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Find accurate definitions of words and phrases. World famous
shrine of the Immaculate conception, in the department of
Hautes-Pyrénées in France. In 1858, the Blessed Virgin appeared
eighteen times at Massabielle, at a grotto near Lourdes, to
Bernadette Soubirous, a fourteen-year-old peasant girl. At the
same time a spring appeared, miraculous healings were reported,
and pilgrims began to come to the spot. In 1862 the apparitions
received ecclesiastical approbation and a church was built above
the grotto. Then beside it, from 1883 to 1901, was built the
magnificent Church of the Rosary. Since then millions of people
have visited the shrine, and a medical bureau has been
established to investigate the character of the cures, of which
hundreds have been fully authenticated by medical specialists.
The healings generally take place after the people have bathed
in the waters of the spring, or during the blessing with the
monstrance with the Blessed Sa