest.eu. She has never failed a single request and when I thought I would be turned down for the first time, the positive response happened after a few months.
My friend Tess Arvisu has been an active parishioner of NSOLL for several years now and has been diligently inviting us every year to visit the shrine. We were glad we finally went this year. We managed to arrive in time for the last Mass despite the heavy traffic. We wondered why the pews were still full and why no one left after the Mass. As minutes went by, more and more people arrived, filling up the church.
Excitement built up and we noticed two out of five devotees have their cameras, tablets, and Android phones ready. Then the massive door opened and the image of Our Lady entered. Cheers and applause followed. It is hard to miss the genuine affection the pilgrims have for Our Lady. “Have you noticed the crowd? Their love for Our Lady is so palpable,” said a beaming Tess.
Tess is with the communications group of the parish which has an active and very informative website and Facebook page. In fact, I just realized that they also have an online prayer request form just like the one in France. Visit www.nsollqc.com and click the prayer request tab.
Rev. Fr. William T. Bustamante, OFMCap., NSOLL’s parish priest, said: “As the new parish priest of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, I am deeply inspired and overflowing with excitement for the forthcoming fiesta of Our Lady of Lourdes on February 11, which marks the date of the first apparition 157 years ago. This year’s fiesta theme ‘Our Lady of Lourdes: Merciful and Compassionate Mother of the Poor’ aims to focus and encourage devotees to espouse active love and service to the poor and less fortunate.”
The 63-year-old parish started the celebration with the nine-day Dalaw Patrona where the image of Our Lady visited each of the nine barangays belonging to the parish. The nine-day novena Masses were celebrated by guest priests. The annual dawn penitential procession was held, with devotees reverently walking barefoot from Sta. Teresita Church on Mayon Street to NSOLL on Kanlaon Street. There was also the blessing of the sick. All these events culminated on February 11, where 13 hourly Masses were held.
“One new change to be introduced is that the image of Our Lady of Lourdes will be the only image during the grand procession. This will enable everyone to focus only on the Blessed Mother as our patroness, powerful intercessor and mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ. On that evening, we will walk with her, sing with her, and pray with her alone,” Fr. Bustamante added.
They also shared some testimonials from devotees:
• Dr. Ventura: “I was once lost in darkness, became poor and addicted to drugs. I am an optometrist by profession, then I became dean of the College of Optometry in Baguio City. My family went abroad and left me alone. I felt I lost everything —my career, my family and relatives. I became a vagabond — lost in life so I turned to drugs and became addicted. Our Lady of Lourdes came to me. I heard Mass on Feb. 3, 2002 and since then, I’ve always come here to attend Mass. I tried to change myself and to move on. I’ve been working abroad for 11 years now. Thanks, Our Lady of Lourdes, for your help.”
• Mr. Navarro: “I have been a devotee of Our Lady of Lourdes since 1957 when I started living in La Loma. I am 78 and a retired government officer since 1995. I was diagnosed with enlarged prostate in May 2013. I took medicines for three months. During those three weeks, I prayed to Our Lady of Lourdes and used the water from Lourdes, France. When I returned to the doctor, I was completely healed. Thank you very much, Our Lady of Lourdes.”
• Ms. Cruz: “I was diagnosed with breast cancer (stage 2B) in 2004. I did six chemotherapy sessions, 28 radiation sessions, and hormone replacement therapy. I went to Our Lady of Lourdes in France in November 2006 to pray for total healing and to bathe my entire body in the healing water of Lourdes. I have been cancer-free and in very good health since then. I am already in my ninth year as a cancer survivor and I give all the glory and praise to God through the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes.”
• Shiela: “Every time I go to the Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine, she never fails me. She grants the good intentions of my heart, blesses my family and loved ones, and has given me countless miracles. I am the living proof of God’s miracles though Our Lady of Lourdes. My husband got a US visa and employment overseas. She also granted the healing of my mother and my children. No prayers are left unanswered when you go and ask in this shrine.”
• Mrs. Aquino: “My husband and I got married on December 14, 2002. Two months after our wedding day, we found out I was pregnant. Two weeks after, I experienced bleeding and we lost our baby. Years passed after my miscarriage, but I was not able to conceive again. I was diagnosed to have polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) in 2005, the main reason it was very difficult for me to get pregnant. I was also told that I had endometriosis — my ovaries are too small and they produce very few egg cells, making it even harder for me to conceive. We went through a series of tests, laboratory work, and medications. We were then advised by my cousin, a devotee of Our Lady of Lourdes, to try to attend the novena prayers in preparation for her feast day, February 11. Finally, the Virgin of Lourdes allowed me to conceive our first child who was born on April 15, 2006. As a token of our gratitude to the Blessed Lady, we included a variant of her name in our daughter’s name. We also made a solemn promise to return to her shrine every year to pray the novena in her honor and give thanks for the greatest blessing that we have received — our beautiful, smart, healthy, God-fearing daughter who is now seven years old.”
You need not wait for the next feast day to join the community healing service. NSOLL launched “Sa Lourdes ang Sabado Ko,” which aims to make devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes a weekly habit. “Every Saturday morning, NSOLL holds novena prayers, a Holy Mass, anointing of the sick, and a procession around the shrine as part of its weekly tribute to our Lady. This gives devotees the opportunity to offer themselves to our Lady on a regular weekly basis. And this gives the sick and infirm the chance to receive anointment, prayers, and blessings from the Capuchin Brothers of NSOLL,” said George Mercado of the Media Ministry.
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Post me a note at mylene@goldsgym.com.ph or mylenedayrit@gmail.com