On February 11, 1858, St. Bernadette initially saw a light, which then transformed into a a beautiful lady.
She later discovered that this lady was the Blessed Virgin Mary, who referred to herself as the "Immaculate Conception."
When reflecting on these apparitions, Pope Benedict XVI highlighted the symbolism and role light played throughout them all.
Light in the darkness
Pope Benedict XVI spoke about the symbolism of light in a homily given at a torchlight procession at Lourdes in 2008.
He first pointed out how the light of the Virgin Mary shone through St. Bernadette:
[W]hen they encountered Bernadette’s radiant face, it left a deep impression on their hearts and minds. Whether it was during the apparitions themselves or while she was recounting them, her face was simply shining. Bernadette from that time on had the light of Massabielle dwelling within her...the shadows of the earth did not prevent the light of heaven from shining. “The light shines in the darkness …” (Jn 1:5).
Furthermore, one unique part of the apparitions is the fact that St. Bernadette would carry a lighted candle during them.
Pope Benedict XVI meditated on the symbolism of this simple fact:
Lourdes is one of the places chosen by God for his beauty to be reflected with particular brightness, hence the importance here of the symbol of light. From the fourth apparition onwards, on arriving at the grotto, Bernadette would light a votive candle each morning and hold it in her left hand for as long as the Virgin was visible to her. Soon, people would give Bernadette a candle to plant in the ground inside the grotto. Very soon, too, people would place their own candles in this place of light and peace...From that day, before the grotto, night and day, summer and winter, a burning bush shines out, aflame with the prayers of pilgrims and the sick, who bring their concerns and their needs, but above all their faith and their hope.
He further explained that the apparitions at Lourdes and the torchlight procession that continues to this day "summarizes our condition as Christians on a journey: we need light, and at the same time are called to be light."
Jesus is the "light of the world," and we are not only called to follow his light, but to be his light in the world.
We are called to set our light on a lamp stand, and not to cover it under a bushel basket.
The world can often be a very dark place and needs the light of Christ in it.
Lourdes reminds us that when we encounter Christ, our faces can be beacons of hope for others to see, leading them to the source of that light.
