The reported healing of an Italian woman during a pilgrimage to Lourdes has been officially recognised as the 72nd “miracle” linked to the Catholic shrine in south-western France.
The bishop of Tursi-Lagonegro, a diocese in southern Italy, made the announcement this week – just ahead of Easter.
Antonietta Raco, 67, reported a sudden recovery in 2009 during a visit to Lourdes.
At the time, she had been living with primary lateral sclerosis since 2004. The illness affects the nervous system and had made it difficult for her to walk or breathe.
“I walked with crutches, I had muscle pain, I kept falling all the time and I didn’t know why,” she told French radio station RTL.
A prayer and a voice
In 2009, Raco joined a five-day pilgrimage to Lourdes organised by her local diocese.
She took part in what is known as the “gesture of water” – a ritual in which pilgrims bathe in spring water from the shrine as an act of inner purification.
“When I went down, we said a prayer and that’s when I felt like a caress on my neck,” she said.
“I thought it was a volunteer, but in an instant I heard a very soft woman’s voice that told me three times, ‘Don’t be afraid'. And I started crying. I cried and I prayed.”
Raco later felt what she described as “atrocious” pain in her legs. But once back in Italy, she began to notice changes in her condition.
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Doctors ‘amazed’
“After about 20 days, the doctors visited me and they were extremely surprised,” Raco added.
“They said they had never seen anything like it. I was in a wheelchair, and that’s when they saw me standing up and walking very freely. They were amazed because they couldn’t explain it.”
In 2010, Raco reported her recovery to the Lourdes Medical Bureau.
Three years later, specialists at the University of Milan also examined her and confirmed that her symptoms had disappeared. No medical explanation could be found.
In November 2024, the international medical committee that advises Lourdes judged her recovery to be “unexpected, complete, lasting and unexplained”.
Her local bishop then formally recognised it as a miracle.
“You must never lose hope,” said Raco. “It’s the jubilee year. We must have confidence and faith in our Lord.”
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Long tradition of healing
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes said it welcomes the recognition of the 72nd miracle. “The miracle is open to all,” it said in a statement.
Lourdes has been a major site of pilgrimage since 1858, when a 14-year-old girl named Bernadette Soubirous said she saw apparitions of the Virgin Mary.
Millions of people now visit each year, many of them hoping for healing in the waters of the spring.
Only a small number of recoveries are officially recognised by the Catholic Church as miracles.
To meet the criteria, the healing must be immediate, long-lasting and medically unexplained.
