What is the intense magnetism that draws approximately six million visitors (one hundred thousand of whom are seriously ill) each year to the shrine at Lourdes? Is it the beautiful church edifices, constructed at the behest of Our Heavenly Mother? No. There are buildings of far greater beauty elsewhere in the world. Is it the hope of miracles of the body? Possibly, but only a privileged few will actually receive such a blessing. Is it miracles of the soul? Undoubtedly there are far more of these than any other healing. But still this does not fully account for the unending procession of pilgrims. Some come out of mere curiosity, but all are guaranteed to leave with an indescribable spiritual solace.
Robert Hugh Benson, renowned author and English convert of the 1800’s, visited Lourdes with a bit of skepticism in his heart. Here is the record of his final impression. “It appeared to me as if some great benign influence was abroad, soothing, satisfying; lying like a great summer air over all, to quiet and to stimulate. I cannot describe this further; I can only say that it never really left me during those three days I saw sights that would have saddened me elsewhere—apparent injustices, certain disappointments, dashed hopes that would almost have broken my heart; and yet that great Power was over all, to reconcile, to quiet, and to reassure. To leave Lourdes at the end was like leaving home.”
Anyone who visits Lourdes holds the memory of it as one of his dearest treasures. It is not just a nostalgic memory, but one that seems to leave a blazing brand upon the heart and soul. Lourdes is a place filled with Faith, Hope, and Charity. The very atmosphere seems to be permeated with it. Why? What is the real cause? Again Robert Hugh Benson sums it up succinctly, “Lourdes is soaked, saturated, and kindled by the all but sensible presence of the Mother of God.” Mary, Our Mother, is there – for us!
Geographically, the story of Lourdes begins in a small town in France near the Pyrenees Mountains in the year 1858. But let us take a moment to trace its beginnings a little further back. We can barely make out a skull-shaped hill outside the walls of Jerusalem, for a strange darkness covers the WHOLE earth. An agonizing voice can be heard coming from a cross that has been erected between two criminals. It is the voice of the dying Man-God, our Saviour. Though He is in excruciating pain, His words ring out clearly through the air. Listen, He is speaking to you and to me, “Behold your Mother.” It is not enough that He has given His life and every drop of His Precious Blood, but now He bestows on us His greatest treasure and Masterpiece, His own beloved Mother. Let those words engrave themselves on our hearts. Turn your gaze to the Woman of whom He speaks. Her heart is rent with anguish as her only Son, the Son of God, hangs between life and death. See how she stretches out her hands to us, forgetting her own pain to draw us closer to her Son. She accepts us, faithless sinners, as her own children and clasps us to her heart. As a true Mother, she is ready to console us and show us the true Source of all consolation in life’s trials. It is this very same Mother who comes to us at Lourdes to bid us come closer to her Son and drink of the consolation He offers us. Yes, Saint Bernadette was the privileged visionary who actually saw this beloved Mother, but it is no less for us that she has come. She is truly our Mother.
The dogma of the Catholic Church attests that when Mary’s life was ended, she was taken body and soul into Heaven where she lives in eternal happiness with her Son. Why then would she leave such a place to return to earth (even for a time) to show herself to a poor ignorant girl? The answer – LOVE. Saint Thérèse must have been inspired by the example of Our Blessed Mother, for she seems to have stolen the idea from her when she said, “I will spend my Heaven doing good upon earth.” It is this “good upon earth” that we will see in the story of Lourdes.
In the 1800’s the town of Lourdes was no different from its many neighboring villages, having mills, shops, farms and a simple governmental system at the center of which was the parish church. It was at this Church of Saint Peter that little Bernadette Soubirous was baptized in 1844. The Soubirous family, six members in all, had been supported by their father’s mill which had provided the family with an adequate livelihood until poor management of funds put Francois Soubirous out of business. Money became so tight that they were forced to give up their poor house and take refuge in the old jail, consisting of one room and a fireplace. Bernadette, the eldest of six, had chronic attacks of asthma which kept her from regular attendance at school. This, of course, had its affect and even at the age of fourteen, she experienced great difficulty in reading and writing. Though her academics may have been lacking, Bernadette had fervently watered the seed of Faith that was planted in her soul at Baptism, until it had sprung up into a beautiful, lively, simple Faith as well as a complete Trust in God. It was this simplicity of soul God found so pleasing that He sent His Mother to visit her.
