Our Lady of Lourdes

My miraculous experience of Our Lady of Lourdes as a child which got connected as a youth-The touch of the grotto outside St. Michael's Church, Mahim in the city of Mumbai.

And I had liking for Wednesdays when my mom dragged me for novenas of Mother of Perpetual Succour. Perhaps the liking was not for the crowded novena services, but for the market outside set only on Wednesdays, where I enjoyed the perks of accompanying my mother. The only place I liked in the church was the grotto in the church premises.

My mom used to give me a garland to put around the neck of a girl knelt before the grotto. As a child I considered her as Mother Mary, vividly remembering holding her tight around my arms, perfect for my height. What I loved was the cold feeling of the marble. I remember touching her face, I loved the little girl knelt before the grotto.

As the queue was long and people moved slowly solemnly towards the grotto. I remember touching the stones of the grotto as I slowly walked by, which again gave a sense of relaxation to my little palms.

Years later in August 2015, when I was in Lourdes, France. I had no reflection of this experience. I was on the surface of my thoughts, just being a sincere pilgrim and trying to know more about this devotion. Until again I stood in the queue, moving solemnly, touching the stones of the grotto, touching moist surface, just the way I did as a child.

It is in this queue that I was moved and in no time the dots connected. My love for that little girl St. Bernadette had manifested into a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Lourdes and it felt like I was there to meet her, in her own hometown. The experience at this divine place is something I can't forget till the end of my last breath, the dip in the water and the devotion to this mysterious woman in my life, has given me a moment to cherish.

I thank my mom for all the efforts she made in building my spirituality and devotion to our mother. And my return gift to her was, the water of Lourdes which I carried safely all the way from France.