Good morning, I am a 33-year-old man, happily married with a beautiful little girl. My faith in God has grown gradually after years of lukewarmness or indifference to these things. I have read a lot about God, the Gospels, and miracles by authors who were in favor and authors who were against. At times I fell into doubt and sadness, but in the end, thanks to God, I always got back up and my faith was reinvigorated. At work, I have some Protestant and Jehovah’s Witness colleagues, and there is no shortage of discussions and debates. Lately, we have been discussing the miracles of Lourdes. They claim that even the devil can perform miracles and that the fruits of Lourdes are that people follow the Virgin Mary more than God. Personally, I believe that the most frequent miracle in Lourdes is that people rediscover their faith, and that is a good thing if it comes through the intercession of the Virgin Mary. So it seems to me that the fruits are positive. However, I must say that before reaching this conclusion, I too had doubts about the origin of these extraordinary things because I was concerned about following the right path. This morning, reading the Gospel, I discovered that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is unforgivable! This really terrified me, and I don’t know how to recover! Did I really commit such a serious sin by doubting? I know that somewhere it is written that even the devil can turn into an angel of light. I really hope you can reply if you have 5 minutes to spare.

Thank you in advance.

The priest’s reply

Dear Damiano,

1. You noted that the most frequent miracle that occurs in Lourdes is that of faith.

And it’s true.

In this respect, Lourdes is a continuous miracle.

In Lourdes, everyone prays, everyone walks around with a rosary in their hands, everyone participates in the sacred services. No one is afraid to show their faith. Even those who have a lukewarm faith are infected by the holiness of the place and the prayers of their brothers and sisters.

In Lourdes, everyone feels how beautiful it is to have faith and to turn their gaze towards heaven.

In Lourdes, everyone feels how comforting it is to have hope in God and in the one whom Christ entrusted to us as our mother from the cross.

In Lourdes, everyone is happy to love and serve the least among us, especially the sick, and to feel rewarded by the Lord.

Going to Lourdes and feeling your faith revived are therefore one and the same thing.

2. You write to me: “The most frequent miracle in Lourdes is that people rediscover their faith, and it is welcome if this comes through the intercession of Our Lady.”

You seem to be saying: even if it comes from Our Lady, it is still welcome!

But this is not the case, dear Damiano, because Mary, who was given to us as Mother, is the one who inspires faith.

Look at Cana: is it not she who inspires faith in Jesus in the servants at the wedding? She calls them and says to them, “Do whatever He tells you.”

And they go promptly and, mindful of Mary’s words, when Jesus tells them to fill the jars with water, and they fill them to the brim. And how they were rewarded!

3. Dear Damiano, what Our Lady began to do in Cana, she continues to do throughout the world.

Lourdes is a place where this miracle is almost visibly manifested, which through Mary opens the way to life and eternal salvation.

4. You tell me that there was a moment when you too doubted and now you fear that you have sinned against the Holy Spirit.

Rest assured. You did not intend to challenge the known truth in any way. Yours was the doubt of someone who comes from afar and asks himself: could it be true?

I could say that it was a methodological doubt.

But then you noticed the fruits of grace and concluded: here is the finger of God.

5. Those who stubbornly deny that Mary should be worshipped could sin against the Holy Spirit, almost as if they were displeased that Christ said from the cross: “Son, behold your mother,” “Woman, behold your son.”

Now, Jesus did not entrust Mary to John in a material sense from the cross, because his mother’s sister was also at the foot of the cross. In this respect, Our Lady would not have been left alone.

John is not even mentioned, because he represents each one of us, the disciple whom Jesus loves.

6. But what fascinates me more and more is the fact that in Luke’s Gospel we read these words: “Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.!” (Lc 1,41-2).

It was therefore the Holy Spirit who prompted Elizabeth to praise Mary.

The same Holy Spirit prompts all believers to do the same, to say incessantly to Mary: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should the Mother of my Lord come to me?”

When we praise Mary, with all due respect to Protestants and Jehovah’s Witnesses, if we are animated by the Holy Spirit, we are in the truest evangelical tradition.

And those who stubbornly refuse to praise Mary stubbornly refuse to be moved by the Holy Spirit. Is that not enough?

Dear Damiano, let us continue in this way, with Mary on our side. It is the Holy Spirit who wants this, it is Jesus who wants this.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to write this about Lourdes and Mary.

I promise to remember you in my prayers and I bless you.

Father Angelo

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