| Devotion to Our Lady |
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CLICK BELOW FOR THE APPARITION OF YOUR CHOICE
| APPARITIONS (main page) | MIRACULOUS MEDAL 1830 | LA SALETTE 1846 | LOURDES 1858 | PONTMAIN 1871 | KNOCK 1879 | FATIMA 1917 |
| TUY (Sr. Lucia) 1925 | BEAURAING 1932 | BANNEUX 1933 | BELGIUM (Berthe Petit) 1874-1941 | ZEITUN 1968 | AKITA 1973 | CUAPA 1980 |
| APPARITIONS (main page) | MIRACULOUS MEDAL 1830 | LA SALETTE 1846 | LOURDES 1858 | PONTMAIN 1871 | KNOCK 1879 | FATIMA 1917 |
| TUY (Sr. Lucia) 1925 | BEAURAING 1932 | BANNEUX 1933 | BELGIUM (Berthe Petit) 1874-1941 | ZEITUN 1968 | AKITA 1973 | CUAPA 1980 |
PART ONE : BERNADETTE SOUBIROUS
Bernadette Soubirous was born on 7th January, 1844, in the small French town of Lourdes. Her family was poor and for much of her childhood they were forced to live in a single basement room that had once served as a gaol. It was dark, damp and smelly and Bernadette developed asthma at an early age.
Her Aunt Bernarde and her former foster mother, Maria Lagues, provided the family with some relief by taking the child to live with them for long periods, but in return insisted that Bernadette, instead of attending school, should look after their children.
When Bernadette returned home she was kept busy looking after her younger sister and two brothers. Thus she missed out on her schooling and for a long time was unable to learn how to read and write. It caused some people to regard her as stupid, but as her behavior during and after the apparitions showed, she had plenty of sturdy common sense and, on occasions, a lively personality.
Although her inability to read and write prevented her from learning her catechism, delaying her First Communion, Bernadette imbibed her faith from those around her and was completely familiar with the rosary she carried with her everywhere. Like the general population of the area she had a simple but rugged faith in God. It was typical of her that when she first saw the Lady in the grotto she instinctively pulled out her rosary and began to pray.
At the time of the visions she experienced at Massabielle Bernadette revealed two sides to her character. Humbly aware of her family’s poverty and her own backwardness, she was extremely modest and respectful in her manner. On the other hand she was invariably straightforward, honest and direct when interviewed, never embroidering her accounts. She recoiled in horror when people tried to press money into her hand and was scornful of those urging her to bless their rosaries. ‘I don’t have a purple stole,’ she reminded them. When a visiting Bishop offered to exchange his gold-mounted rosary for hers she thanked him but said quite firmly that she preferred her own.
In her scholarly book, ‘Lourdes’, Ruth Harris tells a charming story which reveals her reaction to scepticism:
“The Comte de Broussard, a debauched atheist, talked to Bernadette in July, 1858, purely to “catch the little one in a blatant lie”. His first glance told him she was “common enough”, but her simplicity and self assurance soon disturbed him. After hearing the story of the apparitions, he asked Bernadette to show him how the “belle dame” (beautiful lady) smiled.
“Oh, Monsieur, you’d have to be from heaven to imitate that smile.”
“Can’t you do it for me? I’m a non-believer and don’t hold with apparitions.”
The child’s countenance darkened. “Then sir, you think I am a liar?”
I was completely disarmed. No, Bernadette was not a liar, and I was on the point of going down on my knees to ask her forgiveness.
“Since you are a sinner,” she went on, "I will show you the Virgin’s smile.”
Since then I have lost my wife and two daughters, but it seems to me that I am far from being alone in the world. I live with the Virgin’s smile.’”
Her simple, straightforward manner impressed all who had dealings with her. One imagines that her utter joy in experiencing visions of Our Lady must have given her added confidence. In addition, the people of Lourdes and numerous visitors from elsewhere made a great fuss of her. On one occasion when she had finally escaped the crowds by taking refuge in a sympathetic neighbour’s house, she crept home in the dark to her bed, answering her mother’s query as to how she felt with a sigh. “I’m worn out with all that kissing.”
But life wasn’t all serious. In her excellent book, “Bernadette and Lourdes”, Ann Stafford describes how, at recreation, “she thoroughly enjoyed herself; she laughed and played and joked with children of all ages, completely happy, unless she was called away to see visitors.”
In January, 1862, The Bishop of Tarbes announced the Church’s belief that Mary the Immaculate Mother of God had in fact appeared to Bernadette Soubirous, and that certain cures had taken place at Lourdes for which there was no natural explanation. “The finger of God is here.”
Bernadette herself was now living in the local hospice run by nuns. When the apparitions were a thing of the past she referred to herself as “the broom placed behind the door once it has been used.” Her family, with the help of relatives and friends, had moved into more suitable accommodation. When the Bishop of Nevers visited the hospice and suggested it was time for her to consider getting married, she replied: “As for that—no way!” When he then proposed entry to a convent she regretted that as well, as always being ill, she was too poor to provide the customary dowry, adding, “Besides, I know nothing and am good for nothing.”
Bernadette would have preferred to become a Carmelite, but her bad health ruled out that possibility. However, in 1866 she joined the Sisters of Charity and entered the Convent of Saint-Gildard at Nevers. Being such at such a far distance from Lourdes, Nevers was very well suited to Bernadette’s wish to hide from the public. She arrived at the Convent of Saint-Gildard on 7th July, 1866. She was twenty-two. When the Reverend Mother asked her on admission, “What can you do?” her simple answer was: “Nothing very well!” On her second day in the Convent she was obliged to tell her story to the whole community. The mistress of novices, Mother Marie-Therese Vauzou, decided to treat Bernadette twice as severely as the others, so as to guard her against the danger of pride.
On 29th July she took the nun’s habit with the name Sister Marie-Bernard. It was not long before she fell ill and had to be taken to the infirmary. At the end of October she was deemed to be so close to death that the Bishop of Nevers administered Extreme Unction and allowed her to take her vows in advance. But she recovered the next day, much to the chagrin of the novice mistress who accused her of putting on her illness! Bernadette never complained of the severity of the mistress of novices. “She is right – I am proud – I shall work at trying to improve myself!”
Because of her delicate state of health the Bishop assigned her the task of prayer. She was given the light role of assistant to the convent’s nurse, but when the latter fell ill and died, Bernadette was put in charge of the infirmary where she coped well. Later she became the convent’s sacristan, creating beautiful embroidery for altar cloths and vestments. But in 1872 Bernadette’s health deteriorated again and for a time she was confined to her room. When she recovered she reverted to the role of assistant nurse.
In April, 1875, she took to her bed again and remained a permanent invalid. Of great comfort to her was the knowledge that she lived in a spirit of close intimacy with Jesus, whose love knew no limits. ‘He is sufficient for me' she once said.Bernadette developed tuberculosis of the bone in the right knee, a most painful condition which she bore stoically. The name ‘Bernadette’ means ‘brave as a bear’, and she certainly lived up to it. Not surprisingly, she was universally loved and admired by the community she lived among, with the possible exception of the mistress of novices.
The end came on Wednesday, 16th April, 1879. Bernadette asked to be lifted from her bed. After making her last confession she recited the prayer for the dying. She asked for a drink of water, made the Sign of the Cross, bowed her head and died. It was 3 o’clock in the afternoon. She was just 35.
Sister Bernard Dalias wrote : “As soon as she was dead, Bernadette’s face became young and peaceful again.” About 11 o’clock, on the following day, her body was brought down to the chapel. She appeared to be sleeping. The news of her death caused a sensation in Nevers and well beyond. “She’s gone to see the Blessed Virgin again in Heaven!” was the cry. Crowds of people hurried through the rain to catch a glimpse of her.
The main doors of the chapel were left open for two whole days so that everyone could go in and pray before the Altar of Repose. Four of the sisters were kept busy touching the body with pious objects belonging to the lines of people filing past. Working men and women handed up their tools to be touched against Bernadette’s hands. Some of the local garrison’s officers laid the hilt of their swords on her hands and remained afterwards to pray. Such were the crowds that the funeral had to be delayed by a day.
Bernadette was not buried in the town cemetery. Her Mother Superior insisted on keeping her within the convent walls in a vault constructed in the secluded oratory.Thirty years after her death her body was exhumed. There was no trace of corruption, though her crucifix was tarnished by verdigris and her rosary corroded with rust, proving that damp existed within the coffin. Ten years later the body was exhumed again and once more revealed no sign of corruption. After this, Bernadette’s mortal remains were placed in a casket of gilded bronze and crystal in a chapel where all can still see her today at the Convent of Saint-Gildard in Nevers.
In August, 1913, Pope Pius X conferred the title on her of Venerable. Ten years later Pius XI published a decree on the heroic nature of the virtues of the Venerable Sister Marie-Bernard Soubirous. It stated: “This life can be summed up in three sentences: Bernadette was faithful to her mission, she was humble in glory, she was valiant under trial.” The Congregation for Rites examined the authenticity of the ten miracles put forward for her Beatification. It selected two – those of Henri Boisselet and Sister Marie-Melanie Meyer.
On 8th December,1933, Bernadette was finally canonized by Pope Pius XI with the words: “We define and declare the Blessed Marie-Bernard Soubirous a Saint.” Her annual Feast Day is 16th April. In France it is celebrated on February 18th, the date of the third apparition, when Our Lady first spoke to her.
SAYINGS OF BERNADETTE
“If we had faith, we would feel the divine presence everywhere.”
“For the few years we still have to live in this world, we must do our best to spend our time as well as possible.”
Someone remarked to Bernadette that she seemed to take the trials of life with great patience, and she replied: “As it is Our Lord Himself who sends it, I must take it.”
Bernadette was asked to explain how she bore suffering for Christ and she said (this is my personal favorite saying of Bernadette) “Suffering passes, but to have borne suffering – remains.”
Someone remarked to Bernadette: “You suffer a lot, don’t you?” She replied, “Well, what do you expect? The Blessed Virgin told me that I would not be happy in this world, but in the next.”
“I would like to know the defects of the saints and what they did to correct these defects. That would help me much more than hearing about their miracles and ecstasies.”
This is some advice Bernadette gave that I often use in confession and in my own life … she said, “The first impulse does not belong to us, but the second does.”
“Oh my God, may Thy will be done! I accept all sufferings since such is Thy will.”
Her Aunt Bernarde and her former foster mother, Maria Lagues, provided the family with some relief by taking the child to live with them for long periods, but in return insisted that Bernadette, instead of attending school, should look after their children.
When Bernadette returned home she was kept busy looking after her younger sister and two brothers. Thus she missed out on her schooling and for a long time was unable to learn how to read and write. It caused some people to regard her as stupid, but as her behavior during and after the apparitions showed, she had plenty of sturdy common sense and, on occasions, a lively personality.
Although her inability to read and write prevented her from learning her catechism, delaying her First Communion, Bernadette imbibed her faith from those around her and was completely familiar with the rosary she carried with her everywhere. Like the general population of the area she had a simple but rugged faith in God. It was typical of her that when she first saw the Lady in the grotto she instinctively pulled out her rosary and began to pray.
At the time of the visions she experienced at Massabielle Bernadette revealed two sides to her character. Humbly aware of her family’s poverty and her own backwardness, she was extremely modest and respectful in her manner. On the other hand she was invariably straightforward, honest and direct when interviewed, never embroidering her accounts. She recoiled in horror when people tried to press money into her hand and was scornful of those urging her to bless their rosaries. ‘I don’t have a purple stole,’ she reminded them. When a visiting Bishop offered to exchange his gold-mounted rosary for hers she thanked him but said quite firmly that she preferred her own.
In her scholarly book, ‘Lourdes’, Ruth Harris tells a charming story which reveals her reaction to scepticism:
“The Comte de Broussard, a debauched atheist, talked to Bernadette in July, 1858, purely to “catch the little one in a blatant lie”. His first glance told him she was “common enough”, but her simplicity and self assurance soon disturbed him. After hearing the story of the apparitions, he asked Bernadette to show him how the “belle dame” (beautiful lady) smiled.
“Oh, Monsieur, you’d have to be from heaven to imitate that smile.”
“Can’t you do it for me? I’m a non-believer and don’t hold with apparitions.”
The child’s countenance darkened. “Then sir, you think I am a liar?”
I was completely disarmed. No, Bernadette was not a liar, and I was on the point of going down on my knees to ask her forgiveness.
“Since you are a sinner,” she went on, "I will show you the Virgin’s smile.”
Since then I have lost my wife and two daughters, but it seems to me that I am far from being alone in the world. I live with the Virgin’s smile.’”
Her simple, straightforward manner impressed all who had dealings with her. One imagines that her utter joy in experiencing visions of Our Lady must have given her added confidence. In addition, the people of Lourdes and numerous visitors from elsewhere made a great fuss of her. On one occasion when she had finally escaped the crowds by taking refuge in a sympathetic neighbour’s house, she crept home in the dark to her bed, answering her mother’s query as to how she felt with a sigh. “I’m worn out with all that kissing.”
But life wasn’t all serious. In her excellent book, “Bernadette and Lourdes”, Ann Stafford describes how, at recreation, “she thoroughly enjoyed herself; she laughed and played and joked with children of all ages, completely happy, unless she was called away to see visitors.”
In January, 1862, The Bishop of Tarbes announced the Church’s belief that Mary the Immaculate Mother of God had in fact appeared to Bernadette Soubirous, and that certain cures had taken place at Lourdes for which there was no natural explanation. “The finger of God is here.”
Bernadette herself was now living in the local hospice run by nuns. When the apparitions were a thing of the past she referred to herself as “the broom placed behind the door once it has been used.” Her family, with the help of relatives and friends, had moved into more suitable accommodation. When the Bishop of Nevers visited the hospice and suggested it was time for her to consider getting married, she replied: “As for that—no way!” When he then proposed entry to a convent she regretted that as well, as always being ill, she was too poor to provide the customary dowry, adding, “Besides, I know nothing and am good for nothing.”
Bernadette would have preferred to become a Carmelite, but her bad health ruled out that possibility. However, in 1866 she joined the Sisters of Charity and entered the Convent of Saint-Gildard at Nevers. Being such at such a far distance from Lourdes, Nevers was very well suited to Bernadette’s wish to hide from the public. She arrived at the Convent of Saint-Gildard on 7th July, 1866. She was twenty-two. When the Reverend Mother asked her on admission, “What can you do?” her simple answer was: “Nothing very well!” On her second day in the Convent she was obliged to tell her story to the whole community. The mistress of novices, Mother Marie-Therese Vauzou, decided to treat Bernadette twice as severely as the others, so as to guard her against the danger of pride.
On 29th July she took the nun’s habit with the name Sister Marie-Bernard. It was not long before she fell ill and had to be taken to the infirmary. At the end of October she was deemed to be so close to death that the Bishop of Nevers administered Extreme Unction and allowed her to take her vows in advance. But she recovered the next day, much to the chagrin of the novice mistress who accused her of putting on her illness! Bernadette never complained of the severity of the mistress of novices. “She is right – I am proud – I shall work at trying to improve myself!”
Because of her delicate state of health the Bishop assigned her the task of prayer. She was given the light role of assistant to the convent’s nurse, but when the latter fell ill and died, Bernadette was put in charge of the infirmary where she coped well. Later she became the convent’s sacristan, creating beautiful embroidery for altar cloths and vestments. But in 1872 Bernadette’s health deteriorated again and for a time she was confined to her room. When she recovered she reverted to the role of assistant nurse.
