Planting Seeds of Love for the Next Twenty Years!

Scripture reminds us, “Neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who causes the growth.” (1 Cor: 3:7) Praise be Jesus Christ, who not only inspired this humble apostolate but caused our tremendous growth over these past 21 years!

In 2023, we returned to Lourdes with eight pilgrimage groups, including one of our largest ever this October, with 187 pilgrims. This year alone, our amazing Andrea’s Wish donors generously gave over $150,000 to make possible a life-changing pilgrimage for 56 pilgrims!

Our Lourdes Virtual Pilgrimage Experience guides went “out in the deep” to the Holy Land last November and this summer to Columbia, South America. Here in the United States, they crossed the country visiting 13 states. For the first time, Ukrainian translation was offered and Lourdes Water sent to Ukraine. Our Lourdes Water ministry has nearly doubled in two years; we expect to ship over 30,000 bottles of this liquid grace by year’s end.

Our mission of sharing the message of Lourdes has expanded in ways we never dreamed possible 21 years ago. our foundress and author, Marlene Watkins, continues he book tour with our first book, Everyday Miracles of Lourdes. A new weekly virtual club to discuss the chapters of the book has sprung forth. Our self-produced video series, My Lourdes Faith Journey is now a weekly Saturday morning show airing world-wide on EWTN!

We are especially thrilled to announce a very special spiritual fruit this year. On February 2, the Feast of the Presentation, the rule of life was approved for our new Consecrated Widows and Consecrated Women Community. Please pray for these holy women, as they keep us all in prayer.

Prayer is the foundation of all that we do. We now have over 500 members in our “Bernadette Brigade” group of prayer warriors. We join together for our Monthly Family Rosary and offer a monthly Membership Mass. We collect and carry hundreds of prayer petitions to the Grotto in Lourdes. What a privilege!

St. Paul tells us, “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully, will also reap bountifully.” (2 Cor 9:6) Guided by the Holy Spirit, we continue to plant bountiful seeds of love. Through the prayers of the Immaculate Conception, St. Bernadette and members like you, may God continue to multiply the harvest of these seeds for years to come!