Le pèlerinage de Lourdes
Le pèlerinage de Lourdes is the only encyclical of Pope Pius XII issued in French. It includes warnings against materialism on the centenary of the apparitions at Lourdes. It was given at Rome, from St. Peter's Basilica, on the feast of the Visitation of the Most Holy Virgin, July 2, 1957, the nineteenth year of his pontificate. The encyclical recalls pleasant memories of the pilgrimage to Lourdes which Pope Pius XII undertook as papal delegate at the Eucharistic and Marian Celebrations in 1937. The Pope reminds the faithful of France that every Christian land is a Marian land and that "there is not one nation redeemed in the blood of Christ which does not glory in proclaiming Mary its Mother and Patroness". He then recalls the history of Marian veneration, the history of Lourdes and the contributions of the Popes to her veneration in Lourdes. The Popes and Lourdes The first part of the encyclical reviews the contributions of the papacy to the veneration in Lourdes. Pius IX and Leo XIII The encyclical recalls that in 1892 Leo XIII granted the proper Office and Mass of the feast , which his successor was to extend to the universal Church a short time later. He installed and blessed a reproduction of the 'Grotto of Massabielle' in the Vatican gardens, and prayed: On 3 July 1876, Pius IX crowned the statue of Our Lady of the Rosary at the Rosary Basilica in Lourdes. Saint Pius X The encyclical states that fifty years after the definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, Saint Pius X wrote in that his predecessor, Pius IX, "had hardly defined it to be of Catholic faith that Mary was from her very origin exempt from sin, when the Virgin herself began performing miracles at Lourdes." Pius X created the episcopal see of Lourdes, and authorized the introduction of the cause of beatification of Bernadette. He emphasized the harmony at Lourdes between Eucharistic worship and Marian prayer. Pius XII concludes: "It could not have been otherwise. Everything about Mary directs us to her Son, our only Savior, in anticipation of whose merits she was immaculate and full of grace. Everything about Mary raises us to the praise of the adorable Trinity." The encyclical adds that Saint Pius X viewed the shrine of Lourdes as surpassing in glory all others in the Catholic world. Benedict XV and Pius XI The encyclical states that Benedict XV added new indulgences, but was unable to do much more because of the First World War. Pius XI, who had been to Lourdes himself as a pilgrim, continued the work of Benedict XV. He canonized Bernadette, Sister Marie Bernard, and described Lourdes as "now justly considered one of the principal Marian shrines in the world". Pius XII recalls his own previous encyclical, , in which he wrote about Lourdes: The challenge of materialism The second part of the encyclical deals with conversion, specifically a Marian conversion of heart and society, with Pius XII emphasizing