It is patently unfair to characterize a Marian apparition until you have actually visited the site and experienced the spirit of prayer there.  My wife and I visited Lourdes in 1999 with our daughter who was the guest of the Knights and Dames of Malta on their annual pilgrimage during the first week of May.  Without going into details, I will attest that both my daughter and myself experienced there a lasting cure to body and spirit.  The experience there was nothing about hysteria or other hype.  Rather, we experienced a profound sense of deep faith and trust in the healing to be found there in prayer, devotions, rosary walks and taking the baths.  My wife and I found a deep renewal of our marriage there, in prayer at the shrine, especially during the early hours of the morning when crowds were absent and silence embraced the pilgrims at the grotto.