In April, 1875, she took to her bed again and remained a permanent invalid. Of great comfort to her was the knowledge that she lived in a spirit of close intimacy with Jesus, whose love knew no limits. ‘He is sufficient for me' she once said.Bernadette developed tuberculosis of the bone in the right knee, a most painful condition which she bore stoically. The name ‘Bernadette’ means ‘brave as a bear’, and she certainly lived up to it. Not surprisingly, she was universally loved and admired by the community she lived among, with the possible exception of the mistress of novices.
The end came on Wednesday, 16th April, 1879. Bernadette asked to be lifted from her bed. After making her last confession she recited the prayer for the dying. She asked for a drink of water, made the Sign of the Cross, bowed her head and died. It was 3 o’clock in the afternoon. She was just 35.
Sister Bernard Dalias wrote : “As soon as she was dead, Bernadette’s face became young and peaceful again.” About 11 o’clock, on the following day, her body was brought down to the chapel. She appeared to be sleeping. The news of her death caused a sensation in Nevers and well beyond. “She’s gone to see the Blessed Virgin again in Heaven!” was the cry. Crowds of people hurried through the rain to catch a glimpse of her.
The main doors of the chapel were left open for two whole days so that everyone could go in and pray before the Altar of Repose. Four of the sisters were kept busy touching the body with pious objects belonging to the lines of people filing past. Working men and women handed up their tools to be touched against Bernadette’s hands. Some of the local garrison’s officers laid the hilt of their swords on her hands and remained afterwards to pray. Such were the crowds that the funeral had to be delayed by a day.
Bernadette was not buried in the town cemetery. Her Mother Superior insisted on keeping her within the convent walls in a vault constructed in the secluded oratory.Thirty years after her death her body was exhumed. There was no trace of corruption, though her crucifix was tarnished by verdigris and her rosary corroded with rust, proving that damp existed within the coffin. Ten years later the body was exhumed again and once more revealed no sign of corruption. After this, Bernadette’s mortal remains were placed in a casket of gilded bronze and crystal in a chapel where all can still see her today at the Convent of Saint-Gildard in Nevers.
In August, 1913, Pope Pius X conferred the title on her of Venerable. Ten years later Pius XI published a decree on the heroic nature of the virtues of the Venerable Sister Marie-Bernard Soubirous. It stated: “This life can be summed up in three sentences: Bernadette was faithful to her mission, she was humble in glory, she was valiant under trial.” The Congregation for Rites examined the authenticity of the ten miracles put forward for her Beatification. It selected two – those of Henri Boisselet and Sister Marie-Melanie Meyer.
On 8th December,1933, Bernadette was finally canonized by Pope Pius XI with the words: “We define and declare the Blessed Marie-Bernard Soubirous a Saint.” Her annual Feast Day is 16th April. In France it is celebrated on February 18th, the date of the third apparition, when Our Lady first spoke to her.
SAYINGS OF BERNADETTE
“If we had faith, we would feel the divine presence everywhere.”
“For the few years we still have to live in this world, we must do our best to spend our time as well as possible.”
Someone remarked to Bernadette that she seemed to take the trials of life with great patience, and she replied: “As it is Our Lord Himself who sends it, I must take it.”
Bernadette was asked to explain how she bore suffering for Christ and she said (this is my personal favorite saying of Bernadette) “Suffering passes, but to have borne suffering – remains.”
Someone remarked to Bernadette: “You suffer a lot, don’t you?” She replied, “Well, what do you expect? The Blessed Virgin told me that I would not be happy in this world, but in the next.”
“I would like to know the defects of the saints and what they did to correct these defects. That would help me much more than hearing about their miracles and ecstasies.”
This is some advice Bernadette gave that I often use in confession and in my own life … she said, “The first impulse does not belong to us, but the second does.”
“Oh my God, may Thy will be done! I accept all sufferings since such is Thy will.”
PART TWO : THE APPARITIONS
THE FIRST APPARITION
Thursday, February 11th
Thursday, February 11th
On the morning of February 11th, 1858, when the family awoke in the damp and miserable Cachot there was no more firewood for the fire and Bernadette pleaded with her mother to be allowed to find some new firewood. Eventually her mother consented, although she as always was concerned for her daughter and whether she would suffer another asthma attack. Bernadette and her sister, Toinette, and a friend, Jeanne Abadie, were told to fetch some firewood for the fire. It was while gathering firewood with her sister and a friend, near the grotto of Massabielle, that she would have her first vision.
As St. Bernadette herself says: “The first time I went to the grotto, was Thursday, 11th February, 1858. I went to gather firewood with two other little girls (Toinette, her sister, and their friend Jeanne Abadie). When we got to the mill (of Savy), I asked the other two if they would like to see where the water of the mill joins the River Gave. They said 'Yes.' From there we followed the canal. When we arrived there (at the foot of the rock of Massabielle) we found ourselves before a grotto.”
On land bordered by a loop of the River Gave (Gave de Pau), is an outcrop of rock called Massabielle (the word comes from "Massevielle" which means "old rock" in the local dialect). In this outcrop of rock, on its north side, there was an area near the river bank, where a naturally occurring, irregularly shaped shallow cave or grotto had been formed. The rock, in which we find the grotto, is about 70 feet high and is covered with shrubs and ivy. It seems to be supported by an enormous natural vault, which is nothing more than the grotto itself. It is here that the apparitions would take place.
Their path was obstructed by a small stream running into the river, at which point one of the girls suggested they take off shoes and stockings, wade across and continue searching on the opposite side. Bernadette never seemed to enjoy good health and was reluctant to go wading in cold water, fearing an attack of asthma. For it was a cold day, and she had been told by her mother not to get wet and risk catching a cold. Bernadette asked Jeanne to take her on her shoulders, but Jeanne refused and bluntly told Bernadette, “If you won’t come, stay where you are!”
Her sister and friend raced on and quickly removed their stockings in order to cross the river in front of the grotto.St. Bernadette continues in her own words: “As they could go no further, my two companions prepared to cross the water lying before their path; so I found myself alone on the other side. They crossed the water; they started to cry. I asked them why and they told me that the water was cold. I begged them to help me throw a few rocks into the water so that I could cross without taking my stockings off. They replied that I could do as they had done.”
Whilst being teased by her sister, she eventually decided to cross the river to help find the firewood. So she started looking for a place to cross where she wouldn’t get her stockings wet. She finally sat down in the grotto to take her shoes off in order to cross the water and was taking off her first sock when she heard the sound of rushing wind, but nothing moved. A wild rose in a natural niche in the grotto, however, did move. From the niche, or rather the dark alcove behind it, “came a dazzling light, and a white figure.” This was the first of 18 appearances that Our Lady would make to Bernadette. Here is St. Bernadette’s own account of the events (Taken from “Ecrits de Saint Bernadette” — The Writings of Saint Bernadette):
“I had hardly taken off the first stocking when I heard a sound like a gust of wind. Then I turned my head towards the meadow. I saw the trees quite still: I went on taking off my stockings. I heard the same sound again. As I raised my head to look at the grotto, I saw a Lady dressed in white, wearing a white dress, a blue girdle and a yellow rose on each foot, the same color as the chain of her Rosary; the beads of the Rosary were white.
“The Lady made a sign for me to approach; but I was seized with fear, and I did not dare, thinking that I was faced with an illusion. I rubbed my eyes, but in vain. I looked again, and I could still see the same Lady. Then I put my hand into my pocket, and took my Rosary. I wanted to make the sign of the cross, but in vain; I could not raise my hand to my forehead, it kept on dropping. Then a violent impression took hold of me more strongly, but I did not go.
“The Lady took the Rosary that she held in her hands and she made the sign of the cross. Then I commenced not to be afraid. I took my Rosary again; I was able to make the sign of the cross; from that moment I felt perfectly undisturbed in mind. I knelt down and said my Rosary, seeing this Lady always before my eyes. The Vision slipped the beads of her Rosary between her fingers, but she did not move her lips. When I had said my Rosary the Lady made a sign for me to approach, but I did not dare. I stayed in the same place. Then, all of a sudden, she disappeared.
“I started to remove the other stocking to cross the shallow water near the grotto so as to join my companions. And we went away. As we returned, I asked my companions if they had seen anything. ‘No,’ they replied. ‘And what about you? Did you see anything?’ ‘Oh, no, if you have seen nothing, neither have I.’
“I thought I had been mistaken. But as we went, all the way, they kept asking me what I had seen. I did not want to tell them. Seeing that they kept on asking I decided to tell them, on condition that they would tell nobody. They promised not to tell. They said that I must never go there again, nor would they, thinking that it was someone who would harm us. I said no. As soon as they arrived home they hastened to say that I had seen a Lady dressed in white. That was the first time.”
On realizing that she alone had seen the apparition, and not her companions, she asked her sister Toinette not to tell anyone what had happened. Toinette, however, was unable to keep silent, and told their mother, Louise Soubirous. Both girls received a beating, and Bernadette was forbidden by her mother from returning to the Grotto again.
As St. Bernadette herself says: “The first time I went to the grotto, was Thursday, 11th February, 1858. I went to gather firewood with two other little girls (Toinette, her sister, and their friend Jeanne Abadie). When we got to the mill (of Savy), I asked the other two if they would like to see where the water of the mill joins the River Gave. They said 'Yes.' From there we followed the canal. When we arrived there (at the foot of the rock of Massabielle) we found ourselves before a grotto.”
On land bordered by a loop of the River Gave (Gave de Pau), is an outcrop of rock called Massabielle (the word comes from "Massevielle" which means "old rock" in the local dialect). In this outcrop of rock, on its north side, there was an area near the river bank, where a naturally occurring, irregularly shaped shallow cave or grotto had been formed. The rock, in which we find the grotto, is about 70 feet high and is covered with shrubs and ivy. It seems to be supported by an enormous natural vault, which is nothing more than the grotto itself. It is here that the apparitions would take place.
Their path was obstructed by a small stream running into the river, at which point one of the girls suggested they take off shoes and stockings, wade across and continue searching on the opposite side. Bernadette never seemed to enjoy good health and was reluctant to go wading in cold water, fearing an attack of asthma. For it was a cold day, and she had been told by her mother not to get wet and risk catching a cold. Bernadette asked Jeanne to take her on her shoulders, but Jeanne refused and bluntly told Bernadette, “If you won’t come, stay where you are!”
Her sister and friend raced on and quickly removed their stockings in order to cross the river in front of the grotto.St. Bernadette continues in her own words: “As they could go no further, my two companions prepared to cross the water lying before their path; so I found myself alone on the other side. They crossed the water; they started to cry. I asked them why and they told me that the water was cold. I begged them to help me throw a few rocks into the water so that I could cross without taking my stockings off. They replied that I could do as they had done.”
Whilst being teased by her sister, she eventually decided to cross the river to help find the firewood. So she started looking for a place to cross where she wouldn’t get her stockings wet. She finally sat down in the grotto to take her shoes off in order to cross the water and was taking off her first sock when she heard the sound of rushing wind, but nothing moved. A wild rose in a natural niche in the grotto, however, did move. From the niche, or rather the dark alcove behind it, “came a dazzling light, and a white figure.” This was the first of 18 appearances that Our Lady would make to Bernadette. Here is St. Bernadette’s own account of the events (Taken from “Ecrits de Saint Bernadette” — The Writings of Saint Bernadette):
“I had hardly taken off the first stocking when I heard a sound like a gust of wind. Then I turned my head towards the meadow. I saw the trees quite still: I went on taking off my stockings. I heard the same sound again. As I raised my head to look at the grotto, I saw a Lady dressed in white, wearing a white dress, a blue girdle and a yellow rose on each foot, the same color as the chain of her Rosary; the beads of the Rosary were white.
“The Lady made a sign for me to approach; but I was seized with fear, and I did not dare, thinking that I was faced with an illusion. I rubbed my eyes, but in vain. I looked again, and I could still see the same Lady. Then I put my hand into my pocket, and took my Rosary. I wanted to make the sign of the cross, but in vain; I could not raise my hand to my forehead, it kept on dropping. Then a violent impression took hold of me more strongly, but I did not go.
“The Lady took the Rosary that she held in her hands and she made the sign of the cross. Then I commenced not to be afraid. I took my Rosary again; I was able to make the sign of the cross; from that moment I felt perfectly undisturbed in mind. I knelt down and said my Rosary, seeing this Lady always before my eyes. The Vision slipped the beads of her Rosary between her fingers, but she did not move her lips. When I had said my Rosary the Lady made a sign for me to approach, but I did not dare. I stayed in the same place. Then, all of a sudden, she disappeared.
“I started to remove the other stocking to cross the shallow water near the grotto so as to join my companions. And we went away. As we returned, I asked my companions if they had seen anything. ‘No,’ they replied. ‘And what about you? Did you see anything?’ ‘Oh, no, if you have seen nothing, neither have I.’
“I thought I had been mistaken. But as we went, all the way, they kept asking me what I had seen. I did not want to tell them. Seeing that they kept on asking I decided to tell them, on condition that they would tell nobody. They promised not to tell. They said that I must never go there again, nor would they, thinking that it was someone who would harm us. I said no. As soon as they arrived home they hastened to say that I had seen a Lady dressed in white. That was the first time.”
On realizing that she alone had seen the apparition, and not her companions, she asked her sister Toinette not to tell anyone what had happened. Toinette, however, was unable to keep silent, and told their mother, Louise Soubirous. Both girls received a beating, and Bernadette was forbidden by her mother from returning to the Grotto again.
THE SECOND APPARITION
Sunday, February 14th
Sunday, February 14th
After the first apparition of Thursday, February 11th, Bernadette wanted to go back to the Massabeille the very next day, but her mother, after talking the matter over with a sister, refused to give her permission. Bernadette now showed the independence of spirit—some were to characterize it as obstinacy—that became one of her outstanding traits. When she told her confessor of the apparition, Fr. Pomian made light of it, thinking the girl suffered from hallucinations.
Nevertheless, on the following Sunday Bernadette asked if she might go to the grotto and her father told her she might go if she took a flask of holy water with her, to exorcise the apparition should it prove to be a demon. Bernadette, advancing ahead of several little friends who accompanied her, knelt before the grotto and soon the vision appeared as before.
Here is the account of the second apparition in Bernadette's own words: "The second time was the following Sunday. I went back because I felt myself interiorly impelled. My mother had forbidden me to go. After High Mass, the two other girls and myself went to ask my mother again. She did not want to let us go, she said that she was afraid that I should fall in the water; she was afraid that I would not be back for Vespers. I promised that I would. Then she gave me permission to go.
“I went to the Parish Church to get a little bottle of holy water, to throw over the Vision, if I were to see her at the grotto. When we arrived, we all took our Rosaries and we knelt down to say them. I had hardly finished the first decade when I saw the same Lady. Then I started to throw holy water in her direction, and at the same time I said that if she came from God she was to stay, but if not, she must go. She started to smile, and bowed; and the more I sprinkled her with holy water, the more she smiled and bowed her head and the more I saw her make signs. Then I was seized with fright and I hurried to sprinkle her with holy water until the bottle was empty. Then I went on saying my Rosary. When I had finished it she disappeared and we came back to Vespers. This was the second time.”
Troubled by the notion that the apparition might represent an evil spirit, Bernadette used the holy water as a test. A further reassuring sign was the apparition’s beautiful bare feet; demonic apparitions (even while in human form) were believed to have cloven hooves or animal paws.
Nevertheless, on the following Sunday Bernadette asked if she might go to the grotto and her father told her she might go if she took a flask of holy water with her, to exorcise the apparition should it prove to be a demon. Bernadette, advancing ahead of several little friends who accompanied her, knelt before the grotto and soon the vision appeared as before.
Here is the account of the second apparition in Bernadette's own words: "The second time was the following Sunday. I went back because I felt myself interiorly impelled. My mother had forbidden me to go. After High Mass, the two other girls and myself went to ask my mother again. She did not want to let us go, she said that she was afraid that I should fall in the water; she was afraid that I would not be back for Vespers. I promised that I would. Then she gave me permission to go.
