Holy Virgin you have done me a great favor, instead of one picture of you, you have given me two!
Servant of God Hermann Cohen
(Augustine of the Blessed Sacrament)
20 September 1858
The Servant of God Father Augustine of the Blessed Sacrament, O.C.D. led the first pilgrimage to Lourdes on 20 September 1858. His companion on that pilgrimage, Abbé Rozies, describes an unusual occurrence: when Hermann Cohen “bent down to drink from the spring at the grotto… his breviary fell into the basin. A lady quickly tried to retrieve it from the water, and the priest also looked to see if the pages had gotten wet. There was one particularly beautiful picture of Our Lady, which he expected to find soaked. But not only was the colored picture of Our Lady not spoiled, but a perfect copy of it was imprinted on the blank page of his breviary.”
Tierney, T 2017, A Life of Hermann Cohen: From Franz Liszt to John of the Cross, Balboa Press, Bloomington, IN
Featured image: Father Lawrence Lew, O.P. beautifully captures this image of the statue of the Crowned Virgin at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes.
Carmelite Quotes 
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