OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY BASILICA IN LOURDES CELEBRATES 100 YEARS

VATICAN CITY, NOV 5, 2001 (VIS) - Made public today was a Letter from Pope John Paul to Cardinal Louis-Marie Bille, archbishop of Lyon and president of the French Episcopal Conference, on the occasion of the centennial celebrations of Our Lady of the Rosary Basilica in Lourdes in October. The Letter was dated October 7.

The Pope recalls that "On October 6, 1901, my predecessor, Pope Leo XIII invited all the bishops of the world to share in his joy at the consecration of this church dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary, congratulating them on the occasion offered to Christians to examine more closely the significance of the ancient and venerable practice of this prayer to the Mother of God."

"A living parable of stone and light," he adds, "this basilica unfolds before the eyes of pilgrims the fifteen mysteries of the life of Christ, also revealing the profound sense of the rosary."

The Holy Father concludes: "As St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort used to say, it is impossible 'for a person to acquire intimate union with Our Lord and a perfect fidelity to the Holy Spirit without great union with the Most Holy Virgin'. Thus, I greatly encourage the faithful to grow in the knowledge of the mysteries of Christ by meditating on the rosary, allowing it to purify and enlighten their souls in order to become, in Mary's footsteps, true disciples of the Lord and to conform their lives to the Passion and Resurrection of the Savior."

JPII-LETTER;CENTENARY LOURDES;...;BILLE;VIS;20011105;Word: 250;