Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Philadelphia

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Philadelphia COME AND EXPERIENCE our parish -- Liturgically, Spiritually, and Socially.... Do you experience this, in your parish?

Founded in 1894 to serve the community of Overbrook Farms and the surrounding burroughs, we continue -- in the 21st century -- to fulfill this mission. Today, with the presence of the Mercedarian Friars, we draw families from through the Archdiocese and surrounding Dioceses who come to experience the Eucharistic Presence of Christ and a faithful rendering of the Church's living Tradition of the Faith. Together we collarborate and share in solidarity with our Archbishop in his Apostolic mandate to govern, sanctify, and teach the unchanging Apostolic Faith passed on through the Ages. If not, please come to Our Lady's House, in Overbrook Farms.

Priority Entrance Reservations Are Now Available — Reservation Links BelowWe are preparing to welcome many pilgrims to O...
09/08/2026

Priority Entrance Reservations Are Now Available — Reservation Links Below

We are preparing to welcome many pilgrims to Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Philadelphia on Saturday, October 3, for the visit of the Relics of Saint Bernadette Soubirous.
Because space in the church is limited, free Priority Entrance Reservations are available for certain events during the pilgrimage day.
A Priority Entrance Reservation is not a paid ticket and does not reserve a particular seat. It provides priority for entrance when you arrive by the time indicated for your event. Pilgrims without reservations are still welcome, and standby admission will be available as space permits.
A Pilgrim Courtesy: Because space is limited, please reserve only the events you genuinely expect to attend and only the number of places your party actually needs. If your plans change, please cancel any reservation you will not use so that the space can be made available to another pilgrim.

Choose the event you plan to attend. All events are FREE::
🎟 LOURDES VIRTUAL PILGRIMAGE EXPERIENCE
https://buytickets.at/ourladyoflourdesparish/2373392

🎟 VIGIL MASS
https://buytickets.at/ourladyoflourdesparish/2373350

🎟 VESPERS
https://buytickets.at/ourladyoflourdesparish/2372077

There is no charge to make a Priority Entrance Reservation.
For the complete Relic Visit schedule, directions, parking and accessibility information, and everything you need to plan your pilgrimage:
https://www.ourladylourdes.org



Come and pray. Come and venerate. Come as a pilgrim.

FINAL CALL FOR RELIC VISIT VOLUNTEERSThank you for the tremendous response! We now have 72 registered volunteers prepari...
09/07/2026

FINAL CALL FOR RELIC VISIT VOLUNTEERS

Thank you for the tremendous response! We now have 72 registered volunteers preparing to welcome pilgrims to Our Lady of Lourdes for the visit of the Relics of Saint Bernadette.

General volunteer registration closes tonight, September 7, at midnight as we begin organizing our teams and assignments.

If you have been intending to volunteer but have not yet registered, please submit your form tonight:

https://forms.gle/fAB1hf8YbrBVT7ow5

After tonight, additional volunteer applications will be considered on an as-needed basis.

Thank you to everyone who has offered to serve!

Please note: The Youth Volunteer Form will remain open for our altar servers, Bernadettes, and eligible children of already-registered adult volunteers. Parents should continue to complete a separate Youth Volunteer Form for each participating child.
https://forms.gle/BGwd8XXfnNDU22dK6

Why Make This Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Lourdes?A reflection from Fr. Matthew H. Phelan, O. de M., Pastor of Our Lady of...
09/07/2026

Why Make This Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Lourdes?