“I went to the Parish Church to get a little bottle of holy water, to throw over the Vision, if I were to see her at the grotto. When we arrived, we all took our Rosaries and we knelt down to say them. I had hardly finished the first decade when I saw the same Lady. Then I started to throw holy water in her direction, and at the same time I said that if she came from God she was to stay, but if not, she must go. She started to smile, and bowed; and the more I sprinkled her with holy water, the more she smiled and bowed her head and the more I saw her make signs. Then I was seized with fright and I hurried to sprinkle her with holy water until the bottle was empty. Then I went on saying my Rosary. When I had finished it she disappeared and we came back to Vespers. This was the second time.”
Troubled by the notion that the apparition might represent an evil spirit, Bernadette used the holy water as a test. A further reassuring sign was the apparition’s beautiful bare feet; demonic apparitions (even while in human form) were believed to have cloven hooves or animal paws.
THE THIRD APPARITION
Thursday, February 18th
Thursday, February 18th
The Apparition did not speak until the third appearance, and therefore its identity was a matter of considerable speculation. Two pious villagers Jeanne-Marie Milhet and Antionette Peyret, on hearing Bernadette's description of the apparition, considered it may have been a “revenant” (French for “coming back”), meaning a soul returning from Purgatory. Although it was something not officially taught in Catholic doctrine, since onoe has to be careful with regard to such phenomena, the concept of the revenant was deeply routed in the Pyrenean mindset; furthermore, it was a held belief that “revenants” frequently manifested themselves to young children.
Jeanne-Marie and Antoinette thought the "damiezelo," as Bernadette called her, was the returning spirit of a young woman, one of their dear friends, who had died a few months before. The previous October, the head of the local chapter of The Children of Mary, a woman named Elisa Latapie, had died—they thought that the apparition might be Elisa. “Revenants” rarely spoke, but communicated their messages in writing. Therefore, after going to the 5:30 a.m. Mass one morning, Jeanne-Marie Milhet and Antoinette Peyret, being ardent partisans of the soul-in-Purgatory hypothesis, set out to accompany Bernadette to the grotto and furnished her with paper, a pen and an inkpot to offer pen and ink to the Lady, with a request that she write down what she wished of the people, or at lest tell what was her motive in coming.
On this occasion the same little figure appeared to Bernadette, smiled warmly, and spoke, asking Bernadette to come every day for fifteen days. Bernadette promised to come, provided she was given permission to do so. Since neither her god-mother, who was her mother's sister, nor the priest actually forbade it, Bernadette's parents offered no objection.
Here is Bernadette’s account of the third apparition: "The third time was the following Thursday. The Lady only spoke to me the third time. I went to the grotto with a few mature people, who advised me to take paper and ink, and to ask her, if she had anything to say to me, to have the goodness to put it on paper. I said these words to the Lady. She smiled and said that it was not necessary for her to write what she had to say to me, but asked if I would do her the favor of coming for fifteen days. I told her that I would. She told me also that she did not promise to make me happy in this world, but in the next."
Although she spoke in Occitan, the regional language which Bernadette (whose French was poor) used, the apparition used remarkably formal language in her request: "Would you be so gracious as to come here for fifteen days?" (in Occitan: "Boulet aoue ra gracia de bié aci penden quinze dias?"; in French: "Voulez-vous me faire la grâce de venir ici pendant quinze jours?"). This significance of this politeness was not lost on the observers. As a penniless peasant girl, it would be very unusual for anyone to adopt this formal form of address when speaking to Bernadette.
While Bernadette returned to her companions, the Blessed Virgin followed her with her eyes, then, for a moment, looked tenderly at Antoinette, who was a member of the Sodality of the Children of Mary. “She is looking at you, now” said Bernadette to the young girl, who remained awe-stricken. “Ask her” said the two women again, “if it would displease her if we came with you every day during the fifteen days.” Bernadette put the question; and the Lady answered: “They may return with you; they, and others besides. I wish to see many persons here.” And she disappeared; and, after her, the celestial light which had surrounded her also gradually vanished.
Bernadette’s two companions related to her parents all that they had seen and heard. Much affected by all this, her parents began to believe, and resolved that one or the other of them should accompany their daughter to see everything for themselves. Bernadette repeated, with her usual candor, all that the Lady of the grotto had said, and how she had made her promise to return there every day for fifteen days.
That day was a market-day at Lourdes. The news of the apparitions in the grotto of Massabielle spread amongst the crowd, and, by the next day, the wonderful details agitated, not only the whole town of Lourdes, but the mountains and valleys, all the country round. “If the apparition is real” was generally said, “it is certainly the Blessed Virgin who is appearing to Bernadette.”
Jeanne-Marie and Antoinette thought the "damiezelo," as Bernadette called her, was the returning spirit of a young woman, one of their dear friends, who had died a few months before. The previous October, the head of the local chapter of The Children of Mary, a woman named Elisa Latapie, had died—they thought that the apparition might be Elisa. “Revenants” rarely spoke, but communicated their messages in writing. Therefore, after going to the 5:30 a.m. Mass one morning, Jeanne-Marie Milhet and Antoinette Peyret, being ardent partisans of the soul-in-Purgatory hypothesis, set out to accompany Bernadette to the grotto and furnished her with paper, a pen and an inkpot to offer pen and ink to the Lady, with a request that she write down what she wished of the people, or at lest tell what was her motive in coming.
On this occasion the same little figure appeared to Bernadette, smiled warmly, and spoke, asking Bernadette to come every day for fifteen days. Bernadette promised to come, provided she was given permission to do so. Since neither her god-mother, who was her mother's sister, nor the priest actually forbade it, Bernadette's parents offered no objection.
Here is Bernadette’s account of the third apparition: "The third time was the following Thursday. The Lady only spoke to me the third time. I went to the grotto with a few mature people, who advised me to take paper and ink, and to ask her, if she had anything to say to me, to have the goodness to put it on paper. I said these words to the Lady. She smiled and said that it was not necessary for her to write what she had to say to me, but asked if I would do her the favor of coming for fifteen days. I told her that I would. She told me also that she did not promise to make me happy in this world, but in the next."
Although she spoke in Occitan, the regional language which Bernadette (whose French was poor) used, the apparition used remarkably formal language in her request: "Would you be so gracious as to come here for fifteen days?" (in Occitan: "Boulet aoue ra gracia de bié aci penden quinze dias?"; in French: "Voulez-vous me faire la grâce de venir ici pendant quinze jours?"). This significance of this politeness was not lost on the observers. As a penniless peasant girl, it would be very unusual for anyone to adopt this formal form of address when speaking to Bernadette.
While Bernadette returned to her companions, the Blessed Virgin followed her with her eyes, then, for a moment, looked tenderly at Antoinette, who was a member of the Sodality of the Children of Mary. “She is looking at you, now” said Bernadette to the young girl, who remained awe-stricken. “Ask her” said the two women again, “if it would displease her if we came with you every day during the fifteen days.” Bernadette put the question; and the Lady answered: “They may return with you; they, and others besides. I wish to see many persons here.” And she disappeared; and, after her, the celestial light which had surrounded her also gradually vanished.
Bernadette’s two companions related to her parents all that they had seen and heard. Much affected by all this, her parents began to believe, and resolved that one or the other of them should accompany their daughter to see everything for themselves. Bernadette repeated, with her usual candor, all that the Lady of the grotto had said, and how she had made her promise to return there every day for fifteen days.
That day was a market-day at Lourdes. The news of the apparitions in the grotto of Massabielle spread amongst the crowd, and, by the next day, the wonderful details agitated, not only the whole town of Lourdes, but the mountains and valleys, all the country round. “If the apparition is real” was generally said, “it is certainly the Blessed Virgin who is appearing to Bernadette.”
THE FOURTH APPARITION
Friday, February 19th
Friday, February 19th
On the morning of Friday, February 19th, the first day of the mysterious fifteen days of visits spoken of by Our Lady, Louise Soubirous, Bernadette’s mother, whose heart was deeply stirred by all the strange news which report brought to her cottage, determined to go herself with her daughter to the Grotto. At daybreak, therefore, both of them, accompanied by her Aunt Bernarde, godmother of the child, carefully traversed the Rue des Petits-Fosses, well wrapped up in their hoods, for the north wind was bitterly cold. In a short time quite a retinue had joined them on the river-banks, the first-fruits of those crowds of Lourdes who will nevermore cease to flock there in ever-increasing numbers, until around 100 persons were present, with the tendency peculiar to all such gatherings, some suspecting a trick of the Evil One in so sensational an event, others inclined to see in it only some selfish trickery, or maybe morbid hallucination, while the majority were beginning to see in it the finger of God. What happened before the eyes of the family just now come?
Always clad in her poor black dress, her head covered with her little white woolen capulet, she quietly advanced, taper in hand, knelt down before the grotto, took her Rosary and prayed as if she were alone. Everything about her breathed innocence, truth, and candor The heavenly apparition disappeared almost always at the instant when the favored little one had finished her Rosary.
After the usual rites (bows, prostrations, and prayer), the little child, as before, was rapt in ecstasy, more sensibly than on previous occasions. When the overjoyed mother and housewife saw her Bernadette thus supernaturalized, and as if carried away by angelic bliss, with those unearthly smiles that lit up her countenance, usually so very plain, with transports of unearthly joy, which made her frail body tremble, she wept, she grew anxious, and complained that they had changed her child, whilst around her the stupefied bystanders said to one another, pointing at the young wonder worker: “How beautiful she is!” All who saw Bernadette in ecstasy declared that they never beheld anything like it on earth, and that long years after, their impression of it was as vivid as on the first day.
The heavenly vision lasted nearly half-an-hour, amid the respectful silence of the crowd. When Bernadette returned to herself, calm, but visibly moved, her first greetings were for her mother, thus proving that religion, even when rapt to the heavens, so far from checking the lawful feelings of Nature, only makes them stronger, while purifying them. And whilst she came to her side, amid the friendly cortege, whose astonishment began to show itself by veneration, the child-seer, becoming the poor, ragged daughter of a miller, informed them that, pleased with her punctuality, the beautiful Lady was going shortly to confide to her important revelations.
She told them also that this morning, when their conversation was most interesting, a hubbub of uncouth noises, contrasting hideously with the sweet voice of the unknown Lady, had sounded quite close to them, as if coming from underground near the waters of the canal; and these voices, wrangling, shouting together, and disputing, like the discordant cries of a mob quarrelling, filled the air with barbarous dissonance. At one time, even, one of these voices, harsh and grating, cried out, doubtless to terrify the timid child: “Save yourself! Save yourself!” But the shining and glistening Lady had only to raise her head, frown with displeasure, and with an imperious glance turn towards the river, and at once this horrible discord, undoubtedly from Hell, ceased as if by magic.
Could the Evil One have foreseen at this hour that this spot of earth, fraught with destiny, was going to pass from under his sway, where he had hitherto performed his horrid rites? And was he not then trying to thwart the designs of Providence, as he will eventually try in so many ways, either by violence or craft? Only what avails the insolence of the bad angels, joined to their fury, in the presence of her who, terrible
Always clad in her poor black dress, her head covered with her little white woolen capulet, she quietly advanced, taper in hand, knelt down before the grotto, took her Rosary and prayed as if she were alone. Everything about her breathed innocence, truth, and candor The heavenly apparition disappeared almost always at the instant when the favored little one had finished her Rosary.
After the usual rites (bows, prostrations, and prayer), the little child, as before, was rapt in ecstasy, more sensibly than on previous occasions. When the overjoyed mother and housewife saw her Bernadette thus supernaturalized, and as if carried away by angelic bliss, with those unearthly smiles that lit up her countenance, usually so very plain, with transports of unearthly joy, which made her frail body tremble, she wept, she grew anxious, and complained that they had changed her child, whilst around her the stupefied bystanders said to one another, pointing at the young wonder worker: “How beautiful she is!” All who saw Bernadette in ecstasy declared that they never beheld anything like it on earth, and that long years after, their impression of it was as vivid as on the first day.
The heavenly vision lasted nearly half-an-hour, amid the respectful silence of the crowd. When Bernadette returned to herself, calm, but visibly moved, her first greetings were for her mother, thus proving that religion, even when rapt to the heavens, so far from checking the lawful feelings of Nature, only makes them stronger, while purifying them. And whilst she came to her side, amid the friendly cortege, whose astonishment began to show itself by veneration, the child-seer, becoming the poor, ragged daughter of a miller, informed them that, pleased with her punctuality, the beautiful Lady was going shortly to confide to her important revelations.
She told them also that this morning, when their conversation was most interesting, a hubbub of uncouth noises, contrasting hideously with the sweet voice of the unknown Lady, had sounded quite close to them, as if coming from underground near the waters of the canal; and these voices, wrangling, shouting together, and disputing, like the discordant cries of a mob quarrelling, filled the air with barbarous dissonance. At one time, even, one of these voices, harsh and grating, cried out, doubtless to terrify the timid child: “Save yourself! Save yourself!” But the shining and glistening Lady had only to raise her head, frown with displeasure, and with an imperious glance turn towards the river, and at once this horrible discord, undoubtedly from Hell, ceased as if by magic.
Could the Evil One have foreseen at this hour that this spot of earth, fraught with destiny, was going to pass from under his sway, where he had hitherto performed his horrid rites? And was he not then trying to thwart the designs of Providence, as he will eventually try in so many ways, either by violence or craft? Only what avails the insolence of the bad angels, joined to their fury, in the presence of her who, terrible
THE FIFTH APPARITION
Saturday, February 20th
Saturday, February 20th
Thirty people were present. Bernadette reported later that the lady had taught her a prayer, which she said every day of her life, but never wrote down or repeated to anyone. Father Peyramale, the local parish curate, questioned Bernadette about the happiness she found at the Grotto. She answered "When I see her I feel as if I'm no longer of this world. And when the vision disappears I'm amazed to find myself still here."
Next day (Saturday, February 20th), when Bernadette appeared on the scene of these wonders, again accompanied by her mother, the approaches to Massabielle were already black with people, yet this crowd, of which all eyes were turned towards her, did not seem to embarrass or surprise her. As though no one was present, Bernadette went simply and knelt in her usual place a stone near the center of the excavation and, taking her Rosary, began to pray. She said the Hail Marys as she let drop bead after bead for some minutes, when, lo and behold, the punctual heavenly Messenger was at hand. At once the shepherd-girl began to return her smiles by smiles, and welcome by greetings, not knowing what to do in order to express better her reverent and affectionate homage, and she did this with such grace that her mother, Louise, more bewildered than content, said to those within ear-shot.
In truth, I no longer recognize my little child. In fact, the ecstasy today filled her completely. They came close to her; they stood up most reverently, not uttering a word, and holding their breath, in order to follow the marvel. Unable to discover anything, alas, on the side of the Grotto, lighted up and tenanted for the child alone, they deemed themselves happy to be able to see the wonderful reflection on the face of the child that seemed like an angel’s. After this too short scene, hardly lasting forty minutes, Bernadette declared that her Lady had deigned, becoming a teacher of Catechism, to teach her, word for word, a special prayer for her own use. How glad should we be to know and repeat this prayer that came from the heart of the Mother of God! O Mary, teach us to pray in like manner!
Next day (Saturday, February 20th), when Bernadette appeared on the scene of these wonders, again accompanied by her mother, the approaches to Massabielle were already black with people, yet this crowd, of which all eyes were turned towards her, did not seem to embarrass or surprise her. As though no one was present, Bernadette went simply and knelt in her usual place a stone near the center of the excavation and, taking her Rosary, began to pray. She said the Hail Marys as she let drop bead after bead for some minutes, when, lo and behold, the punctual heavenly Messenger was at hand. At once the shepherd-girl began to return her smiles by smiles, and welcome by greetings, not knowing what to do in order to express better her reverent and affectionate homage, and she did this with such grace that her mother, Louise, more bewildered than content, said to those within ear-shot.
