Sanctuary of Our Lady
Every year from March to October, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, also called the Domain, is the site for mass pilgrimages from all over the world. People come to give thanks and pray to St. Mary. The sanctuary was built on the site of a grotto where the Virgin Mary appeared to St. Bernadette. It’s believed that the spring water from the grotto possesses miraculous healing properties. The pilgrims participate in impressive candlelight and sacrament processions. They also drink or bathe in the Lourdes Water which comes out of the grotto. Hospitalite Notre Dame
During one of the Virgin Mary’s apparitions to St. Bernadette, she asked that people come in procession to the grotto. Since then, a ‘ministry of welcome’ has been performed in Lourdes, receiving and caring for all of the pilgrims who come to the site, especially the sick and disabled. Rosary Basilica
The Basilica of the Rosary is one of the most notable places of worship at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes. It was built between 1883 and 1889 to replace the original chapel on the site of the Virgin Mary's apparations. Designed in a Romanesque style with significant Byzantine influence in the shape of a Greek cross, the Rosary Basilica features two unique elliptical ramps around a square where almost 80,000 people can be held. As a legend has it, when the Virgin Mary appeared at Lourdes, she was holding a rosary in her hand. Consisting of 15 chapels with mosaic images the Basilica of the Rosary depicts the mysteries of the rosary: joyful, sorrowful and glorious. St. Bernadette Church
Church of St. Bernadette is most recent of the major centres of worship in Lourdes. Built opposite the Grott, on the spot of the final Apparition of the Virgin Mary, it was consecrated in 1988. Conrary to the other buildings in the sanctuary, the Church of St. Bernadette is much brighter, as there is more natural light. Inside the church there is so called Hemicycle, a large lecture-room where pilgrims come to pray.