One cold damp day in February, 1858, Madame Soubirous was in dire need of firewood. Bernadette and her sister, Toinette, along with a friend, Jeanne, jumped to the occasion and headed for the woods by the River Gave. They came to the area called Massabielle, a configuration of huge rock jutting out from the steep hill. It had the appearance of a cave with a niche hollowed out above the entrance that was entangled with briars and vegetation. It was situated at the edge of the river. The two younger girls began leaping through the freezing waters screeching to Bernadette, warning her not to follow lest her asthma flare up again. Nevertheless, Bernadette began to take off her socks and shoes when she heard a gust of wind, though all around the air was still. She hesitated and looked toward the grotto in the nearby rocks, feeling someone’s presence. Here is her description of the event. “Then I was frightened and stood straight up. I lost all power of speech and thought, when turning my head toward the grotto, I saw at one of the openings of the rock, a bush, one only, moving as if it were very windy. Almost at the same time there came out of the interior of the grotto a golden-colored cloud and soon after a Lady, young and beautiful, exceedingly beautiful, the like of whom I had never seen, came and placed herself at the entrance of the opening above the bush. She looked at me immediately, smiled at me and signed me to advance, as if she had been my mother. All fear had left me, but I seemed to know no longer where I was. I rubbed my eyes, I shut them, I opened them; but the Lady was still there continuing to smile at me and making me understand that I was not mistaken. Without thinking of what I was doing, I took my rosary in my hands and went on my knees. The Lady made with her head a sign of approval, and she took into her hands a rosary which hung on her right arm. When I attempted to begin the rosary trying to lift my hand to my forehead, my arm remained paralyzed, and it was only after the Lady had signed herself that I could do the same. The Lady left me to pray all alone; she passed the beads of her rosary between her fingers, but she said nothing; only at the end of each decade did she say the ‘Gloria’ with me. When the recitation of the rosary was finished, the Lady returned to the interior of the rock, and the golden cloud disappeared with her.” When questioned as to the appearance of this apparition Bernadette gave this clear picture. “She has the appearance of a young girl of sixteen or seventeen. She is dressed in a white robe, girdled at the waist with a blue ribbon which flows down all along her robe. She wears upon her head a veil which is also white; this veil gives just a glimpse of her hair and then falls down at the back below her waist. Her feet are bare but covered by the last folds of her robe except at the point where a yellow rose shines upon each of them. She holds on her right arm a rosary of white beads with a chain of gold shining like the two roses on her feet.”
Bernadette wanted her experience to remain a secret that she shared only with her sister, but soon the news spread throughout the town. Her parents forbade her to return to the grotto. Compelled by an inner force, she felt she must return. After much distress, her mother finally agreed and Bernadette went a second time to the grotto carrying a bottle of holy water to sprinkle on the apparition. When Our Lady appeared, Bernadette told those who accompanied her, “She is looking at you.” Bernadette was to say later, “She looked at everybody with much affection. Sometimes she seemed to look at each person individually, and her gaze seemed to rest upon certain ones as though they were old friends.” In all the apparitions of Lourdes, it is noticeable that the Lady is not superfluous in her use of words. After all, words are not the only means of communication, and as we know, they are often very inadequate. Words between two lovers seem so senseless, a look can say so much more. The love between a mother and child never really has to be spoken, it is felt in the very depths of their beings. When we refer to a person as a “man of few words,” those words which he does utter are taken very seriously.
On February 18, when Bernadette reached the grotto, there were already about a hundred people present. Someone suggested that she ask the Lady to write her name on a piece of paper but the Lady only said, “There is no need to write what I have to say.” Then she added, “Will you do me the kindness of coming here for fifteen days?” Imagine the Mother of God condescending to ask a poor sinner to do her the kindness! Why, it was an honor surpassing all Bernadette’s wildest dreams! Then the Lady added in a serious manner, “I do not promise to make you happy in this world but in the other.”
The apparitions continued. Bernadette returned faithfully every day. Only twice did the Lady fail to appear for some mysterious reason. On some of the days on which the Lady appeared, the visits seemed to be just for Bernadette and the message for her ears only. She taught her prayers which she never revealed to anyone and told her things that sometimes aroused a look of sadness to her previously radiant face. On February 24, however, Our Lady had a message for all of us, not unlike that which she repeated at Fatima to the three shepherd children in the year 1917. She told Bernadette, “Penance! Penance! Penance! Pray to God for sinners. Kiss the ground as an act of penance for sinners!” This message came as the Church was in her Lenten course, a Mother’s reminder to care for the spiritual well-being of our fellow creatures and a warning to each of us personally to look after the salvation of our own souls.
When Bernadette went to the grotto on February 25, approximately 400 people were gathered there. It was a day not to be forgotten. Bernadette, deep in ecstatic happiness at the sight of the Lady, heard her say, “Go, drink and wash in the spring.” The crowd, of course, was not privy to the heavenly conversation and watched intently every move that Bernadette made. They saw her walk toward the River Gave and then turn back and begin to dig in the earth w ith her hands and begin to wash her face with muddy water, then to eat of the grass growing nearby. “How sad! Poor little Bernadette has gone mad,” was the general consensus. Some mocked her, others walked home disillusioned by it all. A faithful few remained behind continuing to offer their prayers to the Mother of God. All the while the fountain of water issuing from the spring continued to increase and run in rivulets toward the river. It wasn’t until the next day that it was noticed by the returning crowd. When Bernadette arrived at the grotto, she regarded the flowing spring as nothing strange and making the sign of the cross, she drank and washed her face in it. As she prayed the rosary, the Lady said, “You will kiss the earth for sinners.” This command she promptly obeyed and turning to the crowd, bade them do likewise.
