Une Minute avec Marie
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The President of the Lourdes Office of Medical Observations, or the Bureau des Constatations Medicales, Dr. Alessandro de Franciscis credits the Immaculate Conception, whose feast day the Church celebrates on December 8th, for his calling to be a pediatrician:
"At the age of 17, I caught an incurable disease called ‘lourditis’! This highly contagious virus is transmitted by contact with the sick and disabled. The epicenter of the infection is the grotto of Lourdes, and the symptoms are a deep joy and a feeling of belonging to a big family!
When I returned to Naples, my native port, after my first pilgrimage to Lourdes in June 1973, where I worked as a stretcher bearer, I still did not know how much the Immaculate Conception would guide my life. It is because of the Virgin Mary that I am, at age 61, the most useless doctor in the world! As President of the Lourdes Office of Medical observations in Lourdes, I constantly see pilgrims who greet me and say, ‘I am healed!’"