Catholics recently marked the dual celebration of World Day of the Day and the Feast Day of Our Lady of Lourdes, complementary events. 

When World Day of the Sick was initiated by Pope St. John Paul II in 1992, it was purposefully designed to share the state with the Our Lady of Lourdes celebration as that is related to healing.

“Lourdes is the sacred intersection of God’s merciful power and profound human need,” Madison Bishop Donald Hying said in a tweet this year. “Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us!” 

The annual World Day of the Sick encourages believers to pray for those suffering from illnesses, as well as their caretakers, National Today explains. 

It coincides with the related Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, which is celebrated on Feb.11. On that day in 1858, Bernadette Soubirous, a 14-year-old girl, reported seeing visages of the Virgin Mary around a grotto in Lourdes, France, according to an online article by Catholic Parishes of Robertson County. Bernadette followed Our Lady's instructions to dig nearby and she uncovered a healing spring that is still functioning today. 

The apparitions she said she saw were recognized for devotion by the Catholic Church in 1862 after an investigation, and a shrine was established at the site soon thereafter. Since then, the shrine has been a popular pilgrimage site and 69 miracles involving a healing in the water of Lourdes have been reported, the Robertson County parishes article said.

"It is important to give voice to the unheard suffering of those who, in illness, are left alone, lacking financial and moral support, easily exposed to despair and loss of faith, as can happen to those with fibromyalgia and chronic pain," the pope said leading up to the day of dual celebrations during a meeting with leaders of the Diocese of Rome's health care ministry, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops reported. 

St. Bernadette has her own feast day, too. It is every Feb. 18.