In truth, I no longer recognize my little child. In fact, the ecstasy today filled her completely. They came close to her; they stood up most reverently, not uttering a word, and holding their breath, in order to follow the marvel. Unable to discover anything, alas, on the side of the Grotto, lighted up and tenanted for the child alone, they deemed themselves happy to be able to see the wonderful reflection on the face of the child that seemed like an angel’s. After this too short scene, hardly lasting forty minutes, Bernadette declared that her Lady had deigned, becoming a teacher of Catechism, to teach her, word for word, a special prayer for her own use. How glad should we be to know and repeat this prayer that came from the heart of the Mother of God! O Mary, teach us to pray in like manner!
THE SIXTH APPARITION
Sunday, February 21st
Sunday, February 21st
From the dawn of this first Sunday in Lent, the number of sightseers who had come by night to the appointed rendezvous was so great along the banks of the Gave that at six o’clock the little Soubirous had difficulty in making her way amid greetings that waxed ever more enthusiastic. Over 100 people were present and from now onwards, those numbers would grow into thousands.
Now, among the spectators, a doctor, notorious for his skepticism no less than for his skill, was convinced that the visions were simply the result of imagination or illusion due to a nervous or mental disorder. He resolved to come in person, in the secret hope of demolishing by a word, in the name of Science, all this childish display of pathological mysticism. But at the mere sight of the ecstatic child, lost in her wonderful vision, he soon recognized a case without a parallel, which doubtless it would not be easy to explain on medical grounds. So he returned to the Grotto several times in succession, always more attentive and more nonplussed. Everyone knows that, as the grace of God is never wanting to a man of good-will, Doctor Dozous (for it was he) ended by seeing everything in its true light. Recognizing, with a fairness and an independence not often met with, that the facts at Massabielle were supernatural, he was publicly converted. He was thus the first man of science won over by Bernadette he would certainly not be the last. When, then, the doctor had stated that the child, in the midst of her heavenly ecstasy, did not lose her self-possession, remaining ever calm and tranquil, and handing her candle, blown out by the wind, two or three times to her neighbor to be relit, her pulse remaining calm the whole time, her breathing normal, her circulation regular, and showing no signs of nervous excitement, his conscience forced him to confess that the finger of God was there.
During this fifth apparition, the doctor saw two large tears roll down her cheeks. Soon they learnt the meaning of this: the vision. Our Lady, after being happy and smiling, suddenly wore a sorrowful and pained look, when she gazed into the far distance, she discerned sights that saddened her. What Our Lady saw, as she explained at once to the alarmed Bernadette, were the sins of the world, already far too great, which came to dim accidentally the essential happiness of the Queen of Heaven, and imprint an unutterable sadness on Mary's glorious face.
The conclusion of this tearful episode was that it was necessary to pray much for poor sinners. Whenever we might go to Lourdes, it should be in a spirit of Reparation and Atonement, this should be the chief idea (too little insisted upon of hitherto) of our pilgrimages. God grant that the hoards of pilgrims may be more and more filled with this idea, in proportion as the evils of the present time grow even greater! But the divine joy did not long remain absent from the heart and face of the Lady, who, smiling graciously and happily as before, disappeared in the reflection of her own brightness.
As for Bernadette, the same evening of this memorable day, when she had witnessed the tears of the Mother of Christ, a terrible trial was about to befall her. Hardly had she returned to her wretched dwelling, when she found herself led off between two policemen to the police-station, there to hear herself bitterly reproached, and even threatened, by the local chief of police, and distinctly forbidden to go near the too-famous rocks any more. This scene is wonderfully like that of the Pretorium, at which, nineteen centuries ago, the holiest of Victims had to appear. The new Caiphas, the police-chief Mr. Dutour, employed his wiliest tricks to no purpose, in the hope of shaking her firm resolve, alleging by turns that the public order was imperiled, the majesty of the law disregarded nay, the sanctity of religion compromised. Quite as uselessly the police magistrate, Jacomet, of unhappy memory, added his persuasions, at first harsh, then mild and insinuating.
The witness of Our Lady found answers to every question; answers as natural as they were to the point without being frightened by brutality or won over by fake niceties ('hard-cop' and 'soft-cop' approach), or ever losing her self-possession, despite the deliberate falsification and twisting of her previous replies, and every kind of false testimony.
Mr. Estrade, a tax-collector, who was an intelligent and thoughtful man, was present either by chance or by the will of Providence at her examination. He became so indignant by the manner of it, that he was inclined to take Bernadette's side, rightly judging that such an attitude on the part of an ignorant young child before this display of civil authority was decidedly supernatural. The sudden arrival of her father, who was immediately intimidated and frightened in the face of this severity of the law, sided with them; but this could not shake the heart of the shepherdess in her firm resolve to revisit Massabielle, whither she felt irresistibly drawn in spite of herself, as soon as circumstances would allow her.
How sad this cold Sunday evening must have been under the roof of the Soubirous family room, especially to the heart of the little child! For it is needless to say that mental anguish was from this time added to external trials. On the one hand the Apparition invited her, yet she saw herself restrained from going there by filial reverence. What was she to do? Was she going to the enchanting Vision, so good and sweet, at the sacrifice of duty, a duty to obey parents and legitimate authorities, which was required by the solemn authority of the Ten Commandments? It was indeed a cruel dilemma!
Whilst waiting till it should please the shining Lady itself to settle this conflict of conscience, Bernadette, like a good Christian, went early next day, Monday February 22nd, not to the Grotto, as she had longed to do hitherto, but to the school.
In the evening, when she had to return to the Sisters, a strange thing happened. Arriving, with her little basket on her arm, at the two paths leading to the hospice, she feels, as it were, an invisible but real barrier, which holds her back. Several times she tries, indeed, to go along the path where obedience calls her, but in vain! Then, thinking she knows, in her childish conscience, that Heaven is calling her towards the Gave river, she walks as though moved automatically by an irresistible force.
The police were also soon on her track. Let us give the gendarme this credit, who was somewhat perplexed: he had, at least, the good sense not to interrupt the long prayer of the holy child. But a new trial was in store for her; this time there was no vision or transfiguration! What could such a disappointment mean? Did Heaven intend, by this sudden and unexpected refusal, to punish a fault more physical than moral, or had the Lady of glory already forgotten her solemn engagements? Lamma sabacthani? My God, My God! Why has Thou abandoned me?
For us, who, in the light of later events, can grasp the true significance of this absence of the Lady, how can we fail to admire in this the extreme delicacy of the Blessed Virgin, anxious to respect paternal authority by staying away that day, though very reluctantly, even to the point in which it was in open conflict with her own heavenly wishes?
On the other hand, because it is the rule of Providence to draw good from evil, it came to pass that the grievous anxiety of the child arose from the involuntary severity and human respect of Francois Soubirous, who had sided with the police against his daughter, and Providence finally made everything easy for her, as the father henceforth gave permission to his unhappy child to go to Massabielle as often as she liked.
Meanwhile the free-thinkers of the town did not see it in this light; and already they were carelessly scoffing, observing to their friends, with a hearty laugh, that the Lady was afraid of gendarmes, adding that because that fox Jacomet had made a few inquiries into the matter, she had decided to change her residence.
Now, among the spectators, a doctor, notorious for his skepticism no less than for his skill, was convinced that the visions were simply the result of imagination or illusion due to a nervous or mental disorder. He resolved to come in person, in the secret hope of demolishing by a word, in the name of Science, all this childish display of pathological mysticism. But at the mere sight of the ecstatic child, lost in her wonderful vision, he soon recognized a case without a parallel, which doubtless it would not be easy to explain on medical grounds. So he returned to the Grotto several times in succession, always more attentive and more nonplussed. Everyone knows that, as the grace of God is never wanting to a man of good-will, Doctor Dozous (for it was he) ended by seeing everything in its true light. Recognizing, with a fairness and an independence not often met with, that the facts at Massabielle were supernatural, he was publicly converted. He was thus the first man of science won over by Bernadette he would certainly not be the last. When, then, the doctor had stated that the child, in the midst of her heavenly ecstasy, did not lose her self-possession, remaining ever calm and tranquil, and handing her candle, blown out by the wind, two or three times to her neighbor to be relit, her pulse remaining calm the whole time, her breathing normal, her circulation regular, and showing no signs of nervous excitement, his conscience forced him to confess that the finger of God was there.
During this fifth apparition, the doctor saw two large tears roll down her cheeks. Soon they learnt the meaning of this: the vision. Our Lady, after being happy and smiling, suddenly wore a sorrowful and pained look, when she gazed into the far distance, she discerned sights that saddened her. What Our Lady saw, as she explained at once to the alarmed Bernadette, were the sins of the world, already far too great, which came to dim accidentally the essential happiness of the Queen of Heaven, and imprint an unutterable sadness on Mary's glorious face.
The conclusion of this tearful episode was that it was necessary to pray much for poor sinners. Whenever we might go to Lourdes, it should be in a spirit of Reparation and Atonement, this should be the chief idea (too little insisted upon of hitherto) of our pilgrimages. God grant that the hoards of pilgrims may be more and more filled with this idea, in proportion as the evils of the present time grow even greater! But the divine joy did not long remain absent from the heart and face of the Lady, who, smiling graciously and happily as before, disappeared in the reflection of her own brightness.
As for Bernadette, the same evening of this memorable day, when she had witnessed the tears of the Mother of Christ, a terrible trial was about to befall her. Hardly had she returned to her wretched dwelling, when she found herself led off between two policemen to the police-station, there to hear herself bitterly reproached, and even threatened, by the local chief of police, and distinctly forbidden to go near the too-famous rocks any more. This scene is wonderfully like that of the Pretorium, at which, nineteen centuries ago, the holiest of Victims had to appear. The new Caiphas, the police-chief Mr. Dutour, employed his wiliest tricks to no purpose, in the hope of shaking her firm resolve, alleging by turns that the public order was imperiled, the majesty of the law disregarded nay, the sanctity of religion compromised. Quite as uselessly the police magistrate, Jacomet, of unhappy memory, added his persuasions, at first harsh, then mild and insinuating.
The witness of Our Lady found answers to every question; answers as natural as they were to the point without being frightened by brutality or won over by fake niceties ('hard-cop' and 'soft-cop' approach), or ever losing her self-possession, despite the deliberate falsification and twisting of her previous replies, and every kind of false testimony.
Mr. Estrade, a tax-collector, who was an intelligent and thoughtful man, was present either by chance or by the will of Providence at her examination. He became so indignant by the manner of it, that he was inclined to take Bernadette's side, rightly judging that such an attitude on the part of an ignorant young child before this display of civil authority was decidedly supernatural. The sudden arrival of her father, who was immediately intimidated and frightened in the face of this severity of the law, sided with them; but this could not shake the heart of the shepherdess in her firm resolve to revisit Massabielle, whither she felt irresistibly drawn in spite of herself, as soon as circumstances would allow her.
How sad this cold Sunday evening must have been under the roof of the Soubirous family room, especially to the heart of the little child! For it is needless to say that mental anguish was from this time added to external trials. On the one hand the Apparition invited her, yet she saw herself restrained from going there by filial reverence. What was she to do? Was she going to the enchanting Vision, so good and sweet, at the sacrifice of duty, a duty to obey parents and legitimate authorities, which was required by the solemn authority of the Ten Commandments? It was indeed a cruel dilemma!
Whilst waiting till it should please the shining Lady itself to settle this conflict of conscience, Bernadette, like a good Christian, went early next day, Monday February 22nd, not to the Grotto, as she had longed to do hitherto, but to the school.
In the evening, when she had to return to the Sisters, a strange thing happened. Arriving, with her little basket on her arm, at the two paths leading to the hospice, she feels, as it were, an invisible but real barrier, which holds her back. Several times she tries, indeed, to go along the path where obedience calls her, but in vain! Then, thinking she knows, in her childish conscience, that Heaven is calling her towards the Gave river, she walks as though moved automatically by an irresistible force.
The police were also soon on her track. Let us give the gendarme this credit, who was somewhat perplexed: he had, at least, the good sense not to interrupt the long prayer of the holy child. But a new trial was in store for her; this time there was no vision or transfiguration! What could such a disappointment mean? Did Heaven intend, by this sudden and unexpected refusal, to punish a fault more physical than moral, or had the Lady of glory already forgotten her solemn engagements? Lamma sabacthani? My God, My God! Why has Thou abandoned me?
For us, who, in the light of later events, can grasp the true significance of this absence of the Lady, how can we fail to admire in this the extreme delicacy of the Blessed Virgin, anxious to respect paternal authority by staying away that day, though very reluctantly, even to the point in which it was in open conflict with her own heavenly wishes?
On the other hand, because it is the rule of Providence to draw good from evil, it came to pass that the grievous anxiety of the child arose from the involuntary severity and human respect of Francois Soubirous, who had sided with the police against his daughter, and Providence finally made everything easy for her, as the father henceforth gave permission to his unhappy child to go to Massabielle as often as she liked.
Meanwhile the free-thinkers of the town did not see it in this light; and already they were carelessly scoffing, observing to their friends, with a hearty laugh, that the Lady was afraid of gendarmes, adding that because that fox Jacomet had made a few inquiries into the matter, she had decided to change her residence.
THE SEVENTH APPARITION
Tuesday, February 23rd
Tuesday, February 23rd
The works of the good God are always crossed by the rage of the devil and by the ignorance or the passions of men. The great things which were being prepared at the grotto of Lourdes for the glory of God and the salvation of souls, were therefore quickly attacked and misrepresented. Some cried out: "Superstition, illusion, folly!" "This little girl is insane," they said, "she must be shut up!" Others spoke of impostures, fraudulent tricks. "It is a cheat; ail will end with money. This child is playing a disgraceful farce. Justice should interfere."
Other, more moderate souls, admitted that they could not doubt either of the child's character and thought that it most probably was a natural phenomenon, which comes within the range of medicine. Science knows perfectly the strange effects of catalepsy, hysteria, and hallucination. Their suggestion was that a physician should examine the thing closely, and as a result the so-called visions will melt away like snow in the sun. The town of Lourdes was literally turned upside down. The pressure was now mounting on Bernadette.
Sunday, February 21st: After the 6th Apparition, she was hauled off to the police station to be grilled and threatened; her father, under intimidation, had take the side of the police, which resulted in both the police and her father forbidding her to go back to the grotto again. She was threatened with prison if she were to disobey. Bernadette had much to suffer, before the evidence of the truth and power of the Immaculate Virgin would triumph over all obstacles,
This decision caused the local parish priest to intervene angrily. "This child is innocent!" cried the priest, indignantly, when the police chief and the mayor of Lourdes came to announce the decision; "This child is innocent! You could
find no pretext upon which to prosecute her. Such a measure will be the most odious persecution, the more odious that it strikes a poor defenseless creature. The prefect cannot, by any law, have Bernadette arrested! As a priest, as pastor of this parish, I owe a duty to all, and especially to the weakest I know my duty as a pastor. Go, then, and tell the Prefect that his officers will find me at the threshold of this poor family, and that they shall have to pass over my body, before they touch a hair of this poor little girl s head."
