Washington D.C., Nov 28, 2007 / 09:29 am
Bishop of Lourdes Jacques Perrier announced on Tuesday the opening of a year-long celebration for the 150th Jubilee anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin to St. Bernadette Soubirous.
He made the announcement in Washington, the see of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
“I invite the people of the United States to visit Lourdes during the Jubilee year or to honor the anniversary at home in their parishes with prayer, with service to the sick and disabled or by pilgrimage to local Grotto replicas throughout the country,” Bishop Perrier said.
The Jubilee Year will formally open on December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, at a Mass in Lourdes honoring the feast day. The series of celebrations, pilgrimages, and missions will highlight the message of Lourdes in light of the "new evangelization."