A reflection from Fr. Matthew H. Phelan, O. de M., Pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes:
There is a mystery in Saint Bernadette's coming to our parish.
We did not go looking for her.
When representatives of the Sanctuary of Lourdes contacted us about receiving the relics, I actually told them that I would feel wrong not pointing out that there is a Saint Bernadette Parish nearby in Drexel Hill.
They already knew. They had contacted them. Their church was not available.
Meanwhile, hundreds and hundreds of parishes have been asking to receive the relics since this tour was announced.
And yet, somehow, Saint Bernadette is coming to Our Lady of Lourdes in Overbrook.
Why?
I don't know.
Perhaps that is part of what makes this pilgrimage so exciting—and so humbling. Providence has brought the relics here. Heaven has its reasons, even when we do not yet know what they are.
On Saturday, October 3, you have the opportunity to become part of that story.
Not everyone can make a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France. For one extraordinary day, something of Lourdes is coming to Philadelphia: the relics of Saint Bernadette, the message and spirituality of Lourdes, Lourdes water, the Grotto experience, prayer, confession, procession—and other pilgrims whose paths, for reasons known to God, will cross yours.
And perhaps you will discover something else.
Our Lady of Lourdes is a little parish in a very big city. People who come here often tell us there is something special about this place. My hope is that when you come, you will find a Catholic church that somehow feels familiar—a place where you are welcomed, a place where you can pray, a place you will want to come back to.
Why make this pilgrimage?
I cannot tell you what God has in mind for you.
I don't even know exactly what He has in mind for us.
I only know that Saint Bernadette is coming.
And I want to be here when she arrives.
Come and be part of the mystery.

Learn more and plan your pilgrimage:
https://www.ourladylourdes.org

What Is a Pilgrimage?A pilgrimage is more than a trip to a religious place. It is a sacred journey undertaken in faith—a...
09/04/2026

What Is a Pilgrimage?

A pilgrimage is more than a trip to a religious place. It is a sacred journey undertaken in faith—a journey to a holy place with the desire to encounter God more deeply.
Christians have made pilgrimages for centuries, traveling to Jerusalem, Rome, Santiago de Compostela, Lourdes, and countless other holy places.
But a pilgrimage isn't simply a vacation with some prayers added. The journey itself becomes part of our prayer. We leave our ordinary routine behind. We bring our intentions, our gratitude, our sins, our suffering, and the people for whom we have promised to pray.
And a pilgrimage doesn't have to take us thousands of miles from home.
Sometimes God gives us an opportunity to make a pilgrimage right here.

On Saturday, October 3, pilgrims will come to Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Philadelphia to venerate the relics of Saint Bernadette and encounter the message and spirituality of Lourdes.

Don't simply come to an event. Come as a pilgrim.

FOCUS has a wonderful short reflection on what makes a Catholic pilgrimage different from an ordinary journey:

https://focus.org/posts/what-is-a-catholic-pilgrimage-and-why-should-you-consider-going-on-one/

Learn more and plan your pilgrimage:

https://www.ourladylourdes.org



Come and pray. Come and venerate. Come as a pilgrim.

Wait—I Thought Saint Bernadette's Body Was in Nevers?It is.Saint Bernadette died at the Convent of Saint-Gildard in Neve...
09/02/2026

Wait—I Thought Saint Bernadette's Body Was in Nevers?
It is.
Saint Bernadette died at the Convent of Saint-Gildard in Nevers, France, on April 16, 1879. During the cause for her canonization, her body was exhumed and examined on three occasions.
In 1925, as preparations were made for Bernadette's beatification, her body was examined once more. On April 18 of that year, small portions of her remains were removed and preserved as relics. Her body was later placed in the shrine in the convent chapel at Nevers, where it remains today.
So how can a relic of Saint Bernadette be coming to Philadelphia?
The relic traveling with the Saint Bernadette Relic Tour is an ex ossibus relic—Latin for a relic “from the bones” of Saint Bernadette. It is housed in the beautiful reliquary created by Maison Granda of Spain and unveiled at Lourdes in 2019.
Saint Bernadette's body remains in Nevers. But a relic taken from her remains a century ago is now making its pilgrimage through the United States—and will come to Our Lady of Lourdes in Philadelphia.

