Those who visit the chapel of the Our Lady of Lourdes shrine in the city of Alta Gracia in C\u00f3rdoba province, Argentina, witness a phenomenon that has no explanation: In the niche that is part of the altarpiece above the altar, an image of the Virgin Mary can be seen although the space is empty \u2014 there is nothing there.<\/p>\n
According to the Argentine news agency AICA, what can be seen is not a flat image but rather a relief, a three-dimensional image with folds in the garment. It is also not a psychological illusion resulting from the exaggerated devotion of some pilgrims. Everyone \u2014 believers or not \u2014 sees it. <\/p>\n
The image also appears in photos and while clearly seen from the front door of the church, it fades as one slowly approaches the altar.<\/p>\n
Sources from Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine in Alta Gracia told ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, that although there is no official statement from the Archdiocese of C\u00f3rdoba, where the shrine is located, \u201ceverything is still the same. The image can be seen just as on the first day or more, a little more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since it was built at the beginning of the 20th century, the shrine has been an important pilgrimage site. In 2023, about 30,000 pilgrims came from the city of C\u00f3rdoba, 22 miles away.<\/p>\n
In a Mass he offered there on Feb. 11, 2024, for the World Day of the Sick, Cardinal \u00c1ngel Sixto Rossi, the archbishop of C\u00f3rdoba, pointed out that \u201cthe experience of weakness and illness are part of our path; they don\u2019t exclude us from the people of God, but they take us to the center of the attention of the Lord, who is Father and does not want to lose any of his children along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n
The chapel of the Virgin of Alta Gracia is located on a large property where in 1916 a replica was dedicated of the Massabielle grotto in Lourdes, France, where the Virgin appeared in 1858 to St. Bernadette Soubirous.<\/p>\n
In 1922 a commission was formed to build a chapel near the grotto. The first stone was laid in 1924, and in 1927 the bishop of C\u00f3rdoba blessed the chapel. For many years there was a statue of Our Lady Lourdes of C\u00f3rdoba in the center of the church\u2019s altarpiece.<\/p>\n
In mid-2011 it was removed from its niche or base to be restored and is currently located at the foot of the niche that was left empty.<\/p>\n
One day one of the priests in charge of the shrine was going to close the chapel and from the main door he saw an image in the empty space that looked like it was made of plaster.<\/p>\n
He approached several times, and each time he did he noticed that the image he saw from a certain distance faded. The truth was that there was actually no image, but he saw it.<\/p>\n
Because of the phenomenon, visible to anyone, the Discalced Carmelite friars of the shrine issued a statement in 2011 noting that \u201cthe manifestation of the image of the most holy Virgin Mary has no explanation at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt must be interpreted by the people of God as a sign to increase and deepen the Christian faith and to inspire in the hearts of men conversion to the love of God and their participation in the life of the Church,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only message of the Virgin is none other than that which she has manifested in her life among men and is recorded in the Gospel as a divine revelation and kept in the deposit of the Catholic faith,\u201d the priests stated.<\/p>\n