The annual Lourdes mass was held last Wednesday in the auditorium.
The mass was officiated by Fr Max Vodola, assisted by Dr Margaret O’Donnell OAM, Gerard
O’Donnell, Michael King, Lilian Antonelli OAM and Cav. Uff. Sauro Antonelli AM.
This mass has been celebrated at Assisi for many years and was attended by residents and staff.
Attendees were gifted a bottle of blessed Lourdes water, rosary beads and booklet about
Our Lady of Lourdes and Saint Bernadette.

The History of Lourdes

Our Lady of Lourdes is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary recalling her apparitions in 1858 in the grotto at Lourdes, France to Saint Bernadette Soubirous, a fourteen-year-old peasant girl. Our Lady instructed Bernadette to dig in the ground nearby, from which came a spring with healing properties, active to this day. After a thorough investigation, the apparitions were approved for devotion by the Catholic Church in 1862. A shrine was built there, which remains a popular place of pilgrimage. The latest (and 69th) approved miracle involving a healing in the water of Lourdes took place in May 1989 and after extensive investigation was approved by the Church in July 2013. The statue of Mary in the sanctuary of our church, to the left of the altar, in white robes with a blue sash and a golden rose on each foot, is a representation of the Lourdes image of Our Lady, as she appeared to Saint Bernadette. February 11 is the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes and February 18 is the feast day of Saint Bernadette.