Chapters could be written about the opposition of the social leaders and skeptics of the time but let it suffice to mention Bernadette’s dealings with her parish priest, Abbe Peyramale. As a representative of the Catholic Church, he had to be particularly hard on Bernadette to prove her sincerity and the identity of the vision. It was to this cleric that Bernadette had to bring the message that the Lady revealed on March 2, “Go, tell the priests to come in procession and to build a chapel here.” Bernadette was very uneasy approaching so stern a man, but nothing stopped her from obeying the Lady. He questioned her thoroughly and was extremely severe, more to test her than to manifest his disbelief. In actuality he could not help seeing the transparency of her pure soul, her innocence and her simplicity of mind. Nevertheless, he would make no move unless he had proof of who this apparition truly was. He told Bernadette to ask the Lady to give her name and to make the rosebush in the grotto bloom despite the cold March temperatures. Then he would be more than willing to do her bidding. When Bernadette relayed this message to the Lady, she only smiled.
Already at this early stage, the miraculous effects of the spring were being felt and seen. One of the well known quarrymen by the name of Bourriette had lost the vision in his right eye in an accidental explosion at the quarry. It had been about twenty years since the accident, and the sight continually grew worse. The doctor’s diagnosis was incurable amarosis. When he heard of the spring dug by Bernadette at the request of the Lady, he begged his daughter to bring some of the water home to him. This request was promptly fulfilled, and Bourriette washed his eye repeatedly in the water as he prayed with deep faith and conviction in the love of his heavenly Mother. Slowly but surely he felt the light penetrating, and the vision returning to his blind eye. Imagine the jubilation he felt inside. When next he saw his doctor, all the doctor could say was, “I cannot deny it, it is a miracle, a true miracle, with all due deference to myself and my brethren of the faculty. This has quite upset me; but we can not but submit to the imperious voice of a fact so clear and so entirely beyond the range of poor human science.”
All awaited expectantly for the message of March 4, for this would be the last of the fifteen visits that the Lady had initially promised Bernadette. One record states that there were about 8,000 people present but another records 20,000. We must realize that in 1858 transportation and communication were not what they are today. It seems miraculous in itself that in less than three weeks the message of the apparition was already in effect as processions of people came in from all over France. And yet, as if to test the faith of the people, the Lady was silent. Was this the last vision? If so, it certainly was not the last procession of the faithful. A temporary altar was erected, and women brought flowers to adorn it. A constant flow of pilgrims came every day.
A neighbor of the Soubirous family had a little boy, Louis-Justin Bouhohorts, not yet two years old who was diagnosed with meningitis and poliomyelitis. He was paralyzed in both legs and had never been able to walk or stand. He began to have seizures and his condition grew from bad to worse. The doctor had told the parents that it was only a matter of time before he would die. His eyes began to dim and his breathing seemed to stop. No motion came from his small breast. The mother, in a last desperate hope-filled attempt, picked up her child and rushed straight for the grotto, not heeding the cries of her husband to stop and be sensible. She pushed her way through the crowds to the spring and submerged her child into the freezing cold waters. Those around her thought she was crazed and warned her that she would kill her child, but she remained steadfast and prayed continually to her Heavenly Mother for about fifteen minutes. The child was breathing, but there was no other sign of motion. She returned him to his crib and kept a night vigil by his side. By morning his eyes were open, his breathing normal, and he was trying to get out of his crib. On the very next day when the mother returned from the grotto, she found the crib empty and little Louis-Justin running about the room like any healthy boy of his age.
True Identity
What is the mystery hidden here? Bernadette was not sure she would ever see her beloved Lady again. But God has His ways and His reasons. He had saved the best message for the great feast of the Church, March 25, the Feast of the Incarnation, when the Son of God became man in the womb of this most beautiful Lady. Let us hear the account from the lips of Bernadette herself. “She was there, peaceful, smiling, and looking down upon the crowd like a loving mother looking at her children. When I was on my knees before the Lady, I asked her pardon for arriving late. Always good and gracious, she made a sign to me with her head to tell me that I need not excuse myself. Then I spoke to her of all my affection, all my respect, and the happiness I had in seeing her again. After having poured out my heart to her I took up my rosary. Whilst I was praying, the thought of asking her name came before my mind with such persistence that I could think of nothing else. I feared I would be presumptuous in repeating a question she had always refused to answer, and yet something compelled me to speak. At last, under an irresistible impulse, the words fell from my mouth, and I begged the Lady to tell me who she was. The Lady did as she had done before; she bowed her head and smiled, but she did not reply. I cannot say why, but I felt myself bolder and asked her again to graciously tell me her name; however she only bowed her head and smiled as before, still remaining silent. Then once more, for the third time, clasping my hands and confessing myself unworthy of the favor I was asking of her, I again made my request. The Lady was standing above the rose-tree, in a position very similar to that shown in the miraculous medal. At my third request her face became very serious and she seemed to bow down in an attitude of humility. Then she joined her hands and raised them to her breast…she looked up to heaven…then slowly opening her hands and leaning forward towards me, she said to me in a voice vibrating with emotion: “I AM THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION.”
Twenty-eight years before, this same Lady had appeared in Paris to Saint Catherine Laboure requesting her image to be struck on a medal for all her devout children to wear. The inscription was to read, “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.” Only four years previous the Catholic Church, through her visible head, Pope Pius IX, had declared it a dogma of faith which all Catholics must believe: the all-holy Mother of God was conceived without the stain of original sin ever touching her soul. Now, as if in verification of this fact, in all humility Our Blessed Mother professes to us the great favor granted to her by God Himself.
