A Pilgrimage to Lourdes for Christmas?

Looking for an unusual Christmas gift for a religious Catholic loved one this year? Could there be anything better than a pilgrimage to Lourdes, which, if Pope Benedict XVI is to be believed, if undertaken before December 8, 2008, will help save the recipient's immortal soul?

Lourdes is a town in Southwestern France where the Blessed Mother made eighteen appearances in the year 1858 to a 14-year old daughter of peasants who would later come to be known as Saint Bernadette. The apparition instructed the girl, at the time known as Marie-Bernarde Soubirous, to dig to find an underground spring in the grotto in which they conversed with each other. This spring is now considered to have healing properties and hosts over five million visitors a year. The Catholic Church is extremely careful to investigate each claim of a miracle attributed to Lourdes, having established an independent committee of over 250 doctors and scientists to research and document each case thoroughly.

Over 7,000 such claims have been made over the years, but only 67 have been determined to be true miracles, which means that after extensive investigation (some of them taking over fifty years), no other possible cause could be found. These findings do not mean that the remainder of the claims are false, just that there is the potential that some cause other than a miracle was the reason for them.

The most recent of these occurred in 2005, when the Church verified that Anna Santaniello, an Italian woman who suffered from Bouillard's Disease, a lethal heart ailment, was cured of the condition after a visit to Lourdes in 1952. (She went on to become a nurse, made many more pilgrimages to Lourdes in thanks, and is 96 years old today.)

Not all of the pilgrims to Lourdes are looking for a cure, though; some of them just want to pay devotion to the Blessed Mother, or see the body of Saint Bernadette, who died in 1879, and whose corpse, which is on display there in the Church of St. Gilard, is said to be miraculously intact. In addition, as noted above, the Pope is offering "plenary indulgences" (reduced time spent atoning for sins) for visitors who go in the next year in preparation for the 150^th anniversary of the apparitions in Lourdes.

For these reasons, Lourdes is second only to Rome (the home of the Vatican) as a site for Catholic pilgrims to visit, and there are many guided tours to the area. Parishes often sponsor pilgrimages for all of their members, so the first step would to be to call around to local churches and see if any of them are planning such a trip in 2008. The benefits of prayer are supposed to multiply with large groups of people, and the benefits of group discounts are myriad, so this may be the best and most inexpensive route. If no church in your area is planning this, however, don't despair. There are many tour companies who specialize in this type of trip. A quick Internet search came up with classic-pilgrimages.com, regina-tours.com, catholicpilgrimoffice.com, unitours.com, and glory-tours.com, among others.

When you're comparing prices, you need to determine if the company you're looking at operates out of the U.S. or overseas-- a large number of these companies are located in Ireland and the U.K., and if the one you're looking at is European, you're going to have to factor in travel across the pond. However, these European companies seem to have more tour options that are focused directly on Lourdes, while if you book with a U.S. company, you may find your pilgrimage sandwiched in between other, more touristy, attractions.

Since many pilgrimages here have healing as a primary intent, several of the tour companies that specialize in Lourdes are equipped to accommodate handicapped patrons, so if that is a concern, make sure you book with a company that offers what you need.

Many companies also combine trips to Lourdes with trips to Medugorje, located in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the location of more recent Blessed Mother sightings. Only you can determine whether your intended gift recipient would prefer to concentrate on Lourdes. While Medugorje is also a popular pilgrimage site, the miracles there have not yet been completely documented, and travel between the two adds a couple of extra days and transportation costs.

When you've found the right trip for your loved one, it's time to determine when the trip should occur. Trips during February and March can be ideal because there are fewer visitors there (Lourdes can get extremely crowded during summer months), and great deals on airfare to France can be found that time of year. However, weather at that time of year can be unpleasant, so make sure the gift recipient will be able to handle freezing rain and wind if you go that route. Whatever you decide, make sure to book your trip before December 8, 2008 so he or she can reap the full benefits!