Learn more about Saint Bernadette's body and her shrine in Nevers:
https://www.sainte-bernadette-soubirous-nevers.com/en/pages/bernadette-3/her-body/

On Saturday, October 3, pilgrims are invited to Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Philadelphia to venerate the relics of Saint Bernadette.

Learn more and plan your pilgrimage:
https://www.ourladylourdes.org



Photo: Jabonsbachek / Wikimedia Commons, cropped from original — CC BY-SA 4.0:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Why Do Catholics Venerate Relics?Catholics do not worship relics. Worship and adoration belong to God alone.So why do we...
09/01/2026

Why Do Catholics Venerate Relics?

Catholics do not worship relics. Worship and adoration belong to God alone.
So why do we kneel before a relic, touch it, kiss it, or otherwise show it reverence?
Because the relic brings us into tangible contact with someone whose life and body belonged to Christ.
The practice reaches back to the earliest centuries of Christianity. After Saint Polycarp was martyred around A.D. 155, the Christians of Smyrna carefully gathered his bones, describing them as “more valuable than precious stones,” and preserved them in a fitting place where they could gather to commemorate his martyrdom.
Sacred Scripture itself shows God working through material things associated with his holy ones. A dead man was restored to life after touching the bones of the prophet Elisha (2 Kings 13:20–21), and cloths that had touched Saint Paul were brought to the sick, who were healed (Acts 19:11–12).
The relic itself is not the source of grace. God is.
Saint Jerome explained the distinction beautifully: Christians do not worship the relics of the martyrs; rather, we venerate them so that we may better adore the God for whom they gave their lives.
There is something very human about this, too. We treasure things that belonged to those we love—a photograph, a letter, a piece of clothing—not because the object replaces the person, but because love makes what belonged to that person precious to us.
So it is with the saints.
Their relics remind us that holiness is real, that these saints truly lived among us, and that the human body itself is destined for resurrection. They encourage us to seek the saints' prayers and, above all, to follow them in giving our own lives to Christ.

Read Father William Saunders' fuller explanation, “Why Do We Venerate Relics?”, at EWTN:
https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/why-do-we-venerate-relics-1137

On Saturday, October 3, pilgrims are invited to Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Philadelphia to venerate the relics of Saint Bernadette.

Learn more and plan your pilgrimage:
https://www.ourladylourdes.org


Come and pray. Come and venerate. Come as a pilgrim.

PARISHIONER PRIORITY ENTRANCE RESERVATIONS ARE NOW AVAILABLE BELOWSpecial reservation period for Our Lady of Lourdes par...
08/31/2026

PARISHIONER PRIORITY ENTRANCE RESERVATIONS ARE NOW AVAILABLE BELOW
Special reservation period for Our Lady of Lourdes parishioners through September 7 at 11:59 PM.

We are preparing to welcome many pilgrims to Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Philadelphia on Saturday, October 3, for the visit of the Relics of Saint Bernadette Soubirous.

Before reservations are opened to the general public, a special reservation period is being offered to Our Lady of Lourdes parishioners.

Because space in the church is limited, free Priority Entrance Reservations are available for certain events during the pilgrimage day.

A Priority Entrance Reservation is not a paid ticket and does not reserve a particular seat. It provides priority for entrance when you arrive by the time indicated for your event. Pilgrims without reservations are still welcome, and standby admission will be available as space permits.

Volunteers: Each registered volunteer will receive a volunteer badge that provides entrance during the pilgrimage day; volunteers do not need to make a separate Priority Entrance Reservation for themselves. Household members who are not serving as volunteers should make a Priority Entrance Reservation if they wish to have priority entrance.

A Pilgrim Courtesy: Because space is limited, please reserve only the events you genuinely expect to attend and only the number of places your party actually needs. If your plans change, please cancel any reservation you will not use so that the space can be made available to another pilgrim.

