Between February 11 and July 16, 1858 the Blessed Virgin appeared eighteen times and showed herself to St. Bernadette Soubirous in the hollow of the rock at Lourdes. On March 25 she said to the little shepherdess who was only fourteen years of age: “I am the Immaculate Conception.” Since then, Lourdes has become a place of pilgrimage where the crowds follow one another in witness of their devotion to Our Lady. Many cures and conversions have made Lourdes important as a place of grace and prayer.