Bernadette, in her simplicity, did not comprehend the meaning of the Lady’s words, but repeated them to herself until she reached Abbe Peyramale. It was more than he had bargained for. Yes, he had requested that the rosebush should bloom and it had—but in a far different way than he expected. It had bloomed forth the Mother of God. As the vine I have brought forth a pleasant odor, and my flowers are the fruit of honor and riches. (Ecclus. 24:23) The only human who could call herself the Immaculate Conception was the Blessed Virgin Mary. The faith of the simple people would never be disappointed at Lourdes.
On April 7, Our Lady came again. During this ecstasy, Bernadette was so enraptured that although the flame of the candle which she held in her hand was almost touching her skin, she did not even move. Doctor Dozous, who happened to be intently watching her, was amazed. When the vision had disappeared, he examined the hand which had not been burn.
On June 8, the entrance to Massabielle was blocked by fencing and guarded so no one could enter. While church officials were studying the evidence and conducting questionaries, the town officials were investigating the waters of the miraculous spring. The simple, humble folk readily believed in the cures of Lourdes, while the more sophisticated needed scientific proof. They insisted on having the waters tested, believing that the spring waters themselves contained healing minerals and that there was nothing of the miraculous about them, thus discrediting the power of the Almighty. An intense study was made by one of the best chemists of the Toulouse Faculty of Science. His findings were as follows. “From the foregoing analysis I conclude that the water of the Grotto of Lourdes may be considered in its composition as a water for drinking, similar to the majority of the springs found in the mountains, the soil of which is rich in limestone. This water contains no active substance capable of giving it marked therapeutic properties; it can be drunk without danger.” No question about it, the cures experienced at this fountain were from a supernatural power. When complaint was made to the Emperor Napoleon III that despite these findings the blockade remained, he ordered them to be taken down immediately and no further intrusion be made to this place of pilgrimage. His order was fulfilled on October 5.
The final farewell of Our Lady occurred on July 16, the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the day she had given the scapular to Saint Simon Stock in 1252. Many things had occurred at the grotto since Our Lady’s last appearance. At this time the barrier at the grotto was still standing. On this particular day, Bernadette felt the old familiar impulse which had many times before drawn her to the grotto. However on this occasion, she could not get near it due to the blockade. She satisfied herself and those who followed her by taking up a position directly across the river from the grotto. Almost immediately she could see her beloved Lady, and said to those nearby, “Yes, yes, there she is. She welcomes us and is smiling on us across the barriers.” In transports of joy, Bernadette felt no distance at all between herself and the Lady. It was as if she were right at her feet. This seemed to be a silent visit but one filled with a deep and penetrating love that would never leave Bernadette even when the visions had.
And so ended the beautiful apparitions at Lourdes. But this was not the end of the message nor the end of the flow of pilgrims. As year followed year, the number of pilgrims mounted higher and higher. Lourdes became a worldwide place of pilgrimage. After four years the bishop of Tarbes officially declared the following: “After having sought the light of the Holy Spirit and the assistance of the blessed Virgin; We have declared and do declare that which follows: We judge that Mary, the Immaculate Mother of God, did really appear to Bernadette Soubirous on the 11th of February 1858, and on certain subsequent days, eighteen times in all, in the grotto of Massabielle near the town of Lourdes; that this Appearance bears every mark of truth and that the belief of the faithful is well grounded.”
Demonic Assault
Recall the words of God the Father in the Garden of Eden when He cursed the devil, I will put enmities between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed. She shall crush thy head and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel. (Gen. 3:15) The devil, envious, corrupt creature that he is could not bear to see the triumph of the Mother of God at Lourdes. All his previous attempts to stop belief had failed. She, the all-holy, pure, innocent Virgin was winning the love of souls, not for her self (for that is not her goal) but for her Son and this was too much for the evil, grotesque fallen angel to take. He had already, during the forth vision of Our Lady to Bernadette, reared his evil head. While she was deep in a peaceful ecstasy she heard horrific, chilling cries coming from the river and screeching, “Escape for your life!” In terror Bernadette besought help from Mary who turned a stern gaze in that direction and all was again peaceful. Soon other preternatural events began to occur at the site, mostly to young girls and boys. Some would see figures of the saints in the grotto moving agitatedly about or hear beautiful singing which turned into discordant screeches. The devil was incapable of portraying himself peaceful. J. B. Estrade, one of the government officials who was convinced of the truth of Bernadette’s visions, records this event. “On one side of the house in which I lived at Lourdes with my sister, there dwelt a very respectable family… One day one of the children of this family, Alex by name, eleven or twelve years old, now a grown man, came back from the grotto with his eyes starting out of his head and unable to speak. Paralysed with fear, he threw himself hurriedly into the arms of his mother, seeming to demand her protection. The anxious mother hastened to question the child, but the latter only replied by signs of alarm. Thoroughly frightened, the poor mother called my sister and asked her to come to her help. My sister ran up, and after some care and attention and words of comfort had been bestowed upon the child, he was restored to a state of calm. When he had entirely recovered his senses, he told the following story, ‘When I left the house I went to walk with some other children by the side of Massabielle. When I reached the grotto I prayed for a moment; then, while waiting for my companions, I went up to the rock and leaned upon it, my head upon my elbow. I was there looking at those around and thinking of nothing in particular, when turning to the hollow of the rock I saw coming towards me a lady covered with gold and decked out with furbelows. This lady concealed her hands and the lower part of her body in an ashen-colored cloud, like a storm cloud. She fixed on me her great black eyes and seemed to wish to seize me. I thought at once that it was the devil, and not knowing what I did, I fled.’” No matter how frightful or hair-raising these series of false apparitions were, it in no way depreciated the faith of the people in the true apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes. People came daily to pray fervently at the grotto. The evil one was foiled again for he had no power then and still has no power over those who pledge themselves to the Blessed Mother and trust in her intercession.