St. Bernadette recounts these painful moments in her own words thus: "Dominique Jacomet the police commissioner! He was suspicious of everyone. He took hold of my hood as I left the church and said, "Qu'em bas sequi—follow me." He took me to his office and the questioning began. 'My name is Bernadette, I said. I could not say if I was thirteen or fourteen, as I had never learned to count. He tried to suggest I was seeing Our Blessed Lady. I insisted I saw only 'Aquero.' Jacomet knew that 'Aquero' means 'reverence in the presence of a sacred reality.' He wrote down with a goose-quill every word I said. Then he read it back to me— all twisted, untruthful, incorrect. 'Sir,' I protested, 'you are altering everything I say. 'You Brazen hussy!' he blazed, and the tassel on his cap shook as he ranted in anger. At that moment the door opened, and my father stood there saying, 'I am the father of this little one.' Next day, at catechism class, the girls shunned me as a criminal, and the Sister Superior thanked God had been arrested for my misbehavior. One woman called me a brat, another slapped my face."
Monday, February 22nd: Bernadette had intended to reluctantly obey and comply with order banning her from visiting the grotto, but was led there by an irresistible force. However, Our Lady failed to appear and Bernadette left disillusioned, sad and in tears. Her father questioned her about that 'irresistible' visit and then, to Bernadette's great joy, changed his mind about forbidding her from visiting the grotto. The next day, Tuesday, she would return to the grotto once again with her father's blessing.
The 7th Apparition (Tuesday, February 23rd)
The crowds were starting to grow as word got around. About 150 people were present for this apparition, including some of the leading villagers who had come part out of curiosity but also a desire to mock the "ignorant fools" for their gullibility. The watchers included Jean-Baptiste Estrade, a local tax inspector who was sent by Fr. Peyramale, the parish priest, to see what was going on. Also present was Duffo (a court official), and the officers from the garrison who had come to witness the "show." However instead of having their suspicions confirmed, they were astonished by what they saw and turned into "believers and witnesses." There is nothing for 'public consumption' that emerges from this 7th Apparition. Bernadette said later that the Lady had told her a secret, which was for her alone, and was never revealed to anyone.
In the midst of a dense crowd of .from eight to ten thousand persons, Bernadette arrived as usual at the grotto, about daybreak. She had knelt down in her usual place, outside the cavern; in her left hand was a blessed taper, in the other her rosary. Suddenly she heard the blessed voice of the Queen of Heaven calling her: "Bernadette!"
"Here I am!" immediately answered the child.
"I have a secret to tell you, for yourself only, which concerns you alone!" said the Mother of God. "Do you promise me never to reveal it to any one?"
"I promise you."
The dialogue continued. Although the Blessed Virgin and the child spoke aloud, no one heard them.
"What! you did not hear?" said she on coming out of her ecstacy. "Yet the Lady spoke aloud. She has such a sweet voice!"
The Blessed Virgin then taught her a prayer, making her repeat it, word for word, with maternal condescension. This prayer the child recited at every apparition; but she would never make it known to any one.
"And now, my daughter" added the Blessed Virgin, "go and tell the priests that a shrine must be erected here, and that they.must come here in procession." These words ended the apparition for that day.
On leaving the Rocks of Massabielle, Bernadette immediately repaired to the pastor s house. The latter had as yet never spoken to her.
"Are you not Bernadette?" he asked gravely and almost sternly, as soon as he saw her coming towards him.
"Yes, it is I, sir!" quietly answered the humble messenger of the Blessed Virgin.
"Well, Bernadette, what do you want of me? What brought you here?"
"I came, Father, on the part of the Lady, who appears to me in the grotto of Massabielle!"
The priest seemed to treat the matter very lightly and not to believe it. The child repeated with an air of candor, and with great confidence, the words of the apparition.
"And you do not know this Lady's name?" asked the pastor.
"No!" answered Bernadette. "She did not tell me who she was."
"Those who believe you, imagine that it is the Blessed Virgin Mary. But take care; you alone say you see her; if you falsely pretend to see her in the grotto, you are taking the way never to see her in Heaven."
"I do not know if it is the Blessed Virgin, Father"; answered the child; "but I see the vision as I see you, and she speaks to me as truly as you speak to me. And I come to tell you, from her, that she wants a shrine to be raised to her at the Rocks of Massabielle, where she appears to me."
Much agitated, the good Father Peyramale made her repeat the very words used by the Lady at the grotto. Berandette said: "After having confided to me the secret which concerns me and which I can not reveal to anyone. The Lady added: 'And now, go and tell the priest that a shrine must be erected here, and that people come in procession to it.'"
After a moment s reflection, the pastor replied: "I cannot take your word for this, you understand Tell this Lady that she must make herself known. If she is the Blessed Virgin, let her show it by some miracle. She appears to you, you tell me, on a wild ruse-bush? It is now February; tell her, from me, that if she wishes a shrine built, she must make the rose-bush bloom." And he dismissed her. What had passed between the child and the priest was soon known in the town. Curiosity and excitement were general; and several free-thinkers of the neighborhood resolved to go henceforth to the grotto, in order to assist at the exposure of the "superstition."
Other, more moderate souls, admitted that they could not doubt either of the child's character and thought that it most probably was a natural phenomenon, which comes within the range of medicine. Science knows perfectly the strange effects of catalepsy, hysteria, and hallucination. Their suggestion was that a physician should examine the thing closely, and as a result the so-called visions will melt away like snow in the sun. The town of Lourdes was literally turned upside down. The pressure was now mounting on Bernadette.
Sunday, February 21st: After the 6th Apparition, she was hauled off to the police station to be grilled and threatened; her father, under intimidation, had take the side of the police, which resulted in both the police and her father forbidding her to go back to the grotto again. She was threatened with prison if she were to disobey. Bernadette had much to suffer, before the evidence of the truth and power of the Immaculate Virgin would triumph over all obstacles,
This decision caused the local parish priest to intervene angrily. "This child is innocent!" cried the priest, indignantly, when the police chief and the mayor of Lourdes came to announce the decision; "This child is innocent! You could
find no pretext upon which to prosecute her. Such a measure will be the most odious persecution, the more odious that it strikes a poor defenseless creature. The prefect cannot, by any law, have Bernadette arrested! As a priest, as pastor of this parish, I owe a duty to all, and especially to the weakest I know my duty as a pastor. Go, then, and tell the Prefect that his officers will find me at the threshold of this poor family, and that they shall have to pass over my body, before they touch a hair of this poor little girl s head."
St. Bernadette recounts these painful moments in her own words thus: "Dominique Jacomet the police commissioner! He was suspicious of everyone. He took hold of my hood as I left the church and said, "Qu'em bas sequi—follow me." He took me to his office and the questioning began. 'My name is Bernadette, I said. I could not say if I was thirteen or fourteen, as I had never learned to count. He tried to suggest I was seeing Our Blessed Lady. I insisted I saw only 'Aquero.' Jacomet knew that 'Aquero' means 'reverence in the presence of a sacred reality.' He wrote down with a goose-quill every word I said. Then he read it back to me— all twisted, untruthful, incorrect. 'Sir,' I protested, 'you are altering everything I say. 'You Brazen hussy!' he blazed, and the tassel on his cap shook as he ranted in anger. At that moment the door opened, and my father stood there saying, 'I am the father of this little one.' Next day, at catechism class, the girls shunned me as a criminal, and the Sister Superior thanked God had been arrested for my misbehavior. One woman called me a brat, another slapped my face."
Monday, February 22nd: Bernadette had intended to reluctantly obey and comply with order banning her from visiting the grotto, but was led there by an irresistible force. However, Our Lady failed to appear and Bernadette left disillusioned, sad and in tears. Her father questioned her about that 'irresistible' visit and then, to Bernadette's great joy, changed his mind about forbidding her from visiting the grotto. The next day, Tuesday, she would return to the grotto once again with her father's blessing.
The 7th Apparition (Tuesday, February 23rd)
The crowds were starting to grow as word got around. About 150 people were present for this apparition, including some of the leading villagers who had come part out of curiosity but also a desire to mock the "ignorant fools" for their gullibility. The watchers included Jean-Baptiste Estrade, a local tax inspector who was sent by Fr. Peyramale, the parish priest, to see what was going on. Also present was Duffo (a court official), and the officers from the garrison who had come to witness the "show." However instead of having their suspicions confirmed, they were astonished by what they saw and turned into "believers and witnesses." There is nothing for 'public consumption' that emerges from this 7th Apparition. Bernadette said later that the Lady had told her a secret, which was for her alone, and was never revealed to anyone.
In the midst of a dense crowd of .from eight to ten thousand persons, Bernadette arrived as usual at the grotto, about daybreak. She had knelt down in her usual place, outside the cavern; in her left hand was a blessed taper, in the other her rosary. Suddenly she heard the blessed voice of the Queen of Heaven calling her: "Bernadette!"
"Here I am!" immediately answered the child.
"I have a secret to tell you, for yourself only, which concerns you alone!" said the Mother of God. "Do you promise me never to reveal it to any one?"
"I promise you."
The dialogue continued. Although the Blessed Virgin and the child spoke aloud, no one heard them.
"What! you did not hear?" said she on coming out of her ecstacy. "Yet the Lady spoke aloud. She has such a sweet voice!"
The Blessed Virgin then taught her a prayer, making her repeat it, word for word, with maternal condescension. This prayer the child recited at every apparition; but she would never make it known to any one.
"And now, my daughter" added the Blessed Virgin, "go and tell the priests that a shrine must be erected here, and that they.must come here in procession." These words ended the apparition for that day.
On leaving the Rocks of Massabielle, Bernadette immediately repaired to the pastor s house. The latter had as yet never spoken to her.
"Are you not Bernadette?" he asked gravely and almost sternly, as soon as he saw her coming towards him.
"Yes, it is I, sir!" quietly answered the humble messenger of the Blessed Virgin.
"Well, Bernadette, what do you want of me? What brought you here?"
"I came, Father, on the part of the Lady, who appears to me in the grotto of Massabielle!"
The priest seemed to treat the matter very lightly and not to believe it. The child repeated with an air of candor, and with great confidence, the words of the apparition.
"And you do not know this Lady's name?" asked the pastor.
"No!" answered Bernadette. "She did not tell me who she was."
"Those who believe you, imagine that it is the Blessed Virgin Mary. But take care; you alone say you see her; if you falsely pretend to see her in the grotto, you are taking the way never to see her in Heaven."
"I do not know if it is the Blessed Virgin, Father"; answered the child; "but I see the vision as I see you, and she speaks to me as truly as you speak to me. And I come to tell you, from her, that she wants a shrine to be raised to her at the Rocks of Massabielle, where she appears to me."
Much agitated, the good Father Peyramale made her repeat the very words used by the Lady at the grotto. Berandette said: "After having confided to me the secret which concerns me and which I can not reveal to anyone. The Lady added: 'And now, go and tell the priest that a shrine must be erected here, and that people come in procession to it.'"
After a moment s reflection, the pastor replied: "I cannot take your word for this, you understand Tell this Lady that she must make herself known. If she is the Blessed Virgin, let her show it by some miracle. She appears to you, you tell me, on a wild ruse-bush? It is now February; tell her, from me, that if she wishes a shrine built, she must make the rose-bush bloom." And he dismissed her. What had passed between the child and the priest was soon known in the town. Curiosity and excitement were general; and several free-thinkers of the neighborhood resolved to go henceforth to the grotto, in order to assist at the exposure of the "superstition."
THE EIGHTH APPARITION
Wednesday, February 24th
Wednesday, February 24th
In the morning, Bernadette had to pass through massive human barriers, and receive homage she little understood, before she could reach her granite prie-dieu. Everything, at first, happened as usual that is, blissfully. But soon there rolled, as it were, a cloud of sadness over the brightness of the ecstasy.
After she had started to pray, Our Lady once again appeared to her. But after a short while, the crowds saw the child drop her arms, like someone who has just heard some bad news, and tears ran down her cheeks. She then rose up, her face full of sorrow, to ascend the slope of the Grotto, pressing her lips to the earth each time she knelt. Having reached the wild rose-tree, which hung from above, she made fresh reverences to the invisible Being, and raised her head as though to hear her commands, whereupon, turning to the crowd, who deeply touched by her actions and her tear-stained face, they heard her cry out three times, while sobbing: “Penance! Penance! Penance!” At one and the same time, they were words of sadness, like the faults which they deplore; words of sternness as the repentance which they require; and yet words full of light, like the faith and hope in God which they imply. The conclusion of this touching scene was the command which the Vision gave to her confidant to pray for poor sinners. And the dialogue ended by the revelation of another personal secret for Bernadette, which, like the others, we, the uninitiated, shall only learn in the clear light of eternity.
Having returned to her place, the child-seer found there her usual peace, which the untimely and burlesque appearance of a sergeant of the gendarmes (police force) failed to disturb, though he came, he said, in the name of the law, to put a stop to all this nonsense. He only provoked the indignation of the spectators, whose menacing anger soon put to flight this over-zealous officer.
Each person, on coming away, asked himself if such an indictment, on the part of Heaven, did not imply the approach of grave trials, in view of their serious crimes, unless the Divine justice were appeased by an adequate satisfaction, clearly hinted at by the triple cry of the prophetess for penance.
This should be a warning and lesson to those who, forgetting the lessons of Lourdes, and also of La Salette, or even of the Gospel, all of which comes down to the same thing, seem, and who, in spite of every warning, to have taken for their motto: “Let tomorrow take care of itself!” Let those dilettanti (the superficial and frivolous), some of whom were crowding the flowery banks of the River Gave back then, and still do so today, as well as souls of mere sentimental piety and niceness, let them all understand that, except by “Penance, penance, penance,” there is no salvation for nations and no salvation for individuals. As Jesus Himself warned us in the Gospel: “Unless you shall do penance, you shall all likewise perish…No, I say to you; but except you do penance, you shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3-5).
A prominent inhabitant of Lourdes, of upright, but somewhat skeptical mind, related to Mr. Henri Lasserre, how, on that day, he was convinced by the evidence of the supernatural. He did not see the rose-bush bloom, but he saw Bernadette in ecstasy; he saw the heavenly reflection on the face of the humble child; and his good faith returned. How can we help believing in the sun, when, without yet seeing itself, we perceive the summit of the mountains gilded by its rays?
“I reached the grotto“ he said, “very much disposed to investigate, and, to tell the truth, to have a good laugh, expecting a farce or something ridiculous. I placed myself in the first row. The crowd was immense. About sunrise, Bernadette arrived. I was near her. She knelt down, without heeding the crowd which surrounded her, as if she had been alone. Very soon her look seemed to receive and reflect an unknown light. Before this transfiguration of the child, all my preconceived denials fell to the ground at once, and gave place to an extraordinary feeling which took possession of me, in spite of myself. I felt certain that a mysterious being was there. Suddenly and entirely transfigured, Bernadette was no longer Bernadette. Her attitude, her slightest gesture had a superhuman majesty. She smiled at the invisible being.
“I was no less moved than the other spectators. Like them, I held my breath to try and hear the conversation which was taking place between the vision and the child. At a certain moment, Bernadette advanced on her knees, from the spot where she was praying, that is to say, from the banks of the Gave, to the end of the grotto. This was about fifteen feet. Whilst she thus ascended the somewhat steep side of the rock, those who were in her way very distinctly heard her pronounce these words: ‘Penance! Penance!! Penance!!!’”
The more than impartial witness, who relates this touching scene, saw Bernadette come out of her ecstasy and immediately become again a poor little girl, almost in rags, in no way distinguished from other peasant children. This witness was the local tax collector at Lourdes, and it was he, who, on the previous Sunday, had assisted and witnessed Bernadette’s interrogation by the local chief of police.
When, on leaving the grotto, Bernadette presented herself at the parish presbytery, where Father Peyramale, with his usual calmness, said to her, “Well, did you see the vision today? And what did she say?”
