Chapter 9
The shrine city
“That solid rock, that inner fortress”
As Bernadette, out of sight, pursued her calling so ardently at
Nevers, the shrine at the grotto grew in stature with a vigorous life of its
own. Money poured in to begin constructing the sacred buildings, baths and
courts that today define the Sanctuary area around the Massabielle, that
once neglected and despised section of Lourdes. Work also progressed on
the infrastructure needed to serve the swelling legions of pilgrims. A great
shrine city was emerging, with facilities for the housing, caring, bathing,
blessing and the worship of the pilgrims.
Miracle Reports
And the miracle reports continued unabated. In 1867 a tree fell on
Pierre de Rudder, of Jabbeke, Belgium, fracturing both bones in the upper
third of the left leg. Due to complications, the bones would not knit. Several
times he rejected doctors’ advice to have the leg amputated. Eight years
later, at the age of fifty-two, he made a pilgrimage to Oostacker, Belgium,
where a replica of the grotto of Lourdes had been built. Unable to stand on
his left leg, he set out for the shrine on crutches on 7th March 1875. He
returned without the crutches, cured. After his death in 1898 the miracle was
further confirmed by exhuming the bones of both legs. They have been
preserved at the University of Louvain.
In numerous instances a desperately sick person has boarded the
pilgrim train for Lourdes on a stretcher or in a wheelchair. Returning on the
same train, the pilgrim has stepped blithely to the platform as the waiting
party gaped. Some people have fainted from shock. One male spouse was so
shaken he had to be sent home in the ambulance he had ordered for his wife.
Other early miracles include:
 |
 |
 |