An access code is required to make a parishioner reservation. Parishioners may obtain the code by calling the parish office or emailing [email protected].
Choose the event you plan to attend. All events are FREE:
🎟️ LOURDES VIRTUAL PILGRIMAGE EXPERIENCE
https://buytickets.at/ourladyoflourdesparish/2373392
🎟️ VIGIL MASS
https://buytickets.at/ourladyoflourdesparish/2373350
🎟️ VESPERS
https://buytickets.at/ourladyoflourdesparish/2372077

Parishioner reservations remain available through Monday, September 7 at 11:59 PM. Public reservations begin Tuesday, September 8.

For the complete Relic Visit schedule, directions, parking and accessibility information, and everything you need to plan your pilgrimage:
https://www.ourladylourdes.org


Come and pray. Come and venerate. Come as a pilgrim.

What Is a Relic?When we say that the relics of Saint Bernadette are coming to Our Lady of Lourdes, what exactly do we me...
08/29/2026

What Is a Relic?

When we say that the relics of Saint Bernadette are coming to Our Lady of Lourdes, what exactly do we mean?
Relics are physical objects directly associated with Our Lord or with the saints. A first-class relic is part of the body of a saint; second-class relics are objects personally owned or used by a saint; and third-class relics are objects that have been touched to a first- or second-class relic.
The veneration of relics has deep roots in Sacred Scripture. When a dead man touched the bones of the prophet Elisha, he was restored to life (2 Kings 13:20–21). In the Acts of the Apostles, cloths that had touched Saint Paul were brought to the sick, who were healed (Acts 19:11–12).
Relics are not magic. They possess no power apart from God. Rather, God sometimes chooses to work through material things—and the relics of the saints direct our attention to those whom the Church gives us as “models and intercessors” (CCC 828).
When we venerate a relic, we do not worship the saint. Worship belongs to God alone. We honor the saint as someone whose life and even earthly body were transformed by the grace of Jesus Christ.
On Saturday, October 3, pilgrims will have the extraordinary opportunity to venerate a first-class relic of Saint Bernadette Soubirous at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Philadelphia.

Learn more about relics from Treasures of the Church:
https://treasuresofthechurch.com/about-relics/

Learn more, plan your pilgrimage, or volunteer:
https://www.ourladylourdes.org

What Happened at Lourdes?On February 11, 1858, fourteen-year-old Bernadette Soubirous went with her sister and a friend ...
08/26/2026

What Happened at Lourdes?
On February 11, 1858, fourteen-year-old Bernadette Soubirous went with her sister and a friend to gather firewood near the Grotto of Massabielle in Lourdes.
There, Bernadette saw a beautiful young woman dressed in white, with a blue sash and a yellow rose on each foot. Bernadette took out her rosary, and they prayed.
It was the first of eighteen apparitions between February 11 and July 16.
During the apparitions, the Lady called for prayer, penance, and the conversion of sinners. She directed Bernadette to drink and wash at a spring in the Grotto. She also asked that people come there in procession and that a chapel be built.
But Bernadette still did not know the Lady's name.
On March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation, Bernadette asked again. The Lady replied:
“I am the Immaculate Conception.”
The young Bernadette, who had struggled to learn even her catechism lessons, ran to tell her parish priest the words she had heard.
Four years later, after careful investigation, the Church declared the apparitions worthy of belief.
Today, millions of pilgrims journey to Lourdes each year to pray at the Grotto where Our Lady appeared to Saint Bernadette—and the message entrusted to her continues to call us to prayer, penance, conversion, and deeper faith in Christ.

Learn more about the apparitions and the message of Lourdes:
https://bernadette-usa.lourdes-france.com/ip.php?pg=The+Apparitions

On Saturday, October 3, pilgrims are invited to Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Philadelphia to venerate the relics of Saint Bernadette.

Learn more, plan your pilgrimage, or volunteer:
https://www.ourladylourdes.org

Address

6301 Woodbine Avenue
Philadelphia, PA
19151

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm
Sunday 8am - 8pm

Telephone

+12154731669

Website

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