DW-World.de
Deutsche Welle

Lourdes is a provincial town at the foot of the Pyrenees in southern France. 150 years ago the Virgin Mary appeared a total of 18 times to a 14-year-old shepherd girl, Bernadette Soubirous, in a cave outside of the town. In the dialect of the region, Mary spoke the words “Que soy era immaculada conceptiou”, meaning “I am the Immaculate Conception”, that is, the one born free of original sin. This event marked the beginning of a Marian veneration, making Lourdes the most important place of Marian pilgrimage for Catholic Christians. Even while Bernadette Soubirous was still alive thousands came to the grotto. Today more than six million pilgrims come to Lourdes from all around the world every year. In the anniversary year 2008 Pope Benedict XVI also visited this shrine. The pilgrims’ motivation is clear: they are searching for strength in their faith, in the community with other pilgrims and many hope to be healed from physical ailments. To date more than 7,000 otherwise unexplained cures have been reported in Lourdes, of which the Catholic church, after strict examination, recognized 67 as miracles. What force is alive in those who were cured? Is it their faith that is able to move mountains? This film investigates this question, documents the highlights of the anniversary year and describes what expects pilgrims in Lourdes. The anniversary year ends on 8 December 2008, the day the Catholic church celebrates Mary’s Immaculate Conception.