Prior to the mid-19th century, the town was best known for the Château fort de Lourdes, a fortified castle that rises up from a rocky escarpment at its center. Little is known of Lourdes in the period from the barbarian invasions to the Carolingian period when the town was part of the County of Bigorre. The castle became a jail under Louis XV but, in 1789, the General Estates Assembly ordered the liberation of prisoners. The lady appeared 18 times, and by 1859 thousands of pilgrims were visiting Lourdes. The only other prominent related form of Lourdes ranked in the Top 2000 is Bernadette (#1268 A YEAR AGO). Then on 11 February 1858, the 14-year-old local girl Bernadette Soubirous claimed a beautiful lady appeared to her in the remote Grotto of Massabielle. Since the apparitions, Lourdes has become one of the world's leading Catholic Marian shrines. Almost immediately cures were reported from drinking the water. Popular amongst Catholics, the name derives from the name of a town in Southern France where a young gril had visions of the Virgin Mary. Ten is also viewed as a complete and perfect number, as is 3, 7 and 12. On subsequent visits, the Lady revealed herself to be the "Immaculate Conception". In the fifth century, the temple was replaced by an early Christian church, destroyed later because of a fire. Then take a look at the Numerological Report For Lourdes. Would you like to fingerspell the name Lourdes in American Sign Language? The Given Name Lourdes. An estimated 200 million people have visited the shrine since 1860,[10] and the Roman Catholic Church has officially recognized 69 healings considered miraculous. The church was consecrated in 1982. Although the Lady did not tell Bernadette her name when asked at first, she told her to return to the grotto. How to get FREE Lourdes water the quickest and the cheapest way! Today thousands of gallons of water gush from the source of the spring, and pilgrims are able to bathe in it. During the late 16th century, France was ravaged by the Wars of Religion between the Roman Catholics and the Huguenots. It is quite mild for most of the year with moderate rainfall in summer and quite high rainfall in winter – about 120 rainy days and more than 1,000 mm (39 in) of average annual precipitation. The name Lourdes is of French and Spanish origin. The English were able to take advantage of the excellent strategic situation and the prosperity of an eleventh century market that had been increasingly consolidated thanks to its proximity and good communications with Toulouse and Spain, managing to secure important gains for those who held the town. It may give you some insight about your new baby. Pope John Paul II visited the shrine twice, on 15 August 1983, and 14–15 August 2004. What does Lourdes mean? Many pilgrims also arrive via bus service from France and Spain. A summer temperature of 102° Fahrenheit, 39 °C, was recorded in August 2003. Want to know how your name choice may effect your child? Lourdes is generally used as a girl's name. It consists of 7 letters and 2 syllables and is pronounced Lour-des. Because of the proximity of the city to the Pyrenees, Lourdes, like other areas of the Pyrenean Piedmont, however, can be affected in winter by sporadic waves of frost: in January 1985 the thermometer marked -17° Fahrenheit, 9 °C (historical record from 1934 to the present). Lourdes is located in southern France in the foothills of the Pyrenees mountains near the prime meridian. It is about a 10-minute walk from the basilica and the grotto, on a street named in honour of Ukraine, 8 Rue de l'Ukraine, situated on a narrow piece of property close to the railroad station. He, though initially very skeptical of Bernadette's claims, became convinced when he heard this because he knew the young girl had no knowledge of the doctrine. It is of French origin. It is overlooked from the south by the Pyrenean peaks of Aneto, Montaigu, and Vignemale (3,298 m), while around the town there are three summits reaching up to 1,000 m (3,280.84 ft) which are known as the Béout, the Petit Jer (with its three crosses) and the Grand Jer (with its single cross). Lourdes is served by Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées Airport situated 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from the town centre. Towards the end of the Peninsular War between France, Spain, Portugal, and Britain in 1814, British and Allied forces, under the Duke of Wellington, entered France and took control of the region and followed Marshall Soult's army, defeating the French near the adjoining town of Tarbes before the final battle, outside Toulouse on 10 April 1814, brought the war to an end. The 150th Jubilee of the first apparition took place on 11 February 2008 with an outdoor Mass attended by approximately 45,000 pilgrims. These relations of Lourdes were at the apex of their popularity in the 1960s (AVERAGE #416) and are now much less conventional, with versions such as Lourdes becoming somewhat outmoded. Its buildings were discovered soon after the demolition of the parish of Saint Pierre (which took place in the early twentieth century), along with remains of pottery and three votive altars. Learn about nautical flags and see your name or message written in nautical flags, on the Lourdes in Nautical Flags page. This airport is served by HOP! There is also an amateur association football team in the town. Embraced by many parents, the name Lourdes, is one of warmth and grace. The private school, the "Lycée Peyramale St Joseph", was founded by two monks just two years before the apparitions; it is named after the priest Dominique