Here I Go A-Wandering: What a moving experience

Got my first critique for my blog! Wohoo! Ok it was from my dad, but I appreciate comments. His concern was that Bernadette saw a young girl (and so my comment was that it could not have been Mary at the time of the immaculate conception) and he argued (which I can see his arguement) that women/girls where/are married at a young age and so could have been Mary at the age of the conception. Harris (author of the book of Lourdes we are reading) argues that many scholars now argue that Mary was around the age of 15 when she conceived Jesus. Bernadette argued that the girl she saw was no more than 12. While it is possible that Mary was about 12 at the time, it adds an interesting twist to think that it is POSSIBLE that the apparition was either not Mary, or Mary at a very young age that is not depicted widely. Either way, the young girl Bernadette saw is not the same age as the statue at the grotto nor the depiction sold all along the streets of Lourdes.

That being said...I do welcome comments, questions, concerns. And I am by no means an expert at any of this...just making comments of my own on things I see and study.

We went today to the Torchlight Marian Procession. It is a multi-lingual procession of the Mary statue from the grotto to the chapel. The sick follow the procession as the healthy stand along the stairs/ramp. There is singing as well as the Hail Mary said. It is a very moving experience seeing the people in wheelchairs brought into the square. I was fascinated to see so many people (about 7500) there waiting for a miracle to happen to them. It is hard to put into words. And what is fascinating (as Ally pointed out) is that this is just a typical Sunday. If it were Bernadette's or Mary's Saint Day there would be so many more people there. I am very glad I came. This alone made the trip completely worth it.