For the first time the relics of St. Bernadette Soubirous are being brought to the island of Ireland for a "once-in-lifetime" tour this autumn.
The relics of the saint who as a young girl experienced the Marian apparitions that led her to find the healing spring waters of Lourdes – which would go on to become one of Catholicism's most famous and beloved pilgrimage sites – will visit every diocese across the landmass of the island, thereby visiting both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The tour will run between 4 September – 5 November 2024.
“This very special, once-in-lifetime event will provide an opportunity for people of all ages and backgrounds to experience the special gifts and charisms of Lourdes in their diocese,” <a href="https://stbernadette.ie/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">notes</mark></a> the official website for the St Bernadette Relic Pilgrimage in Ireland.
The organisers of the tour note that “Ireland has had a long connection with the pilgrimage town of Lourdes with groups and individuals travelling there in their thousands each year, seeking hope, healing and peace".
They describe how the "Irish began this journey of pilgrimage" soon after the apparitions began in 1858, adding that early records showing Irish pilgrims have travelled there since the 1880s.
However, it is noted that “Ireland, being devoutly Catholic and desperately impoverished in many parts, meant that the vast majority could not afford to make the pilgrimage there".
As a result, Lourdes shrines and grottos "appeared around the country and were built in an effort to bring Lourdes to Ireland, so that those who could not travel could experience the message of Lourdes too". Among the Irish people, devotion to Saint Bernadette and Our Lady of Lourdes became very popular too.<br><br><strong><em>RELATED: <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/the-catholic-cathedrals-of-ireland-take-a-look-at-some-of-the-architectural-gems-of-the-emerald-isle/?swcfpc=1"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">The Catholic cathedrals of Ireland: take a look at these architectural gems of the Emerald Isle</mark></a></em></strong>
At the same time, diocesan, parish and religious communities organised pilgrimages and fundraised – as they continue to do so – “to bring the sick, the elderly and the desolate to Lourdes”.
In a statement, Archbishop Eamon Martin, Primate of All Ireland, <a href="https://stbernadette.ie/letter-from-the-archbishop/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">said</mark></a>:
“The pilgrimage around Ireland of St Bernadette’s relics will be a source of hope, great joy and inspiration, especially for the many people of Ireland who have travelled to Lourdes over the years and for the dedicated groups across the island who work all year round to plan pilgrimages at parish and diocesan level.
"Of course Lourdes is synonymous with care and love for sick and disabled persons and is a special sanctuary for those who struggle with worries or decisions of one kind or another."
Bernadette Soubirous was born in Lourdes, a small French town in the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains in the year 1844.
In 1858, <a href="https://stbernadette.ie/who-is-st-bernadette/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">she saw the Virgin Mary eighteen times</mark></a> at the Grotto of Massabielle; the Apparitions of Lourdes were authenticated in 1866 by the Bishop of Tarbes.
In that same year, Bernadette left Lourdes to live out her religious vocation within the community of the Sisters of Charity of Nevers.
Eventually she became seriously ill with tuberculosis of the lungs and bones, dying at the age of thirty-five. She was proclaimed blessed in 1925, then a saint in 1933.<br><br>During the thirteenth apparition, the relic pilgrimage website <a href="https://stbernadette.ie/what-are-relics/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">notes</mark></a>, the Virgin Mary instructed Bernadette: “Go and tell the priests to build a chapel here and that people should come in procession".
Bernadette thus became "the Virgin Mary’s missionary", passing on the special request to Father Peyramale, the parish priest of Lourdes – and setting in motion the sequence of events that would see Lourdes become a pilgrimage site visited by millions every year.
Now, the organisers of the relics' tour note, the Sanctuary Our Lady of Lourdes wants to respond to the request that was given to Bernadette by the Virgin Mary "in a new way":
"This is an <em>opportunity</em> to have Lourdes come to you and experience the pilgrimage in Lourdes at home in Ireland," the organisers highlight.
“Together with my brother Bishops in Ireland, I look forward to welcoming the relics of St Bernadette to all parts of the island,” Archbishop Martin said.
“I encourage you to take the opportunity to encounter the beautiful and inspiring person that St Bernadette was, and to hear the powerful message she was able to convey to the world from Our Lady.”
The tour of St Bernadette's relics comes at a time when the Catholic Church across the island of Ireland continues to wrestle with the fallout of innumerable scandals, accompanied by a collapse in vocations and much of the Irish population appearing to turn its back on the Church.
Meanwhile, the three-way political tensions between Northern Ireland – which remains part of the United Kingdom – the UK government in Westminster and the Republic of Ireland continue to play out, not least over Brexit but also over the likes of Westminster imposing abortion legislation on Northern Ireland, leaving many ordinary people disillusioned with their respective governments and the political process that is meant to represent them.
At the same time, all three countries continue to confront the legacy of the violence that wreaked so much havoc and caused so many lives to be lost and ruined during the Troubles in Northern Ireland from the late 1960s to the late 1990s.
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<em>Photo: St. Bernadette Soubirous; screenshot from <a href="https://stbernadette.ie/who-is-st-bernadette/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">stbernadette.ie</mark></a>.</em><br><br><strong>Further details about the schedule and locations to be visited by the St Bernadette Relic Tour can be found <a href="https://stbernadette.ie/pilgrimage-details/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">here</mark></a>. </strong>
