BBC Reports:
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Modern miracles
For many, miracles are distant legends. Others believe they are real events in the here and now. Here radio and TV presenter Roger Bolton recounts his sceptic's attempt to reconcile the two.
I don't think I believe in them, except of course when anyone I love is seriously ill or in danger, in which case I certainly pray for a miracle.
I was brought up in the evangelical protestant Christian tradition which disapproves of the prominence given to the Virgin Mary, dismisses any talk of her appearing to Bernadette in Lourdes, and positively revolts at the suggestion that the sick should go there to be cured.
But when I went to that little town in the French Pyrenees, armed with my scepticism, I was strangely impressed.
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For a start, few physical miracles are accepted by the Roman Catholic Church as having occurred there - only 67 in the almost 150 years since Bernadette had her visions - and the church has a very rigorous screening process in place to evaluate the thousands of claims that are put forward.
The Church is more concerned with what might be called miracles of the soul, and there is no doubt that for many the pilgrimage to Lourdes is a life-changing experience.
LOURDES
Christianity's most visited place of pilgrimage after Rome
It's the focal point of pilgrimage 6m believers make each year
Many believe that there, miracles happen and that the sick can become well
In 1858, Bernadette said she saw Virgin Mary 18 times
I went there in the off-season, so was spared the mass crowds and perhaps the mass hysteria. What I found was love, compassion and concern.
The Bernadette "snow shakers" could be bought along with other religious tat, but the shops were well away from the true heart of Lourdes.
I have no doubt that many of the sick who go there are uplifted, given the ability to live with their illness and feel part of a community that transcends place, race or time.
Is that a miracle ? Whatever it's called, it is something wonderful.
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