| The Original Our Lady of Lourdes | |
|---|---|
| |
| "One must have faith and pray; the water will have no virtue without faith"
Marie-Bernarde Soubirous | |
|
Origin |
Unknown |
|
Type |
Holy Statue |
|
Effects |
Gives water healing properties. |
|
Downsides |
The water must be near the statue to retain the effects. |
|
Activation |
Proximity to water |
|
Collected by |
Warehouse 12 Agents |
|
Section |
|
|
Aisle |
N/A |
|
Shelf |
N/A |
|
Date of Collection |
1876 |
| [Source] | |
Origin[]
Marie-Bernarde "Bernadette" Soubirous was a nineteenth century French Saint from Lourdes, France, venerated due to her eighteen Marian apparitions in a grotto on the outskirts of her town.
The eldest child of nine, Marie-Bernarde received her first vision on February 1858, while she and two of her siblings were collecting firewood. But it wasn't until her ninth visit to the grotto, however, that Marie-Bernarde claimed that the Virgin Mary told her to drink the water from the grotto's spring. Given that there was no water above ground, Soubirous began digging. The next day, the previously hidden spring opened up, and began to fill the area with water.
In November of the same year, Church investigations yielded that Soubirous had indeed experienced holy visions, and the grotto has since then become one of the most visited Marian shrines, in part because of the claimed healing properties of the pure water of the spring. Presiding over the grotto is a statue of the Virgin Mary, erected in 1864 by Joseph-Hugues Fabisch and dedicated in the presence of 20,000 pilgrims.
Effects[]
The statue was imbued with the hopes of the pilgrims who attended it's dedication ceremony, and now has the ability to so purify nearby water that the liquid becomes healing. Affected water only seems to have this ability when in the presence of the statue.
Collection[]
Much like in the Dark Vault, a neutralizer and alarm ring has been set up around the circle so as to prevent the statue from being removed and desecrating the Holy Site.