I don’t think I can share more about Europe before telling you more about her; the lady of the grotto. ⁣ ⁣ But how do I explain how this woman who appeared to a poor peasant child over 150 years ago, never really left that pre-ordained cave of miracles? How do I explain the tears that well up in my eyes at the thought of this place and the love I found there? ⁣ ⁣ Is there anyone on earth who doesn’t long for the deep and persistent embrace of a loving Mother? The embrace that dissipates all fear, anxiety, and insecurity. The embrace that can hold every single piece of your heart at once, and desire to still hold you even longer than you knew you needed. ⁣ ⁣ It is there, in Lourdes. Her spirit, her smile, her personal love for each of her Son’s beloved children. I felt more like her daughter than I ever have before. ⁣ ⁣ Leading up to this pilgrimage, I read “The Song of Bernadette”, which includes the detailed accounts of our Lady’s appearances to Saint Bernadette. ⁣ ⁣ Our Lady didn’t speak a word during the first few encounters they shared. They simply exchanged smiles and delight in each other. ⁣ ⁣ The author illustrates the first apparition, writing how “The lady smiles contendedly. This smile is but a deeper radiation of her graciousness...She nods repeatedly and her smile grows still brighter…The web of the relationship between the two is being woven. Between these two, the blessed and the blessing one, arises and flows back and forth a stream of happiest sympathy, of immemorial unitedness, indeed the awareness of a very special solidarity that stirs the heart’s core.” ⁣ ⁣ This was the gift of Lourdes for me. My heavenly mother spiritually embraced me so tangibly. I brought her all of my petitions and she left me with all of her love in exchange. ⁣ ⁣ If physical miracles happen from this pilgrimage, all Glory be to God, but I know she worked another miracle in my heart when I walked away from the grotto that night.⁣ ⁣ It is the miracle of deeper hope in heaven, deeper longing for eternity, and a deeper confidence in God’s sovereign and perfect care of everything I placed in His mother’s arms.