“I saw the vision,” answered Bernadette, “and I said to her: ‘Our pastor asks you for some proofs, for instance to make the rose-bush under your feet blossom; because my word does not suffice for the priests, and they will not trust me.’ Then she smiled but without speaking. Then, she told me to pray for sinners, and commanded me to come up to the end of the grotto. And she said three times: ‘Penance! . . . Penance!! . . . Penance!!!’ I repeated these words dragging myself to the end of the grotto on my knees. There she revealed to me a second secret which concerns only myself. Then, she disappeared.”
“And what did you find at the end of the grotto?”
“I looked after she had disappeared (for while she is there I notice nothing but herself, she absorbs me) and I saw nothing but the rock and in the ground a few blades of grass growing up in the sand.”
“Let us wait,” said the pastor. But in this recital Bernadette omitted some interesting particulars, of which we cannot deprive the pious reader.
Whilst the child was absorbed in the ecstasy, she was seen to kiss the ground, several times, ascending on her knees the rugged rock which arose before her, as far as the end of the grotto, on the left. The Blessed Virgin had said to her:“You will pray to God for sinners ... You will kiss the ground for the conversion of sinners.” And she signaled for her to advance on her knees.
Bernadette, raising her head, after having kissed the ground, looked for the Apparition; she saw her slowly drawing back and followed her, renewing her humiliating kisses of penance. She went in under the arch and remained some time motionless. At this moment, she saw the Virgin so near her, she said, that by raising and extending her arm, she could have touched her feet.
She turned toward the spectators, made a gesture which seemed to ask the crowd to bow down. It was not understood. Then her finger rested for a moment on her lips, then was pointed, quickly and imperiously towards the ground with an astonishing energy and authority. The look and gesture seemed to say to all of the bystanders: “You also, kiss the ground!” Many persons instantly bowed down, awed by the sudden supernatural grandeur and authoritativeness of that lowly child; and, thinking they obeyed an order from the Vision, they obediently kissed the ground. Bernadette turned back to the Vision and again knelt down, still kissing the ground, and returned to her contemplation before the niche of the grotto.
From this spectacle, which must have been so trying and testing to human pride, the spectators went home with various feelings. But all were awed and amazed. Many went away with the religious impression left by mysterious events behind which one feels that God is hidden, thinking that a great future was being prepared in the grotto. The Blessed Virgin made them feel a presentiment of her future mercies.
Subsequently, penance for sinners was again asked of Bernadette. She went up and came down on her knees, once, during each apparition, and always in silence; however, it was only that first time that she was heard to say out loud those words: “Penance! Penance! Penance!”
One day, she made several of these laborious ascents up the rock on her knees. Her face was continually lit up with a happy smile, a shade of melancholy veiled it at times, and even then the smile remained sad but happy. It is often remembered with astonishment what lightness the child displayed in that difficult ascent, over rough stone, on her knees,“I often thought,” writes an eye-witness, “that invisible beings were aiding her to ascend and descend so rapidly.”
She was asked the first day: “But why did you walk on your knees and kiss the ground?”
“The Vision commanded me to do it; and it was a penance for myself and others.”
“Why did you make us a sign to kiss the ground?”
“The Vision seemed to say that you all should do penance for sinners.”
More than a year after, some priests who questioned her very closely, said to her in relation to this penance: “But it is very strange that the Blessed Virgin should have asked all that of you! These are extraordinary things, which appear to us unreasonable.”
She answered with downcast eyes and in a thrilling tone: “Ah! For the conversion of sinners! . . .”
The desire of the Heart of Mary was revealed. It was sinners whom she called by Bernadette’s prayer and humiliation. It was sinners she also sought by the future miracles, which were to be performed, in their hundreds, at that favored grotto.
After she had started to pray, Our Lady once again appeared to her. But after a short while, the crowds saw the child drop her arms, like someone who has just heard some bad news, and tears ran down her cheeks. She then rose up, her face full of sorrow, to ascend the slope of the Grotto, pressing her lips to the earth each time she knelt. Having reached the wild rose-tree, which hung from above, she made fresh reverences to the invisible Being, and raised her head as though to hear her commands, whereupon, turning to the crowd, who deeply touched by her actions and her tear-stained face, they heard her cry out three times, while sobbing: “Penance! Penance! Penance!” At one and the same time, they were words of sadness, like the faults which they deplore; words of sternness as the repentance which they require; and yet words full of light, like the faith and hope in God which they imply. The conclusion of this touching scene was the command which the Vision gave to her confidant to pray for poor sinners. And the dialogue ended by the revelation of another personal secret for Bernadette, which, like the others, we, the uninitiated, shall only learn in the clear light of eternity.
Having returned to her place, the child-seer found there her usual peace, which the untimely and burlesque appearance of a sergeant of the gendarmes (police force) failed to disturb, though he came, he said, in the name of the law, to put a stop to all this nonsense. He only provoked the indignation of the spectators, whose menacing anger soon put to flight this over-zealous officer.
Each person, on coming away, asked himself if such an indictment, on the part of Heaven, did not imply the approach of grave trials, in view of their serious crimes, unless the Divine justice were appeased by an adequate satisfaction, clearly hinted at by the triple cry of the prophetess for penance.
This should be a warning and lesson to those who, forgetting the lessons of Lourdes, and also of La Salette, or even of the Gospel, all of which comes down to the same thing, seem, and who, in spite of every warning, to have taken for their motto: “Let tomorrow take care of itself!” Let those dilettanti (the superficial and frivolous), some of whom were crowding the flowery banks of the River Gave back then, and still do so today, as well as souls of mere sentimental piety and niceness, let them all understand that, except by “Penance, penance, penance,” there is no salvation for nations and no salvation for individuals. As Jesus Himself warned us in the Gospel: “Unless you shall do penance, you shall all likewise perish…No, I say to you; but except you do penance, you shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3-5).
A prominent inhabitant of Lourdes, of upright, but somewhat skeptical mind, related to Mr. Henri Lasserre, how, on that day, he was convinced by the evidence of the supernatural. He did not see the rose-bush bloom, but he saw Bernadette in ecstasy; he saw the heavenly reflection on the face of the humble child; and his good faith returned. How can we help believing in the sun, when, without yet seeing itself, we perceive the summit of the mountains gilded by its rays?
“I reached the grotto“ he said, “very much disposed to investigate, and, to tell the truth, to have a good laugh, expecting a farce or something ridiculous. I placed myself in the first row. The crowd was immense. About sunrise, Bernadette arrived. I was near her. She knelt down, without heeding the crowd which surrounded her, as if she had been alone. Very soon her look seemed to receive and reflect an unknown light. Before this transfiguration of the child, all my preconceived denials fell to the ground at once, and gave place to an extraordinary feeling which took possession of me, in spite of myself. I felt certain that a mysterious being was there. Suddenly and entirely transfigured, Bernadette was no longer Bernadette. Her attitude, her slightest gesture had a superhuman majesty. She smiled at the invisible being.
“I was no less moved than the other spectators. Like them, I held my breath to try and hear the conversation which was taking place between the vision and the child. At a certain moment, Bernadette advanced on her knees, from the spot where she was praying, that is to say, from the banks of the Gave, to the end of the grotto. This was about fifteen feet. Whilst she thus ascended the somewhat steep side of the rock, those who were in her way very distinctly heard her pronounce these words: ‘Penance! Penance!! Penance!!!’”
The more than impartial witness, who relates this touching scene, saw Bernadette come out of her ecstasy and immediately become again a poor little girl, almost in rags, in no way distinguished from other peasant children. This witness was the local tax collector at Lourdes, and it was he, who, on the previous Sunday, had assisted and witnessed Bernadette’s interrogation by the local chief of police.
When, on leaving the grotto, Bernadette presented herself at the parish presbytery, where Father Peyramale, with his usual calmness, said to her, “Well, did you see the vision today? And what did she say?”
“I saw the vision,” answered Bernadette, “and I said to her: ‘Our pastor asks you for some proofs, for instance to make the rose-bush under your feet blossom; because my word does not suffice for the priests, and they will not trust me.’ Then she smiled but without speaking. Then, she told me to pray for sinners, and commanded me to come up to the end of the grotto. And she said three times: ‘Penance! . . . Penance!! . . . Penance!!!’ I repeated these words dragging myself to the end of the grotto on my knees. There she revealed to me a second secret which concerns only myself. Then, she disappeared.”
“And what did you find at the end of the grotto?”
“I looked after she had disappeared (for while she is there I notice nothing but herself, she absorbs me) and I saw nothing but the rock and in the ground a few blades of grass growing up in the sand.”
“Let us wait,” said the pastor. But in this recital Bernadette omitted some interesting particulars, of which we cannot deprive the pious reader.
Whilst the child was absorbed in the ecstasy, she was seen to kiss the ground, several times, ascending on her knees the rugged rock which arose before her, as far as the end of the grotto, on the left. The Blessed Virgin had said to her:“You will pray to God for sinners ... You will kiss the ground for the conversion of sinners.” And she signaled for her to advance on her knees.
Bernadette, raising her head, after having kissed the ground, looked for the Apparition; she saw her slowly drawing back and followed her, renewing her humiliating kisses of penance. She went in under the arch and remained some time motionless. At this moment, she saw the Virgin so near her, she said, that by raising and extending her arm, she could have touched her feet.
She turned toward the spectators, made a gesture which seemed to ask the crowd to bow down. It was not understood. Then her finger rested for a moment on her lips, then was pointed, quickly and imperiously towards the ground with an astonishing energy and authority. The look and gesture seemed to say to all of the bystanders: “You also, kiss the ground!” Many persons instantly bowed down, awed by the sudden supernatural grandeur and authoritativeness of that lowly child; and, thinking they obeyed an order from the Vision, they obediently kissed the ground. Bernadette turned back to the Vision and again knelt down, still kissing the ground, and returned to her contemplation before the niche of the grotto.
From this spectacle, which must have been so trying and testing to human pride, the spectators went home with various feelings. But all were awed and amazed. Many went away with the religious impression left by mysterious events behind which one feels that God is hidden, thinking that a great future was being prepared in the grotto. The Blessed Virgin made them feel a presentiment of her future mercies.
Subsequently, penance for sinners was again asked of Bernadette. She went up and came down on her knees, once, during each apparition, and always in silence; however, it was only that first time that she was heard to say out loud those words: “Penance! Penance! Penance!”
One day, she made several of these laborious ascents up the rock on her knees. Her face was continually lit up with a happy smile, a shade of melancholy veiled it at times, and even then the smile remained sad but happy. It is often remembered with astonishment what lightness the child displayed in that difficult ascent, over rough stone, on her knees,“I often thought,” writes an eye-witness, “that invisible beings were aiding her to ascend and descend so rapidly.”
She was asked the first day: “But why did you walk on your knees and kiss the ground?”
“The Vision commanded me to do it; and it was a penance for myself and others.”
“Why did you make us a sign to kiss the ground?”
“The Vision seemed to say that you all should do penance for sinners.”
More than a year after, some priests who questioned her very closely, said to her in relation to this penance: “But it is very strange that the Blessed Virgin should have asked all that of you! These are extraordinary things, which appear to us unreasonable.”
She answered with downcast eyes and in a thrilling tone: “Ah! For the conversion of sinners! . . .”
The desire of the Heart of Mary was revealed. It was sinners whom she called by Bernadette’s prayer and humiliation. It was sinners she also sought by the future miracles, which were to be performed, in their hundreds, at that favored grotto.
THE NINTH APPARITION
Thursday, February 25th
Thursday, February 25th
It was Thursday, February 25th. Hoping to witness something of her ecstasy, that morning there was already an extraordinary crowd of people gathering together in the vicinity of Massabielle, overflowing on to the island, covering the crests of the hill, and climbing up the trees by the bank. Every good vantage spot close to the grotto was crowded with ardent eager people. The police were again there, and, according to their head-count, there were more than 350 present. The kind, merciful, and most admirable Virgin Mary vouchsafed, that day, just like on all the others, to keep her appointment in the grotto. In no other sanctuary, perhaps, did the Mother of God so often repeat her celestial visits.
Unlike the fine weather of previous days, this was a cold, miserable rainy day. It was out of the cold misty dawn that Bernadette finally appeared, and everyone, the skeptics, as well as the believers, instinctively uncovered their heads. She was seen to remove her hood, put her candle aside, walk towards the River Gave, then turn, go down on her knees and finally crawl on all fours to the back of the grotto, towards the left of the rock.
After her usual prayers, Bernadette rose by herself as if she were alone in the heart of this crowd, went to the interior of this cavern flooded with light, and, moving aside the tough branches, kissed the rock at the place which served as a pedestal for the Queen of Angels. Then, once at her rocky prie-dieu, she beheld for nearly a quarter of an hour the most blissful of visions.
The Blessed Virgin began the conversation on this occasion, by confiding to her dear Bernadette her third secret. “My daughter,” said she to her, “I wish to confide to you, for yourself alone, a last secret; and like the other, you are not to reveal it to anyone in the world.” Bernadette heard, with joyful heart, the ineffable melody of that voice so sweet, so motherly, so tender, which of old, at Nazareth, charmed the ears and heart of the child Jesus. “And now,” said the Blessed Virgin to her, after moment’s silence, “go drink and wash yourself at the spring, and eat of the grass which is there.”
Bernadette looked round her in astonishment. Our Lady had demanded from Bernadette an act of faith and abandonment of reason, in favor of faith, an act which she has required of every one of her ambassadors. She told Bernadette to "go and wash and drink in the spring." Suddenly she looked puzzled. There was no spring! There was no spring in the grotto; there had never been one. Bernadette looked helplessly about for one, but to no avail.
Hesitating, she logically turned towards the river, for that was the only visible water source available, and so she took several steps forward as if to go there. Without losing sight of the Apparition, Bernadette was moving toward the River Gave, but soon she stopped, looked behind and with a gesture of the hand, the Blessed Virgin pointed out the place where she was to go. “Do not go there,” said she to her “I did not tell you to drink at the Gave; go to the fountain, it is here!” And extending her hand, she pointed out to the child that same dry corner, to which, the evening before, she had made her ascend on her knees. It was at the end of the grotto, on the left of the spectators.
Bernadette listened attentively, nodded affirmatively, then she turned toward the grotto again and walked, not to the bed of the river, but towards the left corner of the excavation. She went up, and when she was near the rock, she was seen to stop and look undecidedly several times all round her for the fountain. Not finding it, yet wishing to obey, she manifested her embarrassment to the heavenly Lady by a glance. In obedience to another sign, the child bent down and, scraping the earth with her little hands, began to scoop out the soil and made a hollow in the ground. At the end of a few seconds, the little hole she had just hollowed out was seen to be full of water. Then the water slowly overflowed the limits of the hole, which might contain about a glass full, and trickled forth, slowly at first, oozing up and turning the surrounding soil to mud and then began to flow like a fine thread, which, during the first day, only moistened the sand. The wet mark which it traced on the soil slowly, insensibly lengthened, in the direction of the River Gave.
Our Lady had said to wash and drink. Mingled with the earth, it was quite muddy. Bernadette scooped up the muddy water and smeared it over her face, leaving it mud-stained. Then poor Bernadette raised the muddy water to her lips three times, without having courage to taste it. Finally, after much hesitation, she overcame her repugnance; she drank the muddy water and bathed her face with it.
Our Lady required a further act of faith and humility; she asked that Bernadette eat some leaves nearby, and in response she plucked a few and ate them (the plant was the golden saxifrage, in Latin, chrysoplenium; French, la dorine. The leaves and stems can be eaten in salads or as cooked greens). What was the object of all this very strange ceremonial of a new kind, so calculated to puzzle the spectators, or to fill them with doubts regarding the state of mind and mental health of their little compatriot? The crowd gathered about the grotto, which had been growing at each one of the apparitions, gasped. When they saw Bernadette drink the muddy liquid, they were in dismay, for most of them had believed in her. The crowd thought her mad. They understood nothing of all this. “Oh! See!” cried some of them, “Look how she daubs her face, poor child!” Others said: “She is losing her mind; there is no sense in that!”