Back to Normal?
What about Bernadette now that the apparitions had ceased? Bernadette had to endure much suffering because of the continual questions with which she was bombarded but she never showed any signs of impatience. She was subjected to various tests by the doctors to verify that she was of sound mind and body. She came through it all with flying colors and not the least bit disturbed by it. When she began to see the Church’s efforts to make Lourdes a shrine, the processions of people that seemed to never stop, and most especially the increase of faith and love of the people for Our Blessed Mother and her Son, Jesus, she knew her job there was finished. She once said joyfully to one of her fellow sisters in religion, “I was like a broomstick for the Blessed Virgin; when she no longer needed me, she put me in my place behind the door. Here I am and here I’ll stay.” Bernadette seemed to be mystically penetrated with the love and influence of the Blessed Mother. Her every action, though very normal, was accompanied by something of the supernatural. She never was a genius and yet she learned those things in life which are most important and helpful in achieving the eternal goal, things that some of the most intelligent men in the world never seem to learn. She found it hard to pray long prayers so she said little ejaculatory prayers repeatedly during the day, little prayers like, “My God, I believe in You, I hope in You, I love You.” And “My God, I love You!” Many people remarked that she made the most perfect Sign of the Cross. This, like all her best actions, was taught to her by Our Lady. But, it must be remembered, Bernadette hated ostentation. Nothing in her behavior was done for show. She was very reserved and loved silence.
Bernadette spent about thirteen years as a Sister of Charity at Nevers. She worked as assistant to the sacristan and also as a nurse’s aide. Often she was treated harshly by those who had no patience with her or those who doubted her truthfulness in the story of her apparitions. Her health was always very precarious, and she received the Last Rites more than once. She finally succumbed to her weakness and just before her death was required to reiterate one last time her story of the apparitions attesting to their truth. This she did with halting breath but complete determination. On April 16, 1879, as she lay dying her last words were, “Blessed Mary, Mother of God, pray for me! – a poor sinner, a poor sinner.” Her soul departed for Heaven as was verified by her canonization by Pope Pius XI in 1933 on December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady. In the year 1909, her body was found perfectly incorrupt still holding her rosary in her hands. She had summed up her life in this way, “To obey is to love! To suffer in silence for Christ is joy! To love sincerely is to give everything, even grief!”
The Domain
In 1866 the first permanent church was erected at the site of the Apparitions, and each subsequent year saw new additions at the shrine. Eventually three churches, now basilicas, topped one another. At the bottom is the Rosary Basilica, then the Crypt, built right into the rock of Massabielle and crowning it is the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. More modern churches were added in time but without the original warmth and devotion. The water from the spring can still be seen in the place where it originally sprang up, but it has also been piped into seventeen baths for the pilgrims and spigots where one can wash or collect water in bottles to bring home. The baths have been divided into six for the men and eleven for the women. Pilgrims pray as they wait their turn to enter. The sick are allowed in first, then the remaining. The pilgrims, assisted by volunteers, enter the bath, kiss a small statue of Our Blessed Mother and repeat short ejaculations. On leaving, each person finds himself already dry. The water is extremely cold and is changed only twice a day and yet no disease was ever contracted in these waters. No one leaves the baths without having received great graces and a feeling of spiritual solace.
A beautiful Way of the Cross has been erected on the hill behind the Grotto where pilgrims join their suffering with those of Our Lord and fulfill Our Lady’s desire that we do penance. Smaller shrines sprinkle the surrounding grounds, which is referred to as the Lourdes Domain. But the Grotto itself remains the focal point for all pilgrims. Here they pray with outstretched arms and fervent hearts pleading their cause before the Mother of God, some in wheelchairs, others on crutches and some perfectly healthy. A huge candelabra stands before the Rock in which people place their candles as a prayer that will linger before Our Lady until the wax is extinguished.
One of the most astounding features that you notice on a visit to Lourdes is the thorough system of organization. There is never any disorder or noisy commotion. This is, in a large degree, due to the many “brancardiers” present. These are people who volunteer their time to aid the sick, lead the crowd and preserve order among thousands of pilgrims. The sick are lined up, sometimes forming a huge human cross and always taking up the front rows. (After all, Lourdes is dedicated to the sick and infirm.) Every day there is a Blessing of the Sick and Eucharistic Adoration. Many of the recorded miracles have occurred during this blessing. It is living proof that the Holy Mother of God did not come to draw people just to herself but to her Divine Son, “To Jesus through Mary.” All miracles happen through His power alone although many times it is through the intercession of His Mother, who has great influence over His Sacred Heart. Every day thousands of pilgrims come out of sheer devotion and love with a deep faith that their prayers will be heard. The church’s definition of a pilgrimage tells us they are “journeys made to holy places with an object of giving honor to God or His saints, and as a means of devotion and penance.” The people gather each evening for a candlelight procession imploring mercy or thanksgiving. The forcefulness of their pleadings sends a chill down the spine. To see so many humbled by their own helplessness and inspired with intense faith and love is simply awe-inspiring. Thousands of voices raise themselves to Heaven in praise of Mary singing AVE, AVE, AVE MARIA!
