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THE THEME FOR THE YEAR Each year there is a theme for all pilgrimages coming to Lourdes. The theme this year is:
OUR LADY SAID TO BERNADETTE, ‘GO AND TELL THE PRIESTS…’ Information about the theme of the year is available from the Lourdes bookshop located near the Information Centre in the Domain. For the next three years the Pastoral Theme will be taken from the message that Mary entrusted to Bernadette on 2nd March 1858 during the thirteenth apparition “Go and tell the priests to build a chapel here and that people should come in procession.” 2022 2023 2024
“Go tell the priests ….” “…. to build a chapel here ….” “…. and that people should come in procession.” “Go tell the priests ….”
There are two aspects to this phrase: “Go tell ….” and “…. the priests ….” “Go tell ….” This is a request from Mary, that, following the thirteen apparitions, Bernadette now spreads the word about the graces she has received from the time spent with Our Lady during the apparitions. An instruction to ‘spread the word’ is a recurring theme throughout scripture. In the days before technology the only way to do this was in person, passing the message on verbally, during a physical encounter – like the encounters between Our Lady and Bernadette. Many pilgrims returning from Lourdes, wanting to share their experience of pilgrimage, may well try to ‘tell’ friends and family about what they experienced during their time in Lourdes. The difficulty is that if the listener has no knowledge of Lourdes or Pilgrimage, their understanding will be limited. Imagine how difficult it must have been for the fourteenyear-old Bernadette to try and tell anyone about her apparitions and get them to believe in the messages she is asked by Our Lady to pass on to the priests. 48
