Malespine^® Lozenges

It all began in 1858 when Bernadette Soubirous claimed to have seen a "Lady" at the Massabielle grotto in Lourdes. On February 25, during the ninth apparition, a spring gushed forth for the first time at the bottom of the grotto, and its miraculous effects were immediately evident. In 1887, pharmacist Pierre-Elie Malespine bought the rights from Vallet & Cie to create a lozenge to dissolve in water using a steam machine. His motivation came from his wife's stomach pains. With this idea of a candy made from Lourdes grotto water, Mr. Malespine developed the commercialization of Lourdes water lozenges, which were granted papal accreditation as early as 1888.

The lozenge created by Mr. Malespine was the first and remains the only lozenge made with Lourdes holy water, benefiting from official authorization from the Lourdes Sanctuary. As early as 1888, Mr. Malespine obtained the papal blessing of Pope Leo XIII after presenting him with a gold box filled with lozenges. In that jubilee year, they became the must-have souvenir to bring back... In 1898, the lozenges won a Gold Medal at the Lourdes Exposition.