The fact that these seemingly illogical and incomprehensible events, strange in appearance, produced a bad impression on a crowd of witnesses, only goes to show that little is needed to make the ‘prudence of the prudent’ become skeptical when faced with the secrets of Heaven. It also shows that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, and that our ways are not God’s ways: “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts: nor your ways My ways’, saith the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are exalted above the earth, so are My ways exalted above your ways, and My thoughts above your thoughts’” (Isaias 55:8-9).
Feeling deceived and discontented, the people departed, just as the weak-minded and faint-hearted followers of the Jesus went away, long ago, when He told them to eat His flesh and drink His blood (John, chapter 6). The carnal and worldly man, at all times, in all ages and places, is everywhere the same. With a mud-streaked face and dripping with muddy water, Bernadette wandered back to her former place before the grotto, the crowd in consternation, believers confounded, unbelievers louder than ever in their ridicule. There Bernadette resumed her contemplation of "The Lady."
The pious, humbled, obedient child continued to enjoy the heavenly Vision, with the eternal smile of Heaven on her lips, and on her forehead an angelic gleam, till about eight o’clock in the morning, when the divine Vision usually ended.
The Blessed Virgin, rewarding her little workwoman with a smile, disappeared, all radiant, and the faithful, obedient Bernadette went home as usual. The astonished spectators wished to see the miraculous fountain, and to soak their handkerchiefs in it. Next day, the Blessed Virgin’s fountain, visibly increasing, flowed already a finger’s breadth. At the end of a few days, it gushed out of the earth, pure and limpid, about as broad as a child’s arm. It then ceased to expand.
It was subsequently measured with mathematical precision: the first week, it gave 85 quarts (21 gallons) a minute; 5,100 quarts (1,275 gallons) an hour; that is to say, 122,400 quarts (30,600 gallons) a day. And before that time, we say again, that that rock, those sands were dry and arid, as all the inhabitants of the country knew. The skeptical minds of the neighborhood said and wrote that it was something quite natural, that there was no spring; that the crazed and deluded Bernadette had simply struck a collection of water, which had undoubtedly oozed out of the rock! The miraculous water of Lourdes has been analyzed by skillful chemists; it is a pure, virgin water; a natural water devoid of all mineral properties.
Unlike the fine weather of previous days, this was a cold, miserable rainy day. It was out of the cold misty dawn that Bernadette finally appeared, and everyone, the skeptics, as well as the believers, instinctively uncovered their heads. She was seen to remove her hood, put her candle aside, walk towards the River Gave, then turn, go down on her knees and finally crawl on all fours to the back of the grotto, towards the left of the rock.
After her usual prayers, Bernadette rose by herself as if she were alone in the heart of this crowd, went to the interior of this cavern flooded with light, and, moving aside the tough branches, kissed the rock at the place which served as a pedestal for the Queen of Angels. Then, once at her rocky prie-dieu, she beheld for nearly a quarter of an hour the most blissful of visions.
The Blessed Virgin began the conversation on this occasion, by confiding to her dear Bernadette her third secret. “My daughter,” said she to her, “I wish to confide to you, for yourself alone, a last secret; and like the other, you are not to reveal it to anyone in the world.” Bernadette heard, with joyful heart, the ineffable melody of that voice so sweet, so motherly, so tender, which of old, at Nazareth, charmed the ears and heart of the child Jesus. “And now,” said the Blessed Virgin to her, after moment’s silence, “go drink and wash yourself at the spring, and eat of the grass which is there.”
Bernadette looked round her in astonishment. Our Lady had demanded from Bernadette an act of faith and abandonment of reason, in favor of faith, an act which she has required of every one of her ambassadors. She told Bernadette to "go and wash and drink in the spring." Suddenly she looked puzzled. There was no spring! There was no spring in the grotto; there had never been one. Bernadette looked helplessly about for one, but to no avail.
Hesitating, she logically turned towards the river, for that was the only visible water source available, and so she took several steps forward as if to go there. Without losing sight of the Apparition, Bernadette was moving toward the River Gave, but soon she stopped, looked behind and with a gesture of the hand, the Blessed Virgin pointed out the place where she was to go. “Do not go there,” said she to her “I did not tell you to drink at the Gave; go to the fountain, it is here!” And extending her hand, she pointed out to the child that same dry corner, to which, the evening before, she had made her ascend on her knees. It was at the end of the grotto, on the left of the spectators.
Bernadette listened attentively, nodded affirmatively, then she turned toward the grotto again and walked, not to the bed of the river, but towards the left corner of the excavation. She went up, and when she was near the rock, she was seen to stop and look undecidedly several times all round her for the fountain. Not finding it, yet wishing to obey, she manifested her embarrassment to the heavenly Lady by a glance. In obedience to another sign, the child bent down and, scraping the earth with her little hands, began to scoop out the soil and made a hollow in the ground. At the end of a few seconds, the little hole she had just hollowed out was seen to be full of water. Then the water slowly overflowed the limits of the hole, which might contain about a glass full, and trickled forth, slowly at first, oozing up and turning the surrounding soil to mud and then began to flow like a fine thread, which, during the first day, only moistened the sand. The wet mark which it traced on the soil slowly, insensibly lengthened, in the direction of the River Gave.
Our Lady had said to wash and drink. Mingled with the earth, it was quite muddy. Bernadette scooped up the muddy water and smeared it over her face, leaving it mud-stained. Then poor Bernadette raised the muddy water to her lips three times, without having courage to taste it. Finally, after much hesitation, she overcame her repugnance; she drank the muddy water and bathed her face with it.
Our Lady required a further act of faith and humility; she asked that Bernadette eat some leaves nearby, and in response she plucked a few and ate them (the plant was the golden saxifrage, in Latin, chrysoplenium; French, la dorine. The leaves and stems can be eaten in salads or as cooked greens). What was the object of all this very strange ceremonial of a new kind, so calculated to puzzle the spectators, or to fill them with doubts regarding the state of mind and mental health of their little compatriot? The crowd gathered about the grotto, which had been growing at each one of the apparitions, gasped. When they saw Bernadette drink the muddy liquid, they were in dismay, for most of them had believed in her. The crowd thought her mad. They understood nothing of all this. “Oh! See!” cried some of them, “Look how she daubs her face, poor child!” Others said: “She is losing her mind; there is no sense in that!”
The fact that these seemingly illogical and incomprehensible events, strange in appearance, produced a bad impression on a crowd of witnesses, only goes to show that little is needed to make the ‘prudence of the prudent’ become skeptical when faced with the secrets of Heaven. It also shows that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, and that our ways are not God’s ways: “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts: nor your ways My ways’, saith the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are exalted above the earth, so are My ways exalted above your ways, and My thoughts above your thoughts’” (Isaias 55:8-9).
Feeling deceived and discontented, the people departed, just as the weak-minded and faint-hearted followers of the Jesus went away, long ago, when He told them to eat His flesh and drink His blood (John, chapter 6). The carnal and worldly man, at all times, in all ages and places, is everywhere the same. With a mud-streaked face and dripping with muddy water, Bernadette wandered back to her former place before the grotto, the crowd in consternation, believers confounded, unbelievers louder than ever in their ridicule. There Bernadette resumed her contemplation of "The Lady."
The pious, humbled, obedient child continued to enjoy the heavenly Vision, with the eternal smile of Heaven on her lips, and on her forehead an angelic gleam, till about eight o’clock in the morning, when the divine Vision usually ended.
The Blessed Virgin, rewarding her little workwoman with a smile, disappeared, all radiant, and the faithful, obedient Bernadette went home as usual. The astonished spectators wished to see the miraculous fountain, and to soak their handkerchiefs in it. Next day, the Blessed Virgin’s fountain, visibly increasing, flowed already a finger’s breadth. At the end of a few days, it gushed out of the earth, pure and limpid, about as broad as a child’s arm. It then ceased to expand.
It was subsequently measured with mathematical precision: the first week, it gave 85 quarts (21 gallons) a minute; 5,100 quarts (1,275 gallons) an hour; that is to say, 122,400 quarts (30,600 gallons) a day. And before that time, we say again, that that rock, those sands were dry and arid, as all the inhabitants of the country knew. The skeptical minds of the neighborhood said and wrote that it was something quite natural, that there was no spring; that the crazed and deluded Bernadette had simply struck a collection of water, which had undoubtedly oozed out of the rock! The miraculous water of Lourdes has been analyzed by skillful chemists; it is a pure, virgin water; a natural water devoid of all mineral properties.
THE TENTH APPARITION
Saturday, February 27th
Saturday, February 27th
On Saturday, the 27th, Bernadette, with the idea of remaining at her favorite post, came and knelt at the place where, at Our Lady’s bidding, she had scooped out the earth the previous day and made a muddy pool ooze up. Seeing this water, clear and abundant, without showing the least surprise, she makes the sign of the Cross, drinks, and then bathes her face. That was to be, beyond all doubt, the rite of all good pilgrims in the future.
Returning to her rock, already she was flooded with ecstatic bliss, when the well-known voice, suddenly sorrowful, said to her: “Bernadette, kiss the earth for sinners!” Oh, that solicitude for sinners is never absent from her thoughts! You would think that the more pure and bright and dazzling she shines at Massabielle, the more she is mercifully interested in all that is sinful in this world; and as though it were not enough to pray for the intention of poor sinners, she wills that in their favor her agent should perform a series of penitential acts, such as applying her chaste lips to the ground trampled by every wayfarer, a thing naturally repugnant.
This mortification, added to her humiliation, was not difficult for the pious shepherdess. But soon, not content with having done it on her own behalf, she is seen fearlessly climbing the rose-tree, with tears in her eyes, as though on a moving pulpit, the better to invite all the crowd to kiss the ground in the same way; and (the strange influence of virtue in the weakest of beings) at the bidding of this peasant-girl, acting as the oracle of Heaven, every forehead was bent to the ground, just as in the autumn fields the proud ears of corn bow before the caresses of the winds.
This was (for the good of the crowd as well as of the favored child) a gradual initiation in the trying ordeal of the purgative life, until the fullest revelation they could desire should be possible. Thus the spiritual work of Lourdes was harmoniously fulfilled, and already, by the striking conversions that followed one after another, and the inexplicable cures that frequently took place, souls came to be caught on all sides in the toils of infinite love.
Returning to her rock, already she was flooded with ecstatic bliss, when the well-known voice, suddenly sorrowful, said to her: “Bernadette, kiss the earth for sinners!” Oh, that solicitude for sinners is never absent from her thoughts! You would think that the more pure and bright and dazzling she shines at Massabielle, the more she is mercifully interested in all that is sinful in this world; and as though it were not enough to pray for the intention of poor sinners, she wills that in their favor her agent should perform a series of penitential acts, such as applying her chaste lips to the ground trampled by every wayfarer, a thing naturally repugnant.
This mortification, added to her humiliation, was not difficult for the pious shepherdess. But soon, not content with having done it on her own behalf, she is seen fearlessly climbing the rose-tree, with tears in her eyes, as though on a moving pulpit, the better to invite all the crowd to kiss the ground in the same way; and (the strange influence of virtue in the weakest of beings) at the bidding of this peasant-girl, acting as the oracle of Heaven, every forehead was bent to the ground, just as in the autumn fields the proud ears of corn bow before the caresses of the winds.
This was (for the good of the crowd as well as of the favored child) a gradual initiation in the trying ordeal of the purgative life, until the fullest revelation they could desire should be possible. Thus the spiritual work of Lourdes was harmoniously fulfilled, and already, by the striking conversions that followed one after another, and the inexplicable cures that frequently took place, souls came to be caught on all sides in the toils of infinite love.
THE ELEVENTH APPARITION
Sunday, February 28th
Sunday, February 28th
On the morning of Sunday, February 28th, the last day of the month, the shining Vision, after loading her confidant with favors, seemed to retire. Then, breaking the solemn silence, always the prelude of something great, she said to the child: “Go and tell the priests that a chapel must be built here.”
What an unforeseen task! Bernadette was at first puzzled by it. It was no easy task, she thought, to face this rough man, the Curé of Lourdes, who by his crabbed ways had the knack of making her more frightened than two gendarmes. But since the Lady had spoken, she could only obey. The little child, then, after resting a little at her house, gathers up her courage and goes to the presbytery. With such a personage she could not feel at her ease. The poor child trembled from head to foot. At length, when, after some words not very reassuring, she was asked to explain herself clearly, she told him at once about the shrine to be built.
Irony was mixed with objections, and even rebukes came from Fr. Peyramale slips. It is true the priest did not long keep up this assumed severity before his daring sheep, for she gave respectfully, but firmly and cleverly, a reply to every question, and so clearly that the man of God was amazed by it. He wished then to know from the child herself this strange affair from the very beginning, and whilst the humble but unfaltering interpreter of Heaven unfolded with unerring precision her marvelous tale, he eyed her keenly, almost religiously, without losing a single word or a single movement of her unusual physiognomy, reflecting truly that he had before him a soul of crystal in which Heaven was mirrored.
Yet the building of the chapel was a great crux to him. He soon returned to this delicate point, the gist of the message, and with his sharp manner said to his visitor: “You will tell the Lady that if I am to listen to her, she must first prove to me who she is, and what claims she has to such a request.”
Clearly wisdom spoke here by the priest s mouth. In the Church of God, since revelation in the strict sense is finished, private supernatural revelation is admitted only when there is no means of acting otherwise. The little messenger had certainly enough Christian sense to understand it. She politely bowed and went away, leaving in the soul of the worthy priest a heavenly odor of sanctity, as it were, together with much religious uneasiness.
What an unforeseen task! Bernadette was at first puzzled by it. It was no easy task, she thought, to face this rough man, the Curé of Lourdes, who by his crabbed ways had the knack of making her more frightened than two gendarmes. But since the Lady had spoken, she could only obey. The little child, then, after resting a little at her house, gathers up her courage and goes to the presbytery. With such a personage she could not feel at her ease. The poor child trembled from head to foot. At length, when, after some words not very reassuring, she was asked to explain herself clearly, she told him at once about the shrine to be built.
Irony was mixed with objections, and even rebukes came from Fr. Peyramale slips. It is true the priest did not long keep up this assumed severity before his daring sheep, for she gave respectfully, but firmly and cleverly, a reply to every question, and so clearly that the man of God was amazed by it. He wished then to know from the child herself this strange affair from the very beginning, and whilst the humble but unfaltering interpreter of Heaven unfolded with unerring precision her marvelous tale, he eyed her keenly, almost religiously, without losing a single word or a single movement of her unusual physiognomy, reflecting truly that he had before him a soul of crystal in which Heaven was mirrored.
Yet the building of the chapel was a great crux to him. He soon returned to this delicate point, the gist of the message, and with his sharp manner said to his visitor: “You will tell the Lady that if I am to listen to her, she must first prove to me who she is, and what claims she has to such a request.”
Clearly wisdom spoke here by the priest s mouth. In the Church of God, since revelation in the strict sense is finished, private supernatural revelation is admitted only when there is no means of acting otherwise. The little messenger had certainly enough Christian sense to understand it. She politely bowed and went away, leaving in the soul of the worthy priest a heavenly odor of sanctity, as it were, together with much religious uneasiness.
