Miracles of Lourdes

Lourdes is known around the world as a place of miracles and healing.

The Church has recognised 66 cures as miraculous. The last miracle to be recognised took place in 1987 and was recognised in 1999. It is worth noting that the Church does not require us to believe in these miracles.

For a cure to be recognised is a very complex procedure. Miracles are recognised by the diocese in which the miraculee (person to whom the miracle happened) lived at the time of the miracle.

If a person visiting Lourdes believes that they have received a miraculous cure, they are taken to the Medical Bureau where they will be examined. They will be accompanied by doctors from their pilgrimage and a file on their medical condition. Any doctors in Lourdes on that day will be invited to attend the examination at the Medical Bureau.

For the medical study to be able to find in favour of a cure, to be "certain, definitive and medically inexplicable" it must be established that:

  1. the fact and the diagnosis of the illness is first of all established and correctly diagnosed,
  2. that the prognosis must be permanent or terminal in the short term,
  3. that the cure is immediate, without convalescence, complete and lasting,
  4. that the prescribed treatment could not be attributed to the cause of this cure or be an aid to it.

The potential miraculee will be invited to return to Lourdes the following and/or subsequent year(s). Medical records will be requested.

After multiple successful examinations, if three-quarters of the doctors present so wish it, the file will be sent to the Lourdes International Medical Committee.

The LIMC, is made up of 30 members, and meets once a year. It will further investigate a file, again allowing several years to pass before reaching a conclusion.

If the LIMC judge a case to be "certain, definitive and medically inexplicable", they then forward the file to the relevant diocese.

The diocese may then carry out their own investigation. In many cases, no action has been taken at all. It is for the diocese to proclaim a miraculous cure if their own investigation leads them to conclude that the cure is a sign from God.

The LIMC (since 1947) has opened 1300 files (each one for the declaration of a cure) of which 29 have been presented to the Church, 19 of which have been declared miraculous.

More information about the miracles can be found on the official Lourdes website.