Miracle! Miracle!
In order to appreciate the authenticity of the miracles at Lourdes, we must say a word about the Medical Bureau that has been established there. Knowing humanity in general, it is easy to imagine that with excitement of a few cures could come an influx of supposed cures. Such things as autosuggestion, over-stimulated nerves or just a general “hype” could make a person experiencing health problems to “feel” as though he were miraculously healed. To avoid such difficulties and the skepticism of the unbelieving world, a Medical Bureau was set up at the shrine itself. Any visiting doctors, regardless of creed, are invited within its precincts. A patient’s records are examined before and after the cure. The Lourdes Bureau states, “A committee of experts of the International Committee will verify that the cure conforms to the requirements of the Church. It must have been a serious and proven illness, the cure was instantaneous and without the intervention of medical treatment, without convalescence and without recurrence.” Note that these requirements are for those miracles verified by the Church. They do not in any way diminish the countless other miracles that do occur at Lourdes, both physical and spiritual. Many people are satisfied with the reality of their experience and prefer not to be bothered with the questions and examinations required by the Bureau. Since the apparitions, approximately 7,000 cures have occurred with only about 70 being fully recognized by the Church and verified by the Medical Bureau.
In 1878, a young lady named Joachime Dehant made her first visit to Lourdes. She had suffered twelve years with an ulcerated leg, the aperture being about twelve inches long and constantly draining. The stench made it almost unbearable for anyone to remain near her. The leg muscles had deteriorated and her foot was bent up so she was completely incapable of walking. Her faith in God and His almighty power was in no way weak as she boarded the train to Lourdes carrying a pair of boots along. She was determined to wear them on the return trip. On arriving at Lourdes, she visited the baths and although nothing out of the ordinary happened she was not deterred. She went again. This time she felt severe pain in her leg and then an increase in strength. The wound in her leg was completely healed. Her fellow travelers attested to the fact as they were no longer driven away by the smell. It need not be said, Joachime returned home with her boots on and walking as normally as anyone. She never had any more problems with her leg.
Another phenomenal story is of a young postman, Gabriel Gargam, an unreligious man. He was trapped in a terrible train wreck which injured his spine beyond recovery, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. He had to be fed through a tube and eventually both legs became gangrenous. His power of speech was also gone. The courts stated, “The accident has made Gargam a veritable human wreck, whose intelligence alone has remained unimpaired…Henceforth he will need two attendants, to give him day and night the very careful attention which is necessary if life is to be preserved.” He became more and more emaciated every day until it was evident that death was imminent. His mother, a devout Catholic, begged him to consider a pilgrimage to Lourdes to which he finally acquiesced. He went to confession and Communion before departure but with no fervor. At the grotto, he received Holy Communion again but this time the spark of his faith which had not fully died out was re-enkindled. He visited the baths with great devotion but nothing strange happened. He was taken on his stretcher to the Procession of the Blessed Sacrament and there he lay as if unconscious. After the priest passed with Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, life seemed to come into his being and he sat up, began to speak and tried to get off his stretcher. He was restrained from walking by his nurse. The next morning he walked unattended to the Medical Bureau. All were spellbound. Sixty doctors examined him with the conclusion that it was scientifically inexplicable. Every year Gargam would return to Lourdes as a stretcher-bearer for other sick pilgrims until he died at the age of eighty-three.
Each miracle is singular in its beauty and display of intense faith and trust in God and His holy Mother. John Traynor of England, a man of such faith, had suffered multiple wounds in the head and leg during World War I. He recovered only to be wounded again in the head and chest as well as having a bullet lodged in his collarbone that had traveled through his upper right arm. The muscles in the arm atrophied, the arm became paralyzed and a partial paralysis in both legs as well as serious daily epileptic seizures ensued. The doctors attempted to operate four times to no avail. The fifth operation was to remove the shrapnel from his skull. This also was unsuccessful and even detrimental. A metal plate was put into the skull and the brain could be seen pulsating through the hole. For eight years Traynor was completely dependent on his wife and children. Then came the moment of grace. One day a woman of the parish announced that a pilgrimage to Lourdes was being planned and was to leave from Liverpool. Traynor was immediately convinced he must go. He told his wife to use the emergency money they had set aside for the future. She hesitated but he insisted. The down payment was made. All he needed now was the okay from the doctors. Every doctor was against the idea, and they insisted that he change his mind as it would be suicide for him to make the trip. Even the priest in charge of the pilgrimage came twice to beg him to reconsider for his own life’s sake. Traynor was indominable. He left without any medical certificate, only hope and faith. The trip proved to be an intense one. Three times he was so near death his attendants tried to stop the train and take him to a hospital but there were none in the area. On reaching Lourdes, he was immediately taken to Asile Hospital and examined by the doctors. They verified that among other complications, his condition was as previously described and very serious. Traynor insisted on visiting the baths during his stay at Lourdes much to the dismay of his attendants. He actually went a total of nine times to the baths. Two days before his departure, the following occurrence was recorded by both Father Patrick O’Connor and Ruth Cranston. “When I was in the bath, my paralyzed legs became violently agitated, so much so that I almost emptied the bath. The brancardiers and attendants were terribly alarmed, thinking no doubt that I was in a fit, though I knew it was not so…
“I struggled to get to my feet, feeling that I could easily do so, and wondered why everything and everybody seemed to be working against me. When I was taken out of the bath I cried from sheer exhaustion. The brancardiers threw my clothes on hurriedly, put me back on the stretcher, and rushed me to the square in front of the Rosary Church to await the Procession…The procession came winding its way back as usual, to the church, and at the end walked the Archbishop of Rheims, carrying the Blessed Sacrament. He blessed the two ahead of me, came to me, made the Sign of the Cross with the monstrance and moved on to the next. He had just passed me when I realized that a great change had taken place in me. My right arm, which had been dead since 1915, was violently agitated. I burst its bandages and blessed myself for the first time in years.
