Lourdes

The apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes began on 11 February 1858, when Bernadette Soubirous, a 14-year old peasant girl from Lourdes admitted, when questioned by her mother, that she had seen a “lady” in the cave of Massabielle, about a mile from the town, while she was gathering firewood with her sister and a friend. Similar appearancesof the “lady” took place on seventeen further occasions that year. During one of the apparitions, she was directed by the “lady” to dig near a rock and drink from the spring there – there was a small puddle of mud in the place but as Bernadette dug in to it, a large spring appeared – this is the sourceof the water in the grotto to which millions of people flock for miraculous cures every year. The Lourdes Medical Bureau have declared 68 cases of inexplicable cures (out of thousands tested). You can read more on the scientific bureau here .