Lourdes Research Paper

Words: 1321
Pages: 6

Lourdes is one of the best known pilgrimage sites in Christianity and dates back to the apparitions received by Bernadette Soubirous. The grotto located in Lourdes, France portrays Roman Catholic legacy, Bernadette was a 14 year old girl born of an impoverished miller, from February to July 1858, claimed that the Virgin Mary showed herself to Bernadette 18 times and revealed herself as the “Immaculate Conception”. This set of apparitions of Mary are discussed by the Church as prophetic and tied in with the Roman Catholic faith of divine relationships with humans. This irrelevant town soon became known for the dramatic and inspirational healings that had occurred there and has always been a place of controversy. In the grotto’s history is an …show more content…
Lourdes contains 15,000 inhabitants and 16,000 tourists travel through and converse with the locals in a day accumulating five to six million total tourist each year. Lourdes was briskly able to adjust to the needs of people traveling in to view the grotto. The inhabitants of the town profit from the unique services fitted by centuries of experience, the rustic experience for retreats or leisurely exploration and just the simple significance to the Catholic faith and spirituality of many people. The value held from the tourist activities, goods and services are enormous especially for the livelihood of the town’s residents. The holy encounters of Mary to Bernadette have most certainly inspired so many countless believers to visit the Grotto and to pay their respect to Saint Bernadette and the Mother Mary but also to find their own spiritual peace. Differing from most other apparitions such as Guadalupe in Mexico, Fatima in Portugal and Knock in Ireland, Lourdes has a palpable symbol for the faithful to obtain which is often times desired in one’s faith. The grotto waters bring many, faithful or not, and bring about hope in humans of all faiths and lack …show more content…
Evidently, high risk and high investment accompany ventures in travel, especially in tourism where one voluntarily leaves his/her home for a temporary period to fulfill leisure. Risk and investment increase, correlating with the increase in distance traveled. Not only is the traveler’s health and safety at risk when venturing a great distance from familiar surroundings, he/she must also pay the necessary expenses to cover the cost of transportation and miscellaneous daily living expenses