Don’t the French start giving the children wine with their meals when they are young? That could explain a lot of things!

“On February 11, 1858, the Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette at the entrance of a grotto near Lourdes. This was the first of 18 apparitions of Mary to the young girl.”
This is what happens when you get a Catholic reporter or editor handling a story on one of the Church’s better money-makers. No sense of objectivity; swallow the tale whole.

There is a part of me that want to work out this equation:
60 X 24 X 365 X 150 = The subject of P T Barnum’s most famous quote.
HOWEVER, I still appreciate that there are wonders to which we can assign no known science or cause. So as sceptical as I usually am, I still like to keep the door open just a slice, and let the light of mystery seep in. I suppose if people feel like they have been helped, then they have been helped.

If this and other apparitions were money makers for “the Church,” then why doesn’t the church require belief in these visions and require pilgrimages to the sites? Seems like a good way to make more money if that was the goal. Instead, the church quietly permits belief in some visions that are not proven to be clearly frauds.
The money making is from those who set up commercial enterprises in the area – from room and board to every kind of souvenier. These are (usually) not part of “the Church.”

Wow…from French grottos to grilled cheese sandwiches and bathroom windows, the vision persists.

The church doesn’t need to make money on the “visions”, just continue to let the folks believe in them…as it helps keep the “flock” from straying if they think magical things are going on, “w”.

Are you saying the church doesn’t accept donations from those vast throngs? And what about sales of crosses, etc.? I’m guessing they do very well.
And if this were six or seven hundred years ago who’s to say they wouldn’t have those requirements?

nnmns:
I’m sure there is a “donation” box (probably by the Virgin) so there is a place to collect bucks. I don’t expect there is a ticket booth, but then I really don’t know…having not gone to get cured.

Also: nnmns, I do agree there are probably lots of souvenirs, and holy Lourdes water etc. for sale.

… and holy medals, and porceline figurines, and rosaries with their image, and t-shirts / snow globes / back scratchers. The Vatican is sure to get its cut directly or indirectly. Relics have long been a dependable moneymaker for the Church for centuries. You-know-who and their maney are soon parted, even for the most spiritual of reasons.

I guess you can’t copy words from something you goggle, because my little story is gone.
If you don’t believe in God, there’s very little chance you’re going to believe in anything that doesn’t have a tag on it that says, verifiable.
Because of the Lady of Lourdes, Virgin Mary, many fine Catholic hospitals have sprung up over the years, and other organizations run by RCC for doing good work. If you believe, you’re inspired and many fine things come from inspiration.
People buy and collect items of what is important to them, whether it is a cross, Mother Mary, or Disney Characters. Artists, manufactors, buyers, etc. present these items for sale and we buy them. It’s called industry that makes money and gives pleasure. Nothing wrong with that.

God bless Pope Benedict XVI and the holy Roman Catholic Church! As Henrietta said above, our Lady of Lourdes has been a wonderful inspiration to millions over the years. Faith can and does indeed move mountains!

Inspiration indeed…my mother was so inspired after visiting Lourdes in 1965 that my middle name reflects as much.