And what about the “Immaculate Conception” that Bernadette spoke about? This again is a flagrant contradiction of Bible teaching. The Scriptures show that Mary, like all of Adam’s descendants, was ‘conceived in sin’ and inherited death. (Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:23) If Mary was conceived without sin, why did she present a sin offering after the birth of Jesus? (Leviticus 12:6; Luke 2:22-24) Moreover, there is not a single Bible text to support the Catholic doctrine that says that she was preserved from original sin by special grace. Since the worship of Mary has no Scriptural foundation, it is quite logical to raise questions as to whether her apparitions are from God.

Should the Church Judge Its Own Case?

According to Catholic authorities, apparitions must satisfy two conditions. First, they must be in harmony with the church’s teachings. A striking example is the apparition at Lourdes, where the “Virgin” presented herself as “The Immaculate Conception.” Interestingly, a few years before this, Pope Pius IX had decreed that at conception Mary was preserved free from original sin. In 1933 the future Pius XII expressed his opinion that the two events were linked, stating: “The Immaculate Virgin, Mother of God and blessed among women, wished to confirm with her own lips that which was defined in Rome by her infallible Supreme Pontiff. This she did soon afterward in a famous apparition at the Massabielle Grotto [Lourdes].”

Second, the conduct of the one who saw the apparition must be considered. As the bishop of Tours stated: “The church . . . believed in the apparitions [at Lourdes] because of Bernadette’s holiness.” And the ecclesiastical authorities consider that both Bernadette and Lucie, who claimed to have seen Mary at Lourdes and Fátima respectively, met this condition by later becoming nuns.

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February 11, 1858.

A 14-year-old French girl named Bernadette Soubirous, her sister, and a friend were out gathering firewood near Lourdes, a town in southwest France near the Spanish border. Just as Bernadette was going to cross a stream, a “lady” appeared to her in a grotto. On other occasions, the same “lady” asked for a chapel to be built on that very spot and appealed to all mankind to repent.

Encountering yet another apparition, Bernadette heard the “lady” say in the local dialect: “I am the Immaculate Conception.” Alone against civil and even religious authorities, Bernadette Soubirous maintained that her declarations were true. Finally, the Catholic Church officially recognized the apparitions of the “Virgin.” The sanctuary at Lourdes is the result.

[Picture]

Lourdes