On February 11, 1858, the Blessed Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to a 14-year-old girl named Bernadette Soubirous (or Soubiroux) as she searched for firewood in the remote Grotto of Massabielle. More visions followed, for a total of 18, with the last occurring on July 16, 1858.

The Virgin Mary appeared as a young and beautiful lady (“lovelier than I have ever seen,” Bernadette said) and told the young girl to drink from a natural fountain in the grotto (previously undiscovered) and to tell the priests to build a chapel on the spot and make processions to the grotto.

It was only four years later, in 1862, that the bishop of the diocese declared the faithful “justified in believing the reality of the apparition” and a basilica was built upon the rock of Massabielle by M. Peyramale, the parish priest.

A statue of the Madonna of Lourdes was erected at the site in 1864. In 1873 the great French pilgrimages to Lourdes were inaugurated. Three years later, the basilica was consecrated and the statue solemnly crowned.

Pope Leo XIII authorized a special office and a Mass in commemoration of the Lourdes apparitions and in 1907 Pius X extended the observance of this feast to the entire Church. The Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes is now observed on February 11.

Bernadette Soubirous entered the Monastery of Nevers in 1866. She died there after a long period of illness in 1879. She was beatified in 1925 and canonized in 1933. Like many saints, her body has remained miraculously preserved.

The first International pilgrimage of the Order of Malta to the Sanctuary of Lourdes was held from 18 to 25 May 1958. In that year, 465 members of the Order followed 69 patients or malades. The pilgrims were from seven countries.

Since then, the International Pilgrimage has grown to include about five thousand members of the Order, accompanying and helping fifteen hundred patients from more than thirty countries.

The pilgrimage has a special significance for the Order of Malta, beyond what it means to be The Pilgrim Church for the rest of the church. The hospital in the eleventh century was the foundation of our Order in Jerusalem and was specifically designed to assist the pilgrims to the Holy Land. Later, the protection of pilgrims contributed to the militarization of our Order in the twelfth century. The Order itself has been in a continuous pilgrimage, having to move out of Jerusalem to Rhodes, then to Malta, and now Rome.

The Cuban Association, along with the other 30 associations from across the world, has been participating in the International Pilgrimage to Lourdes for many years.

Central to our pilgrimage is the transportation and caring of our Malades (Infirm). When the Cuban Association is able to bring Malades, and their families, from its regions to experience the blessings of Our Lady’s grotto, they join us throughout the events. When we are unable to bring our own Malades, we have been fortunate to be able to work in union with other associations, such as Malta, Spain, and the United States, to care for their Malades.

The work consists of assisting in the transport of the Malade, manning the baths (piscines), and lending assistance in the local hospitals. During this time, members and volunteers also serve in support of the various religious services during the pilgrimage. On various occasions, the Cuban Association has been called upon to help coordinate the pilgrimage of several associations from Central and South America.

In 2008, when the Order of Malta celebrated the 50th Anniversary of its Pilgrimage to Lourdes, which also coincided with the 150th year of the apparition of the Virgin Mary, the Cuban Association was chosen to coordinate the attendance of the Latin-American Associations to this pilgrimage, where more than 60 members and volunteers took part.