The feast of Our Lady of Lourdes Feb. 11 marks 150 years since the first appearance of Mary to St. Bernadette Soubirous near Lourdes, France, and local shrines and parishes will commemorate the day with prayer and other activities.

The pastor of Toledo Our Lady of Lourdes, Father James Brown, says he sees visitors praying at the Lourdes grotto located beside the church at all times of day throughout the year.

“There are people that just drive up and stop and say a rosary in their car,” he says. “There are folks that stop by and park; some go up to the shrine and light candles, some stay and stop for a little prayer.”

The grotto located at Toledo Our Lady of Lourdes, pictured on a recent snowy day. (Chronicle photo by Laurie Stevens)

During May and October, a group of parishioners pray the rosary every night beside the shrine. Police officers also stop to pray there regularly, he adds.

“It’s used,” he says. “People stop by and use it as a prayer station.”

The history of the grotto dates back to the Great Depression, when it was built.

“It was handmade, and I think people really took pride in it,” says Fr. Brown. “It really kind of sets the parish apart.”

The parish will begin the feast day with Mass at 8:30 a.m. in church, followed by adoration of the Blessed Sacrament throughout the day. A closing service with benediction will take place at 7 p.m.

Another Lourdes grotto in the diocese that dates to the 1930s is located beside Genoa Our Lady of Lourdes Church. It was rededicated in May 2006 following an extensive restoration project.

The Genoa parish will present a movie about the apparition at Lourdes that is shown at the shrine in France. Families are invited to bring their favorite beanbag chair, blanket or pillow, along with drinks and a snack to share, to watch the movie Feb. 10 at 6:30 p.m. in the gym.

Sorrowful Mother Shrine in Bellevue, located at 4106 state Route 269, also has an outdoor grotto dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes.

New London Our Lady of Lourdes Parish is celebrating the feast day with a Mass at 7 p.m., during which the sacrament of the anointing of the sick will be offered.

For pilgrims visiting the shrine in France or other holy places dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes this year, Pope Benedict XVI authorized a special indulgence to encourage renewed holiness.

Catholics can receive a plenary indulgence for taking part in any public or private devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes, said U.S. Cardinal J. Francis Stafford, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, a Vatican court dealing with indulgences and matters of conscience.

An indulgence is a remission of the temporal punishment due for sins committed. A plenary indulgence is the remission of all punishment.

Father Charles Singler, director of worship for the Diocese of Toledo, describes an indulgence as being an “extra-sacramental” that builds on the grace of the sacrament of reconciliation.

“Indulgences simply are meant to enrich the spiritual life of the Catholic faithful, and to encourage individuals to come to grips with their limitedness, their weaknesses in life — the notion of sin and what that does, and what it can do in their life,” he explains.

The indulgence is a way to “assure ourselves of the forgiveness that’s given to us, and to further be open to the grace of God in our life,” Fr. Singler adds.

The Vatican published the cardinal’s statement announcing the indulgence and outlining the requirements for receiving it Dec. 5.

Catholics can receive the indulgence during two time frames.

Pilgrims visiting the Massabielle grotto, where Mary appeared to St. Bernadette, can receive the indulgence during the Lourdes jubilee year, which began Dec. 8, 2007, the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, until Dec. 8, 2008.

Approximately 6 million pilgrims visit the grotto each year.

Those visiting any public sanctuary, shrine or other worthy place dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes, such as those located in the Diocese of Toledo, may receive the indulgence Feb. 2-11. Feb. 11 is the day the first of 18 apparitions occurred and is the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. Feb. 2 is the feast of the Presentation of the Lord.

Cardinal Stafford says to obtain the special indulgence, one must fulfill the normal requirements set by the church for all plenary indulgences; these include the person going to confession within a reasonably short period of time, receiving the Eucharist and praying for the intentions of the pope, all in a spirit of total detachment from the attraction of sin.

Those visiting a holy place dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes in another part of the world Feb. 2-11 also should pray the Lord’s Prayer, the creed and the special jubilee prayer or a prayer to Mary.

Catholics who cannot visit Lourdes or join a communal service dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes because of illness or other serious reason can still earn the indulgence “in their own home or wherever they are” Feb. 2-11, Cardinal Stafford said.

They can do so by making a “spiritual visit” to the places associated with Lourdes, reciting the aforementioned prayers and offering “the pains and discomforts of their own lives to God through Mary.”

As Christians strive to become more holy, they can look to Mary who “calls the faithful to her Son and His sacrifice and to the love of the Father,” said the cardinal, quoting from Lumen Gentium, the Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church.

A Web site launched by a group called Friends of Lourdes USA, www.friendsoflourdesusa.com, has other suggestions for ways Americans can observe the anniversary of Mary’s 1858 appearance this year.

For more information on local shrines, call Genoa Our Lady of Lourdes at 419-855-8501, Toledo Our Lady of Lourdes at 419-865-2345 or Sorrowful Mother Shrine at 419-483-3435.

CNS reports contributed to this story.