“I had no sudden pain that I can recall and certainly no vision. I simply realized that something momentous had happened. I tempted to rise from my stretcher, but the brancardiers were watching me. I suppose I had a bad name for my obstinacy. They held me down, and a doctor or a nurse gave me a hypo. Apparently they thought that I was hysterical and about to create a scene. Immediately after the final benediction they rushed me back to the Asile. I told them that I could walk and proved it by taking seven steps. They put me back in bed and gave me a morphine injection.
“They had me in a small ward on the ground floor. As I was such a troublesome case, they stationed brancardiers in relays to watch me and keep me from doing anything foolish. At five-thirty I heard the bell of the basilica begin to ring out the Ave…at the last stroke, I opened my eyes and jumped out of bed. First, I knelt on the floor to finish the rosary I had been saying. Then I dashed for the door, pushed aside the two brancardiers and ran barefoot out of the Asile. I may say here that I had not walked since 1915 and my weight was down to 112 pounds.
“Doctor Marley was outside the door. When he saw me run out of the ward he fell back in amazement. Out in the open now, I ran towards the Grotto, which is about two or three hundred yards from the Asile. The brancardiers ran after me but they could not catch up with me. When they reached the Grotto, there I was on my knees, still in my night clothes, praying to Our Lady and thanking her.
“I had prayed for about twenty minutes, I got up—surprised and not pleased to find a crowd of people gathered round, watching me. They drew aside to let me pass as I walked back toward the Asile. By now the hotels of Lourdes were emptying and an excited crowd had gathered in front of the Asile. I could not understand what they were doing there as I went in to dress. I put my clothes on in a hurry, but kept away from the bed for fear those doctors and brancardiers would tackle me again and treat me as a sick man.
“I went to the washroom to wash and shave. Other men were there before me. I bade them good morning but none of them answered me—they just looked at me in a scared way.”
John Traynor was cured! He proceeded to serve Mass the same morning and a thorough examination by the doctors revealed that the hole in his skull was closed up, the epileptic seizures were no more and the muscles and use of his arm and legs were normal. In his excitement Traynor was so shocked that he really didn’t comprehend the fantastic thing that had occurred. The Archbishop of Liverpool asked him, “John, do you realize how ill you have been and that you have been miraculously cured by the Blessed Virgin?” Traynor said, “Suddenly everything came back to me, the memory of my years of illness and the sufferings of the journey to Lourdes and how ill I had been at Lourdes itself. I began to cry, and the Archbishop began to cry, and we both sat there, crying like two children.”
You can imagine the excitement of his family and the whole town of Liverpool when he returned. His cure was also the cause of the conversion for two young Anglican nurses who cared for him and their minister along with others in Liverpool.
There have been cures of blindness, tuberculosis, cancer, deafness, and countless other infirmities including cures from drug addiction. In our own day there are approximately forty declared miracles in a year. The two most recent were recognized in 1999 and 2005. Jean-Pierre Bely was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and eventually became completely bed-ridden. He went on a pilgrimage to Lourdes. He went to confession and Mass and began to feel a total inner peace. After the Blessing of the Sick, he recalls, “I was lying in the sickroom, lying on the bed and felt terribly cold like an intense chill in my bones. But slowly it got warmer until it felt like a burning through the whole of my body. I was overwhelmed by it. I heard this voice, like an order, ‘Get up and walk!’ And then all of a sudden, I don’t know how, I found myself sitting up on the bed—my legs dangling over the edge and I started to touch the back of my hands. I realized I regained mobility and sensitivity in my spine and shoulders which had been blocked for years. They were normal.”
The Lourdes Bureau records the story of the sixty-seventh cure. “Born in 1912, Anna Santaniello developed severe heart disease following acute rheumatic arthritis. She was afflicted with severe and persistent dyspnoea, or Bouillaud’s Disease, which made it difficult to speak and impossible for her to walk, with severe asthma attacks, cyanosis of her face and lips and bilateral lower limb oedema. On August 16, 1952, Anna Santaniello was brought on pilgrimage to Lourdes…She made the journey to Lourdes on a stretcher. She stayed in the old Accueil Notre-Dame under constant care. On August 19, she was taken to the baths on a stretcher. She returned unaided. The same evening she took part in the Torchlight Marian Procession.”
