Lourdes Cave - Voderady

The cave is a monument to the world-famous apparition of the Virgin Mary in the French city of Lourdes. On February 11, 1858, fourteen-year-old Bernadette, along with her sister Antonia and a friend from the neighborhood, Joanna, went to collect dry branches for heating. When they came to a cave over which the Massabiel Rock rose, they had to cross a stream. Bernadetta took off her shoes and pulled off her stockings. Then she heard a soft noise in the wind and looked towards the cave. She saw a golden cloud, and just behind him a beautiful Lady. According to Bernadette, she was dressed in white, belted with a blue ribbon, and yellow roses on her legs. The lady smiled at her and nodded toward Bernadette to come closer. The girl had a sense of loss of consciousness, but no fear. Bernadetta rubbed her eyes repeatedly, but the beautiful Lady was still with her, so she finally believed she was real. They prayed the rosary together, but the Lady just slid her fingers over the grains, not praying out loud. She disappeared after a while. The girls found Bernadette kneeling. She confided in them about her experience, but they did not want to believe her. Her mother even forbade her to go to the cave.

However, meeting Pana was such a powerful experience for Bernadette that she was literally driven by the desire to be with her again. Her mother did not allow it until Sunday, February 14, after Holy Mass, when she and several other girls went to the cave. They were armed with rosaries and holy water. When the beautiful Lady appeared, Bernadette sprinkled water on the place where the Lady stood and said, "If you come from God, tell us - if from the devil, then disappear!" The lady smiled and stepped closer. The other girls, meanwhile, threw a heavy stone at Bernadette, even pouring water on her, but she didn't react to anything, as if in ecstasy. The rumor of revelation spread very quickly in Lourdes. He met with distrust and outrage not only from secular but also church leaders. Further revelations followed as Bernadette gradually joined many curious people, including Dr. Dozous, who decided to examine Bernadette during ecstasy to expose the "fraud." However, at the end of the examination, he declared that the girl had actually made authentic contact with someone during ecstasy, that her vital functions were normal, and there was no indication that she was upset in any way.

The revelation was a total of eighteen. During them it was forbidden several times and allowed to come to the cave. At the behest of the local priest Peyramal, Bernadette asked the beautiful Lady's name during one of the apparitions. She replied that there was an Immaculate Conception. The girl did not understand the words, but when she told them to the priest, he became very upset. Bernadette had no idea that on December 8, 1854, a dogma of the Immaculate Conception was proclaimed by the Pope in the Vatican. Then the priest understood and acknowledged that it was a real apparition of the Virgin Mary.