Peyramale, who was present during the apparitions. ASSOCIATED WITH healing (life), virgin, young, saint, VARIANTS Lourdecita, Lourdetta, Lourdette, Lurdes, Lourdes is a very prominent first name for women (#549 out of 4276, Top 13%) and a slightly less prominent surname for both adults and children (#115489 out of 150436, Top 77%). The town's railway station Gare de Lourdes is served by SNCF and TGV trains, including a high-speed TGV service from Paris which takes four-and-a-half hours. On land bordered by a loop of the Gave de Pau is an outcrop of rock called Massabielle (from masse vieille: "old mass"). Share this page: See Also. Today Lourdes has a population of around 15,000, but it is able to take in some 5,000,000 pilgrims and tourists every season. Children named Lourdes are often forceful and charming but most of all they are read more >>. According to believers, the Virgin Mary appeared to Maria Bernada Sobirós (in her native Occitan language) on a total of eighteen occasions at Lourdes (Lorda in her local Occitan language). Lourdes (/lʊərd/,[2] also US: /lʊərdz/,[3][4] French: [luʁd]; Occitan: Lorda [ˈluɾðɔ]) is a small market town lying in the foothills of the Pyrenees. The designation "10th" is used 79 times. Find it here. On the day of his baptism, Mirat took on the name of Lorus, which was given to the town, now known as Lourdes. Place name. It was seen as such a bad omen that Mirat was persuaded to surrender to the Queen of the Sky by the local bishop. See how Lourdes has changed in popularity since 1880 by visiting the Lourdes Name Popularity Page. The Grand Jer is accessible via the funicular railway of the Pic du Jer. At the time of the apparitions, the grotto was on common land which was used by the villagers variously for pasturing animals, collecting firewood and as a garbage dump, and it possessed a reputation for being an unpleasant place. In the immediate vicinity of the place of worship was a necropolis of whose date and size there are no notes. In 1569, Count Gabriel de Montgomery attacked the nearby town of Tarbes when Queen Jeanne d’Albret of Navarre established Protestantism there. Lourdes has become a major place of Roman Catholic pilgrimage and of miraculous healings. Following the rise of Napoleon in 1803, he again made the Castle an Estate jail. The summers are warm, the autumn and spring mild, while winter is cool. In the fourteenth century Lourdes was first occupied by Philip the Fair, then, during the Hundred Years' War, by the English, who controlled it for nearly half a century, from 1360 to 1407, through local feudal lords such as Pierre Arnaud de Béarn and, later, his brother Jean de Béarn. Learn the background of the verses as you read them in their context. Looking for the meaning of the name Lourdes? In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI authorized special indulgences to mark the 150th anniversary of Our Lady of Lourdes.[6]. Discover the real meaning of popular Bible verses and phrases. A pavilion is still visible on the summit. Less than 5 boys were given the name. (2018 BIRTH STATISTICS). The Gave then branches off to the west towards the Béarn, running past the banks of the Grotto and on downstream to Pau and then Biarritz. According to legend, an eagle unexpectedly appeared and dropped an enormous trout at the feet of Mirat. From the pilgrimage town in southern France. Shortly thereafter the city with the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes became one of the world's most important sites of pilgrimage and religious tourism. During the Apparitions, Bernadette Soubirous prayed the Rosary. Lourdes has two main schools, one public and one private. which provides three daily and two weekend air services to Paris-Orly. Lourdes ▼ as a girls' name is pronounced LOOR-des, LOORDZ. What is the origin of the name Lourdes? In Roman times it had to be, since the first century BC, an oppidum hill where today stands the fortress, as is testified by the numerous finds that came to light in the second half of the nineteenth century (remains of walls, fragments of a citadel, a pagan temple dedicated to the gods of water). Apart from references to owls as unclean birds, the Bible features owls figuratively to symbolize tormenting loneliness, desolation, mourning, and judgment. Popular amongst Catholics, the name derives from the name of a town in Southern France … The castle was occupied by an infantry garrison. The fortress was at times the seat of counts and, during the Albigensian Crusade, it was the subject of disputes between various local lords. Lourdes is generally used as a girl's name. The meaning of Lourdes is "from Lourdes, France". In 1405, Charles VI laid siege to the castle during the course of the Hundred Years War and eventually captured the town from the English following the 18-month siege. In 1607 Lourdes finally became part of the Kingdom of France. Stylish yet daring, the name is a great blend of character and flair. Answer: Various species of owls are mentioned in the Old Testament. It is part of the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. The airport also offers seasonal charter flights to and from the largest European cities. Pope John Paul II wrote: "The Rosary of the Virgin Mary [is] a prayer of great significance, destined to bring forth a harvest of holiness".[9]. Place name. Countless purported miracle cures have been documented there, from the healing of nervous disorders and cancers to cases of paralysis and even of blindness. The newer public school is called the "Lycée de Sarsan". Jetairfly offers a connection of two flights a week during the summer.