21 Nov 2018

7th – 8th december: Lourdes celebrates the feast of the Immaculate Conception in association with the beatification of the algerian martyrs

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For the feast of the Immaculate Conception, present a rose to our lady of Lourdes: we will place it in the Grotto for you on the 8th december

On 8th December, the feast of the Immaculate Conception will be presided over by Bishop Nicolas Brouwet, Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes. It will begin with Mass at 10 am at the Basilica of St. Pius X, followed by the Angelus at the Grotto and the Blessing of the Roses.
In the afternoon, from 4:15 pm, the Rector, Father André Cabes, will give a lecture with video at the Saint Bernadette hemicycle on the theme, “Marian Church – Church in dialogue”, in connection with the beatification of the martyrs of Algeria and the recent canonisation of Paul VI. Also on 8th December, the seven monks of Tibhirine will be beatified along with Bishop Pierre Claverie, Bishop of Oran, fervent defender of inter-faith reconciliation, killed by a bomb on 1st August 1996 at the same time as his young Muslim driver, as well as five monks and six nuns killed in 1994 and 1995 in Algiers and Tizi-Ouzou, during the Algerian civil war.
Vespers will then be sung at the Rosary Basilica. And, as always in Lourdes, no feast would be complete without the torchlight Marian procession at 9pm.

Preparatory Novena for the feast of the Immaculate Conception

From 30th November, we are invited to prepare for this great and beautiful celebration by going to confession and a by offering a novena.

Holy Virgin Mary, who in Lourdes named herself the Immaculate Conception,
you are the most beautiful, the purest being to radiate the love of the Lord.
Through you, He come into our world.
In you we welcome Him, we poor sinners,
You teach us to open our hearts to Him.
We contemplate with Bernadette
these yellow roses at your feet, the colour of your rosary chain.
We offer our roses too …
May we join our prayers with yours,
Mother of the Church, our Mother.
May the prayers of your children, the prayers of your loving heart make this world, tainted by sin, blossom once more.
May we come to taste the happiness of paradise in you, the dawn of the new world,
Mary, the chosen one, God’s accomplishment, we bless you.
Thank you, Lord, for the gift of Mary, Our Lady of Lourdes, our Mother. AMEN.

Every day; pray all or part of the rosary, offer an act of love, and say the suggested prayer, repeating the following invocation three times: O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. Here are the intentions for each day:
  1. We pray especially for the Sanctuary of Lourdes, that it may respond to the desire of Mary, entrusted to Bernadette.
  2. We pray for the Church, may it be a truly Marian Church, alive in the faith of the most vulnerable and the poor, and knowing how to make them welcome.
  3. We pray for those who suffer, for victims of evil and violence, and for our persecuted brothers and sisters.
  4. With the martyrs of Algeria, beatified in Oran this 8th December, we pray for a world reconciled in fraternal life and in love.
  5. We pray that all life will be welcomed, loved and supported, from conception to natural death …
  6. May the homeless, refugees, and migrants, finally find a home, and may all our hearts be open to the gifts of God.
  7. We give thanks for the feast of Mary Mother of the Church, celebrated for the first time by the whole Church the day after Pentecost.
  8. We give thanks for the 160 years of the sanctuary of Lourdes, for all the graces from heaven that spread across our earth.
  9. We give thank for the Bernadette’s of today who respond to God’s gift.

Further intentions for each day:
For Pope Francis and his intentions
For peace
For Christian unity
For unbelievers and souls in purgatory.

For those who wish to continue to live daily in the grace of Lourdes, we offer membership to the Family of Our Lady of Lourdes: famillendl@lourdes-france.com

Programme for 7th – 8th December in Lourdes

7th December
5:30 pm Vespers in the Immaculate Conception Basilica.
9 pm Torchlight Marian procession

8th December
10 am Mass in the underground Basilica of Saint Pius X.
11:30 am Angelus followed by floral tribute at the Grotto.
3:30 pm Rosary at the Grotto (led by the Family of Our Lady of Lourdes).
4:15 pm Conference with video presentation led by Fr. André Cabes at the Saint-Bernadette hemi-cycle: “Marian Church – Church in Dialogue”.
5:30 pm Vespers in the Rosary Basilica.
9 pm Torchlight Marian procession.

©Association-des-Ecrits-des-7-de-lAtlas
www.moines-tibhirine.org