THE TWELFTH APPARITION
Sunday, February 28th
Sunday, February 28th
Next day, Sunday, February 28th, several thousands of people were waiting at dawn for the arrival of the child-seer at Massabielle. She came there at her usual hour, in her modest Sunday attire, having her aunt Lucile with her, and tripping along like one who hastens to enjoy a favorite feast. Soon around her was a sea of human heads, extending along both banks a moving amphitheater from which emerged the figure of the peasant-child, who, amidst an impressive silence, shed over this multitude the glorious reflection of the other world, for the Lady did not keep them long waiting. But this morning there were only personal communications, that had no reference to the people. Apparently they were made for the private direction of Bernadette, whose education and interior progress was not to be neglected amidst so many episodes of every kind.
When, at the end of these sacred colloquies, the little girl wished to approach the foot of the Rock to perform her final devotions, she could not advance a step, so dense was the crowd ; and two friendly soldiers, who had come there from the Fortress, had to make a way for her. Her duties finished, the child, who was escorted with an ever-increasing respect by countless throngs, went straight to the old church, to hear Sunday Mass there, as if to show that the most sublime of ecstasies cannot dispense even the Saints from the ordinary duties of the Christian life.
When, at the end of these sacred colloquies, the little girl wished to approach the foot of the Rock to perform her final devotions, she could not advance a step, so dense was the crowd ; and two friendly soldiers, who had come there from the Fortress, had to make a way for her. Her duties finished, the child, who was escorted with an ever-increasing respect by countless throngs, went straight to the old church, to hear Sunday Mass there, as if to show that the most sublime of ecstasies cannot dispense even the Saints from the ordinary duties of the Christian life.
THE THIRTEENTH APPARITION
Monday, March 1st
Monday, March 1st
It was now Monday, March 1st. An incident, apparently trivial, but very instructive in reality, marked the beginning of the apparition.
Ever amiable, Bernadette, to please a neighbor, had already in her hand a borrowed Rosary in order to say it in place of her own. The Vision blamed her for it, asking her only to use her own Rosary, and thereby suggesting to us the pious respect and jealous care we should have for the place of every blessed object, especially of that which, enriched with the indulgences of the Church, is both the chief instrument of our spiritual profit and, like a golden chain, binds us as children in the service of Mary.
But this unlucky exchange caused among the bystanders a slight misunderstanding. Those who were wont to copy, as far as possible, all the actions of their model began to lay aside their Rosaries, thinking they were thus joining in some new kind of prayer. But the child by a sign quickly corrected this mistake, which, in the words of Scripture, might have prevented the Divine harmonies which she was already enjoying. As to the Lady, she could read the hearts of each too well to be offended in the least by such a mistake. It was sufficient to have given a precious lesson thus to her votary, and, doubtless, through her to everyone.
Ever amiable, Bernadette, to please a neighbor, had already in her hand a borrowed Rosary in order to say it in place of her own. The Vision blamed her for it, asking her only to use her own Rosary, and thereby suggesting to us the pious respect and jealous care we should have for the place of every blessed object, especially of that which, enriched with the indulgences of the Church, is both the chief instrument of our spiritual profit and, like a golden chain, binds us as children in the service of Mary.
But this unlucky exchange caused among the bystanders a slight misunderstanding. Those who were wont to copy, as far as possible, all the actions of their model began to lay aside their Rosaries, thinking they were thus joining in some new kind of prayer. But the child by a sign quickly corrected this mistake, which, in the words of Scripture, might have prevented the Divine harmonies which she was already enjoying. As to the Lady, she could read the hearts of each too well to be offended in the least by such a mistake. It was sufficient to have given a precious lesson thus to her votary, and, doubtless, through her to everyone.
THE FOURTEENTH APPARITION
Tuesday, March 3rd
Tuesday, March 3rd
On Tuesday, March 2nd, events at first happened as usual prayer, transfiguration, spiritual joy, which was reflected in the features of the shepherd-girl. Yet, after her ecstasy, her aunt Basile was struck by the anxious look of her niece, and asked her the reason. The reason she gave was that again, in answer to Monsieur le Curé, the Vision had just charged her to give him her embarrassing request about building an oratory!
This now troubled the messenger, and with reason. In order to give herself more courage, she made her good relative accompany her to the priest’s house. Her reception was scarcely warmer than before, especially when the pastor heard that, in addition to the building required, the visionary Lady wished them to come there in procession.
Was it not interior worship and social solemnity that this mysterious Being required? Now Fr. Peyramale saw that to expect from him such liturgical exhibitions was simply to be ignorant of religious affairs; for it is never a simple priest, but a Bishop, who must take the first steps in such matters. He next declared that such-like novelties, far from favoring Christian sentiment, would only injure it in the mind of his people, and with his pitiless and somewhat brusque logic, he concluded that these wishes or orders could not come from the true Queen of Heaven. The child’s replies could not set at rest these priestly doubts, so afraid was the man of God of being deceived! He shuddered at the bare thought of some sacrilege and ridiculous absurdity. What was he to do? Suddenly a bright idea (so he thought it, at least) crossed his mind: “Go and tell her who sends you to make the rose bush at the Grotto blossom at once before the assembled crowd, and then I will be her humble servant.”
The two poor visitors smiled. Clearly nothing remained for them but to withdraw. Honest heart of the priest, who wished in this way to reduce the Supernatural, so energetic for the last fortnight at Massabielle, to the level of an ordinary botanical curiosity! He did not then see that such a miracle would only have been puerile, because so short-lived, and also useless to prove anything to those who are aware that Nature sometimes causes this premature growth; lastly, and principally, because between the various things of which this Grotto was the scene, and the fact of a rose-tree putting forth leaves at the end of winter, there was no sufficient relation to show the meaning of these events.
By what right could a mortal even a Dean or a Canon require Providence to work this particular miracle? Was it that at Espelugues there were no miracles in the moral order, that he should so obstinately persist in requiring one in the physical order? As if all these well-known conversions, and all this wonderful commotion, caused by prayer not less than by enthusiasm, were not doubtless something more important than the premature blossoming of a wild rose-tree! Well, since at all costs this formidable theologian wanted visible and tangible facts, what else, pray, were the transfigurations of Bernadette, and the insensibility of her hand held with impunity for a quarter of an hour in the lambent flame of a taper, and the spring gushing forth of its own accord, and, above all, the numerous cases of wonderful cures already obtained by Our Lady’s spring, but facts? . . . But Monsieur le Curé, “so severe, wanted flowers!”
The day following this fruitless audience, Tuesday, March 3rd, was to prove a day of trial for the young Soubirous.
No visions, no communications! This bitter disappointment, perhaps, in atonement for the extreme skepticism of the priest, did not bate a jot of the fervor of this his child. In humility and self-denial, she might make up for it at least by a fuller prayer; then, having kissed the ground, as she was wont, and traced the sign of the cross, she quietly made her way back to the Rues des Petits-Fosss.
The crowd, disappointed in their hopes, showed less resignation. They made out especially that the period of the apparitions was now over. Not at all, replied the little Seer, with the sturdy candor of her faith, because one is still wanting.
This now troubled the messenger, and with reason. In order to give herself more courage, she made her good relative accompany her to the priest’s house. Her reception was scarcely warmer than before, especially when the pastor heard that, in addition to the building required, the visionary Lady wished them to come there in procession.
Was it not interior worship and social solemnity that this mysterious Being required? Now Fr. Peyramale saw that to expect from him such liturgical exhibitions was simply to be ignorant of religious affairs; for it is never a simple priest, but a Bishop, who must take the first steps in such matters. He next declared that such-like novelties, far from favoring Christian sentiment, would only injure it in the mind of his people, and with his pitiless and somewhat brusque logic, he concluded that these wishes or orders could not come from the true Queen of Heaven. The child’s replies could not set at rest these priestly doubts, so afraid was the man of God of being deceived! He shuddered at the bare thought of some sacrilege and ridiculous absurdity. What was he to do? Suddenly a bright idea (so he thought it, at least) crossed his mind: “Go and tell her who sends you to make the rose bush at the Grotto blossom at once before the assembled crowd, and then I will be her humble servant.”
The two poor visitors smiled. Clearly nothing remained for them but to withdraw. Honest heart of the priest, who wished in this way to reduce the Supernatural, so energetic for the last fortnight at Massabielle, to the level of an ordinary botanical curiosity! He did not then see that such a miracle would only have been puerile, because so short-lived, and also useless to prove anything to those who are aware that Nature sometimes causes this premature growth; lastly, and principally, because between the various things of which this Grotto was the scene, and the fact of a rose-tree putting forth leaves at the end of winter, there was no sufficient relation to show the meaning of these events.
By what right could a mortal even a Dean or a Canon require Providence to work this particular miracle? Was it that at Espelugues there were no miracles in the moral order, that he should so obstinately persist in requiring one in the physical order? As if all these well-known conversions, and all this wonderful commotion, caused by prayer not less than by enthusiasm, were not doubtless something more important than the premature blossoming of a wild rose-tree! Well, since at all costs this formidable theologian wanted visible and tangible facts, what else, pray, were the transfigurations of Bernadette, and the insensibility of her hand held with impunity for a quarter of an hour in the lambent flame of a taper, and the spring gushing forth of its own accord, and, above all, the numerous cases of wonderful cures already obtained by Our Lady’s spring, but facts? . . . But Monsieur le Curé, “so severe, wanted flowers!”
The day following this fruitless audience, Tuesday, March 3rd, was to prove a day of trial for the young Soubirous.
No visions, no communications! This bitter disappointment, perhaps, in atonement for the extreme skepticism of the priest, did not bate a jot of the fervor of this his child. In humility and self-denial, she might make up for it at least by a fuller prayer; then, having kissed the ground, as she was wont, and traced the sign of the cross, she quietly made her way back to the Rues des Petits-Fosss.
The crowd, disappointed in their hopes, showed less resignation. They made out especially that the period of the apparitions was now over. Not at all, replied the little Seer, with the sturdy candor of her faith, because one is still wanting.
THE FIFTEENTH APPARITION
Thursday, March 4th
Thursday, March 4th
In fact, the morrow, which was the last of the wonderful fifteen days, was marked by an extraordinary gathering. From every quarter, in view of what would certainly prove extraordinary in this wonderful episode, caravans flocked there by night, so that the Mayor of Lourdes thought it prudent to call in troops to reinforce the local gendarmes.
But the crowds of Lourdes did not need any persons in uniform. Up to the psychological moment (7:00 a.m.) we can say that veritable waves of humanity poured incessantly into the too narrow glen where Heaven held commune with this earth. When Bernadette arrived, there had come to see her, question her, kiss the hem of her humble robe, and to raise to her a colossal Hosanna, nearly 30,000 pilgrims a really portentous number, considering the seventy of the winter, and also that the railway did not yet traverse the steep Pyrenees mountains. Police and soldiers were on duty, but there was no need of them. From beginning to end, not a shadow of an accident or incident called for their services.
But amid the general commotion what were the Soubirous family doing, whose name flew from mouth to mouth? What had become of their child, the focus of all this religious excitement? They were, as usual, silently occupied in their obscure work, that barely sufficed to earn a piece of brown bread for the little ones. She, having finished her morning prayer before her copper crucifix, that hung above her wretched pallet, feeling her time draw near, took her Rosary, and calm, recollected, without noticing the immense crowd, directed her steps to the Grotto.
As soon as her well-known outline was perceived on the threshold of her damp home, an electric thrill seemed to pass through the crowd, as this password was handed on from group to group : “The Seer! The Seer!” Thence all along this new Via Sacra gendarmes had to guard the modest heroine against the outburst of a mystical delirium, who, after her audience with the Queen of the Earth, would only have a plate of porridge (literally, boiled maize, a common dish among the French peasantry) for her meal in her kitchen. Immersed in God and in the Lady of her dreams, she passed along, her head hidden in her white hood (as Henri Lasserre once told us) “like simplicity, quite unconscious of itself.”
Meanwhile, the familiar scene was soon taking place as usual : the child crossed herself, kissed the earth, drank at the spring, ate the grass herb, extended her arms in the form of a cross, said her Rosary. . . . She was beginning the second decade, when the sudden transfiguration of her whole being told the crowds closely watching her that she was rapt in ecstasy.
It was during this delightful transport that a third time she was bidden to go, as the messenger of Heaven, to ask for the chapel and procession from the proper authority. But today, as the prudence of the priests must exceed their devotion (it seems), authority never stirred, either at Lourdes or at Tarbes, at the risk of scandalizing the conscience of Catholics, preferring to wait and pray, inquire into the matter, and thus gain time, which (we may remark in parenthesis) was truly the best method of acting for the accomplishment of the Divine wishes ; and from this point of view the true one the attitude, or, if you prefer it, the way of acting, of a Laurence and a Peyramale was remarkably providential. Just as, according to St. Augustine, the first incredulity of Thomas has done more for the faith of the world than the enthusiasm of St. Peter or the poesy of St. John, so by hesitating so long about the supernatural at Massabielle, these two religious leaders, whom Heaven had placed there for that very reason, paved the way undoubtedly for its more rational triumph.
It is true that the civil power showed much less circumspection speaking of putting an end to the imposture or folly, guarding the Grotto and its approaches manu militari (in a military manner), even threatening to imprison the Seer. . . . But what availed all the ukases of the so-called liberal Empire against the decrees of Heaven? But to return to the Vision.
Whilst it continued a little longer than usual, it was not marked this time by any particular circumstance. It seemed that in these final days it was more to strengthen and console, than to instruct her, that Paradise opened above the head of Bernadette, in proportion as her inevitable martyrdom drew near. Meanwhile, the mere sight of her sweet Queen, even when she remained silent, was enough to thrill this innocent soul, inspiring her with courage and a surpassing peace. Providence has always a foretaste of delights for its chosen workers, especially when trials are near.
All these cures, which followed rapidly in the footsteps of Bernadette what a charter they were for her mission! Already people were everywhere talking about the amazing cures of Louis Bourriette, Justin Bouhohorts, Blaise Maumus, Therese Crozat, Marie Daube, Bernande Soubies, Jeanne Crassus, Benoite Cazeaux, Blaisette Soupenne, etc. So unmistakably, I may say, from the beginning Divine Power entered on the scene to throw down the gauntlet to sage Incredulity and inscrutable Policy.
Confronted by this mass of evidence, what did the swashbucklers of local cynicism do? In order to discredit the true miracles by ridicule they invented false ones. Already, ye freethinkers, bond-slaves of Reason this is your work! Only, as it is always the fate of iniquity to lie to itself, it so happened that these startling phenomena were witnessed not merely by a people full of enthusiasm, but by cold and calculating men of science a Dozous, a Peyrus, or a Vergez whose relentless official reports, made on the spot, sounded the death-knell of materialism at length brought to bay, and who thus started at this date that Criticism of the Supernatural which learned and conscientious doctors like Saint-Maclou and Boissarie have brought to its present high level under the eyes of a skepticism that is completely baffled.
Before taking leave of the Lady to visit once more Fr. Peyramale, the child who, even in her ecstasies, never lost the use of her reason, ventured this morning to ask her name. The moment was not yet come for this final revelation, and the disappearance of the shining Form was her only reply for the present.
From now till March 25 there were no more apparitions, but this did not deter Bernadette from frequently repairing to Massabielle. How often, when school was over, she would slip away from her schoolmates, and hasten by stealth to the holy rocks to say her prayers there! When there was a holiday she took the opportunity of spending sweet hours in the crypt, where her heart was now centered. Already, by the piety of the people, the interior of the cave had quite changed its appearance ; a rustic altar had been reared there, on which stood the statue of the Blessed Virgin, and all around it were sweet-smelling flowers and burning tapers, with the almost uninterrupted strains of fervent prayers or melodious hymns. With a view to the chapel soon to be built there, alms poured in from all sides into the hollow, and no profane hand ever dared to steal the smallest coin from it; for everyone, high and low, was fain to look upon this favored spot as the vestibule of Heaven!