Mary touched their hearts

It was at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in France: I was a young priest, participating in a UNITALSI pilgrimage (an Italian organization that takes patients to Lourdes).

On the first day I was disappointed because Lourdes seemed more like a commercial city to me than a religious shrine. It was the year 1970 and we young priests were influenced by the climate of protest of the time. On the second day, the organizers of the pilgrimage sent me to hear confessions in the chapel: after 5 hours of forgiving sins, but especially of witnessing the wonders of conversion of many people, I understood that it was Mary who touched the hearts of the people, and a process of spiritual renewal began in me.

I have returned to Lourdes many times, and I have always received the same impression: Mary takes us to her Son Jesus. The same thing happens in all of her shrines. Since then I have never been concerned about the sale of religious objects: on the contrary, the souvenirs that everyone brings home to their loved ones help us to regard life as a continual pilgrimage.

Dom Bernardino Marchió

Bishop of Caruaru

Testimony submitted by Thacio Siqueira for A Moment with Mary