Lourdes

Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes is an area in Lourdes, France that surrounds the Grotto to Our Lady of Lourdes. Our Lady of Lourdes is the Roman Catholic title of the Virgin Mary. The Marian apparitions, a supernatural appearance by the Virgin Mary that took place in 1858, was said to be have taken place at Lourdes, France. The Sanctuary is known for pilgrimage. There have been 69 reported cases recognised by the Catholic Church of sick pilgrims being miraculously cured by being in the Lourdes or being in contact with the Lourdes' water. Nevertheless, the Lourdes has also been a topic of controversy as many scientists have rejected the existence of miracles and supernatural phenomena.

Catherine Latapie
Catherine Latapie was the first reported cure at the Lourdes. She was cured on 1st March 1858.

She Injured her right hand after falling off a tree in October 1856. She was left with an ulnar type of paralysis. She arrived at the Lourdes in 1858, went to the Grotto, and knelt down to pray. She then bathed her hand in the Spring.

Her fingers recovered immediately. She could soon flex and extend them like she could before the accident.

Pierre De Rudder
Pierre De Rudder was cured on 4th July 1875. It was the 8th report cure and the first cure without the use of Lourdes’s water.

Pierre De Rudder had his leg crushed in 1867 when a tree fell on him. He sustained an open fracture on his left leg as a result of this. Despite trying different treatments, it was clear that the fracture would never heal and the bones would not unite. Doctors advised amputation several times, but Pierre De Rudder refused each time.

Eight years after his accident, he decided to make a pilgrimage to Oostacker, a replica of the Grotto of Lourdes built in Belgium. He arrived on the 4th of July 1875 in the morning, and left in the evening without any injuries. The bones had united within minutes. They also united perfectly just like the leg was before the accident. The doctors who had treated him confirmed this recovery.

For further proof, the bones of De Rudder’s legs were exhumed after he died in 1898. The Medical Bureau are in possession of the legs.

Danila Castelli
Danila Castelli is the 69th and the latest person to be reported to be cured at the Lourdes after being cured in 1989.

Danila Castelli started having spontaneous and severe blood pressure hypertensive crisis in 1970. After several operations and tests, a scintigraphy in 1983 finds that she has pheochromocytoma, a tumour in the rectal, bladder and vaginal region. More surgical interventions followed until 1988, but this had little impact on her well-being.

In May 1989, she had a bath during a pilgrimage to the Lourdes. She was said to suddenly have an extraordinary feeling of well-being and she reported to the Lourdes Medical Bureau of her cure. After five meetings in 1989, 1992, 1994, 1997 and 2010, the Medical Bureau unanimously voted to recognise the cure and that the cure was not as a result of the treatments and surgeries she received. On 19 November 2011, the Lourdes International Medical Committee certified that her cure remained unexplained according to current scientific knowledge. It is said that Danila Castelli has gone back to living a normal life.