Hiking Highlight
Recommended by 69 out of 71 hikers
This Highlight is in a protected area
Please check local regulations for: Biosphärenreservat Bliesgau
Also worth seeing is the Way of the Cross on the way to the grotto
April 2, 2020
The Virgin Mary depicted and venerated here is that of Lourdes. This well-known Marian pilgrimage site is located in the French Pyrenees and is visited by a large number of people every year, including many sick people hoping for healing. The devotional image of the Mother of God has spread widely, not only in France, and believers have built Lourdes chapels and grottos everywhere.
The ecclesiastical memorial day "Our Lady of Lourdes" is on February 11th, this is the anniversary of the apparition of Mary (1858), when the Mother of God appeared to the 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous in a rock grotto not far from Lourdes. Bernadette later became a nun and died at the age of only 35. On December 8 (the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary) 1933, she was canonized by Pope Pius XI.
The commemoration of the Lourdes Madonna is also World Day of the Sick.
May 7, 2022
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