A possible miracle in Lourdes? A Madrid woman regains her sight after using water

It's not every day that we suspect a new miracle in Lourdes. This Sunday, May 19, 2024, ended the 101st pilgrimage of the Hospitality Nuestra Señora de Lourdes, from the Archdiocese of Madrid (Spain) to the sanctuary of Lourdes. An event that brought together more than 800 people, including many patients and hospital workers. Among them, a visually impaired pilgrim “who suffers from various illnesses” would have regained her sight.

“A pilgrim who suffers (…) from a very serious visual impairment, after making the gesture of water, regained her sight,” relates the Hospitality advisor, Father Guillermo Cruz quoted by the Catholic News Agency . A rare event which immediately aroused hope and joy among the pilgrims, but which the religious organization was quick to temper. Father Cruz appeals to the common sense of the faithful. He still does not hesitate to describe this sudden recovery as “exceptional”.

A possible 71st miracle of Lourdes?

Immediately after this healing, which is currently unexplained, the Spanish woman notified the Sanctuary's Medical Observations office. Subjected to a rigorous and collegial medical examination, the pilgrim explained how she regained her vision after putting water from the Cave on her eyes.

For the moment, no officially recognized miracle. For such an extraordinary type of fact to be valid, the healing must be “immediate, complete, lasting and inexplicable” and the pilgrim must submit to “a demanding process of medical and spiritual discernment”. For Sister Bernadette Moriau, the 70th miraculous victim of Lourdes, the latter lasted ten years. There is therefore still a long way to go for the recognition of a possible miracle.

In a press release, Father Cruz nevertheless remains no stranger to the desire of the members of the Hospitalité de Lourdes to speak of a miracle “but we do not decide on that”, he underlines. Before recalling that we must not generate “false expectations” and that we must not reduce “the fruits of the pilgrimage to a single event”. “The experience of pilgrimage and the discovery of the love of God through our Mother the Virgin Mary, as Saint Bernadette teaches us in simplicity and humility, will always be the greatest Grace granted to Lourdes , because it is the one that renews life,” he concludes.