25th March 1858, the Lady says her name: “I am the Immaculate Conception”
Nine months before Christmas and the celebration of the birth of Christ, the Catholic Church commemorates the Annunciation, the announcement made to Mary of the imminent birth of Christ.
But in Lourdes we also celebrate an event that, in 1858, changed the life of the small town of 4000 inhabitants …
Programme for 25th March in Lourdes
The night before:
8:30 p.m.: Rosary by torchlight
25th March:
9:30am: Video of the message of Lourdes
10:00 am: Mass at the Grotto
12 noon: Angelus at the Grotto and recount of the apparition
2 pm: In the Footsteps of Bernadette
3 pm: Rosary at the Grotto and recount of the apparition (in English)
8:30 pm: Torchlight rosary
There is an opportunity for Adoration from 12 noon to 5 pm in the Crypt or to go to the Confession Chapel to receive God’s mercy.
2026 in Lourdes
“Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you” (Luke 1:28)
In 2026, the Sanctuary of Lourdes will open a new spiritual path, guided by the Gospel according to Saint Luke, which will lead us to the heart of the Annunciation, where it all began.
On 25th March 1858, on the feast of the Annunciation, the Virgin Mary revealed her name to Bernadette Soubirous: ‘I am the Immaculate Conception’. At the Grotto of Massabielle, as in Nazareth, God chose to reveal himself through humility and simplicity.
These words – “Hail, full of grace” – become today an invitation addressed to every pilgrim: to welcome grace, to recognise God’s presence and to dare to say “yes”, which opens a path of hope.
25th March 1858, sixteenth apparition
During the three weeks when there was no apparition, in a calm that, for officials, seemed to bode well, Bernadette wrapped herself in silence. However, the following day’s feast aroused a subtle hope; those who were convinced that it was the Blessed Virgin who had been appearing to Bernadette, thought that she may well appear for her Annunciation.
Surprise! The buzz that had been circulating for a week attracted a few dozen people.
The young white girl was there, faithful to the appointment she had fixed, for Bernadette alone. After a long absence, the taste of a friendship rediscovered, added to the joy of the previous apparitions.
After Bernadette had made several attempts to put together a sentence that she had tried to learn by heart but had been unable to remember, the vision finally revealed its name: “She raised her eyes to heaven, stretched out her hands which were and open towards the earth then joined them in a sign of prayer, and said to me: Que soy era Immaculada Councepciou.” Bernadette left hurriedly and, on the way back, constantly repeated these that words she did not understand.
These words disturbed the priest. Bernadette was unaware of this theological expression which referred to the Blessed Virgin. Four years earlier, in 1854, Pope Pius IX had made it a truth of the Catholic faith (the dogma of the Immaculate Conception).
Gospel according to Saint Luke, 1:26-38
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favoured one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the child to be born will be called holy – the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
(Luke 1:26-38.)
