On the occasion of the 150th
Anniversary of the Apparition of the Blessed Virgin
Mary in the Grotto of Massabielle near Lourdes, a
daily Plenary Indulgence is granted to the Christian
faithful who, from 8 December 2007 until 8 December
2008, devoutly and in accordance with the
established conditions, visit the Grotto of
Massabielle, as well as those who, from 2-11
February 2008, visit a blessed image of the Blessed
Virgin Mary of Lourdes solemnly displayed for public
veneration in any church, oratory, grotto or
suitable place.
God's omnipotence and infinite love
have joined together in a marvellous bond the role
of Mary, Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ and hence,
Mother of his Mystical Body the Church, and the
salvific work of the Church herself: Blessed Abbot
Guerric thus connects the protection sought by the
Christian faithful from Mother Mary with the
Catholic Church's universal ministry of salvation:
"The Blessed Mother of Christ, insofar as she sees
herself the mother of Christians by way of mystery,
also shows herself to be a mother by her solicitude
and tender affection for them.... Consider if her
children, prompted by a certain spontaneous sense of
faith, do not also acknowledge her as mother as they
find refuge, before all else, at the invocation of
her name in every trial and danger just like
children in the arms of their mother" (Sermo I,
In Assumptione B. Mariae Virg.).
Similarly, the Dogmatic Constitution
Lumen Gentium of the Second Vatican Council
highlights what we might call the "joint" mission of
the Most Blessed Virgin Mary and the Catholic
Church: "For Mary, who since her entry into
salvation history unites in herself and re-echoes
the greatest teachings of the faith as she is
proclaimed and venerated, calls the faithful to her
Son and his sacrifice and to the love of the Father.
Seeking after the glory of Christ, the Church
becomes more like her exalted Type, and continually
progresses in faith, hope and charity, seeking and
doing the will of God in all things" (n. 65).
The history of the Church and the
marvellous signs of Marian devotion continually and
clearly confirm the ways of Divine Providence and
foster devotion among the faithful.
A glance over the nearly 150 years
since Mary Most Holy, revealing herself to little
Bernadette Soubirous as the Immaculate Conception,
wanted a shrine, a treasury of grace, to be built
and maintained in the place called Massabielle, in
the city of Lourdes, brings to mind the countless
number of signs by which the supernatural life of
souls and even the health of bodies have benefited
much from the goodness of Almighty God. This plan of
Divine Providence, accompanied by the intercession
of the Blessed Virgin Mary, clearly demonstrates
that the integral end of man is the good of the
whole human person, both here on earth and
especially in eternal salvation.
Since the establishment of the
Shrine at Lourdes, the Christian faithful have
understood that there the Blessed Virgin Mary,
through the ministry of the Catholic Church, desires
to provide most lovingly for the complete health of
men and women.
For as they venerate the Blessed
Virgin Mary in the place "touched by her feet", they
refresh themselves with the sacraments, make firm
resolutions to lead more perfect Christian lives,
perceive more clearly the meaning of the Church and
experience the solid reasons for all these things:
the very connection of these remarkable events over
time has clearly attested to the joint action of the
Blessed Virgin Mary and the Church: indeed, the
Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin
Mary was defined in 1854, and in 1858, Mary Most
Holy appeared to the devout young girl Bernadette
Soubirous with ineffable motherly sweetness,
uttering the words of the dogmatic definition: "I am
the Immaculate Conception".
In order to allow the fruits of
renewed holiness to grow from this blessed
commemoration, the Supreme Pontiff Benedict XVI has
generously decreed that the gift of a Plenary
Indulgence be granted according to the following
conditions:
Each and every member of the
Christian faithful who, truly repentant, is purified
through sacramental confession, restored through the
Most Holy Eucharist and offers prayers for the
intentions of the Supreme Pontiff, will be able to
gain a Plenary Indulgence daily, which may also be
applied, by way of suffrage, to the souls of the
faithful in Purgatory:
A) If, during the year running from
8 December 2007 until the end of 8 December 2008,
they devoutly visit the following places, preferably
in this order - 1) the parish baptismal font used
for the Baptism of Bernadette; 2) the house of the
Soubirous family called the "cachot"; 3) the Grotto
of Massabielle; 4) the chapel of the hospice where
Bernadette made her First Communion - and pause to
reflect for an appropriate length of time at each of
these Jubilee sites, concluding with the Lord's
Prayer, some legitimate form of the Profession of
Faith, and the Jubilee prayer or some other Marian
invocation.
B) If, from the Feast of the
Presentation of our Lord on 2 February 2008 until
the end of the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary
of Lourdes on 11 February 2008, which is also the
150th Anniversary of the Apparition, they devoutly
visit a blessed image of the Holy Virgin Mary of
Lourdes in any church, chapel, grotto or other
suitable place in which it is solemnly displayed,
and in the presence of that image perform some pious
act of Marian devotion, or at least pause to reflect
for an appropriate length of time, concluding with
the Lord's Prayer, some legitimate form of the
Profession of Faith, and the Jubilee prayer or some
other Marian invocation.
C) The elderly, sick, and all those
unable to leave home for a just cause, if they
consciously reject all sin and have the intention to
fulfil the above-mentioned conditions as soon as
possible, are likewise able to obtain - at home or
wherever they may be - a Plenary Indulgence,
if, between the days of 2 and 11 February 2008, they
complete a "spiritual visit" (to the
aforementioned places) in the desire of their
heart, recite the prayers indicated above, and
trustingly offer the pains and discomforts of their
own lives to God through Mary.
In order that the Christian faithful
may partake more readily of these heavenly gifts,
priests who have received approval to hear
confessions by the competent ecclesiastical
authorities should welcome them with a willing and
generous spirit and solemnly lead the recitation of
public prayers to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of
God.
Notwithstanding anything to the
contrary.
Given in Rome, at the Offices of
the Apostolic Penitentiary, 21 November 2007, on the
Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Cardinal James Francis Stafford
Major Penitentiary
Gianfranco Girotti, O.F.M. Conv.
Titular Bishop of Meta, Regent