Many cures have been attributed to visits to small Lourdes shrines in other parts of the world, to novenas to Our Lady of Lourdes or to the mere use of Lourdes Water at home. God’s power is omnipresent so one does not necessarily have to be physically at Lourdes to benefit from the gentle touch of Our Lady. My own sister, as a baby, was very sickly. She was a triplet but one of the babies died. At birth she lingered between life and death. The doctors put her on oxygen, her liver functions dropped, her lungs filled, and she had heart failure. She pulled through but retained a hole in her heart and later the heart became so enlarged the doctors feared for her life. Year after year she visited the doctors and their prognosis was not good. She also had a blood tumor on the back of her neck. My mother, a woman of great faith had received a bottle of Lourdes Water from a friend and in her distress over her child’s ill health besought the Blessed Mother’s assistance. Each day she put the Lourdes Water on the back of her neck and on her chest. Each day the family prayed the rosary. On the next trip to the doctor, the hole was closed up and the blood tumor was gone. My sister never had a further serious health problem and is now almost fifty years old, with a healthy family of her own.
Mary, like any true mother, knows what is best for her children. That is why not all return cured of their ailments. Yet all return with an unspeakable inner peace that will last a lifetime if they value their soul. Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson once again puts it plainly, “At Lourdes Mary is seen to stand, to all but outward eyes, in exactly that position in which at Nazareth, at Cana, in the Acts of the Apostles, in the Catacombs, and in the whole history of Christendom, true lovers of her Son have always seen her—a Mother of God and man, tender, authoritative, silent, and effective!
“Yet strangely enough, it is not at all the ordinary and conventional character of a merely tender mother that reveals itself at Lourdes—one who is simply desirous of relieving pain and giving what is asked. There comes upon one instead the sense of a tremendous personage—Regina Coeli as well as Consolatrix Afflictorum—one who says ‘No’ as well as ‘Yes’, and with the same serenity; yet with the ‘No’ gives strength to receive it. I have heard it said that the greatest miracle of all at Lourdes is the peace and resignation, even the happiness, of those who, after expectation has been wrought to the highest, go disappointed away, as sick as they came.”
Conclusion
Part of Our Lady’s message was for Bernadette alone, as we have already seen. But let’s look at her message for us. It seems to be threefold. In the first place she beckons us to prayer and penance. “Penance” we find a repugnant word basically because we have no courage to do it. This is why Our Lady united them—prayer and penance. With her help it will be easier, for it is a necessary evil for those who wish to attain Heaven. She is reiterating the words of her Son, “Knock and it shall be opened to you.” As a mother she sees our useless efforts when we attempt things without heavenly assistance and is reminding us that it does not have to be hard. If we but ask her help she will go to her Son for us. The second and third requests seem to have an universality about them: “Have processions come hither,” and “Go and drink in the spring and wash in it.” Most Christians, if they have not visited Lourdes would do anything to have the honor of making such a pilgrimage. But not every Christian will be able to see this desire fulfilled. This message has also a very personal side to it. Remember, it is Our Mother who is speaking to us. Can we not go spiritually in procession to her feet and there lay all our troubles, woes and even joys? Is she not the spring from which we can drink and in which we can wash to make ourselves more pleasing to her Divine Son, Jesus?
We see plainly that devotion to Mary is very pleasing to her Son, Jesus. He loves His Mother and delights to see us honor her as our own Mother. He has bequeathed her to us. Let us not be ungrateful. To show our love and fidelity to her, she has also given us a threefold help by way of sacramentals. By these she promises to give us her special protection. All three of them appear in the story of Lourdes. The first is the Miraculous Medal. On this medal we find the inscription, “O, Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.” This is exactly the title by which Mary called herself at Lourdes, “I am the Immaculate Conception.” Secondly, she appeared for the last time on July 16, the day on which Our Lady had promised, so long ago, “Whosoever dies wearing this scapular shall not suffer eternal fire.” And lastly, each time she appeared to Saint Bernadette she encouraged her to proceed with the recitation of the rosary. Regarding the rosary, Bernadette said later in life, “You will never say it in vain…Go to sleep reciting it…like little children who fall asleep saying, ‘Mama.’”
Stop once again. See the shadow of the Cross as the sun begins to set. Our Mother Mary is still standing with her arms outstretched toward us. She seems to say, I am the Mother of Fair Love, and of fear and of knowledge, and of holy hope. In me is all grace of the way and of the truth, in me is all hope of life and of virtue. Come over to me all ye that desire me, and be filled with my fruits; for my spirit is sweet above honey, and my inheritance above honey and the honeycomb. My memory is unto everlasting generations. They that eat me shall yet hunger; and they that drink me shall yet thirst. He that hearkeneth to me shall not be confounded, and they that work by me shall not sin. They that explain me shall have life everlasting. In the words of Saint Bernard, “In perils, in anguish, in doubt, think of Mary, call upon Mary; in following her you will not go astray; praying to her you will not despair; thinking of her you will not err; clinging to her you will not sink; under her protection you will not be afraid; under her guidance you will not grow weary; thanks to her you will go on to the end.”
