Sainte
Bernadette Soubirous
Le 16 avril 1879
s'éteignait à Nevers Sainte Bernadette Soubirous qui y vécut dans le cloître
une vie humble et cachée après avoir été dépositaire des révélations de Notre
Dame dans son village natal de Lourdes.
Sainte
Bernadette Soubirous
Jeune
fille à laquelle la Vierge Marie apparut (+ 1879)
Fille aînée d'une famille de meunier que l'arrivée des moulins à vapeur jettera dans une extrême pauvreté, Bernadette Soubirous est accueillie en janvier 1858 à l'Hospice de Lourdes, dirigé par les Sœurs de la Charité de Nevers, pour y apprendre à lire et à écrire afin de préparer sa première communion. En février 1858, alors qu'elle ramassait du bois avec deux autres petites filles, la Vierge Marie lui apparaît au creux du rocher de Massabielle, près de Lourdes. Dix huit Apparitions auront ainsi lieu entre février et juillet 1858. Chargée de transmettre le message de la Vierge Marie, et non de le faire croire, Bernadette résistera aux accusations multiples de ses contemporains. En juillet 1866, voulant réaliser son désir de vie religieuse, elle entre chez les Sœurs de la Charité de Nevers à Saint-Gildard, Maison-Mère de la Congrégation. Elle y mène une vie humble et cachée. Bien que de plus en plus malade, elle remplit avec amour les tâches qui lui sont confiées. Elle meurt le 16 avril 1879. Elle est béatifiée le 14 juin 1925 puis canonisée le 8 décembre 1933. Son corps, retrouvé intact, repose depuis 1925 dans une châsse en verre dans la Chapelle. Chaque année, venant du monde entier, des milliers de pèlerins et de visiteurs se rendent à Nevers pour accueillir le message de Bernadette.
- Sainte Bernadette Soubirous (1844-1879) De santé fragile, mais entourée de l'amour des siens et d'une foi solide, cette adolescente de quatorze ans rencontra la Vierge à dix-huit reprises à la grotte de Massabielle. Figures de sainteté - site de l'Eglise catholique en France
- vidéo du CFRT, Jour du Seigneur, sur la WebTV de la CEF.
- "Bernadette Soubirous naquit au moulin de Boly, au pied du château fort de Lourdes le 7 janvier 1844, de François Soubirous, meunier, et de Louise Castérot. Elle avait 14 ans quand l'Immaculée l'appellera à être sa confidente et sa messagère, en février 1858. Elle rentrait alors de Bartrès, où elle avait passé quatre mois chez sa nourrice. Elle habitait alors avec ses parents, ses frères et sœur dans une profonde misère au Cachot.
Elle était simple et de santé fragile, mais pleine de bon sens et de joie de vivre. Elle désirait plus que tout faire sa première communion. Le 11 février 1858, alors qu'elle était partie chercher du bois avec sa sœur et une voisine près du rocher de Massabielle, dans la partie supérieure de la grotte, lui apparaît une belle Dame vêtue de blanc. Jusqu'au 16 juillet, 18 apparitions. Le sommet de toutes: le jeudi 25 mars, fête de l'Annonciation où la Vierge Marie se présenta à elle comme étant 'l'Immaculée Conception'.
Sainte Bernadette devint célèbre, on parla de miracles... Mais la petite bigourdane choisit de se retirer du monde. Elle partit pour Nevers où elle vivra avec ses sœurs dans l'humilité et la prière, la souffrance aussi, loin de Lourdes et de la grotte de Massabielle. Elle mourut le 16 avril 1879 et fut canonisée en 1933." (diocèse de Tarbes et Lourdes)
Saints du diocèse de Tarbes et Lourdes, fichier pdf.
Sainte Bernadette (Lourdes 1844 - Nevers 1879) ... En juillet 1866, voulant réaliser son désir de vie religieuse, elle entre chez les Sœurs de la Charité de Nevers à Saint-Gildard, Maison-Mère de la Congrégation. Elle y mène une vie humble et cachée. Bien que de plus en plus malade, elle remplit avec amour les tâches qui lui sont confiées. Elle meurt le 16 avril 1879.
Le site de l'Espace Bernadette à Nevers
À Nevers, en 1879, sainte Bernadette
Soubirous, vierge. Née à Lourdes d'une famille très pauvre, elle ressentit,
toute jeune fille, la présence de la Vierge Marie immaculée dans la grotte de
Massabielle, et par la suite, ayant pris l'habit de religieuse, elle mena à
Nevers une vie humble et cachée.
Martyrologe
romain
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/662/Sainte-Bernadette-Soubirous.html
Sainte
Bernadette Soubirous, vierge
Fille aînée d’une famille
pauvre de meuniers, Bernadette Soubirous est accueillie en janvier 1858 à
l’Hospice de Lourdes, dirigé par les Sœurs de la Charité de Nevers, pour y
apprendre à lire et à écrire afin de préparer sa première communion. En février
1858, alors qu’elle ramassait du bois avec deux autres petites filles, la
Vierge Marie lui apparaît au creux du rocher de Massabielle, près de Lourdes.
Dix huit Apparitions auront ainsi lieu entre février et juillet 1858. Chargée
de transmettre le message de la Vierge Marie, Bernadette résistera aux
accusations multiples de ses contemporains. En juillet 1866, voulant réaliser
son désir de vie religieuse, elle entre chez les Sœurs de la Charité de Nevers
à Saint-Gildard. Elle y mène une vie humble et cachée. Bien que de plus en plus
malade, elle remplit avec amour les tâches qui lui sont confiées. Elle meurt le
16 avril 1879.
Voyante
de Lourdes, et Religieuse à Nevers
(+1879)
Le nom de Bernadette, l'humble et douce privilégiée de la Vierge Immaculée, est
inséparable de celui de Notre-Dame de Lourdes (fête le 11
février). La Voyante étant plus connue que la sainte religieuse, nous
rappellerons de préférence en ce jour, celle que le Pape Pie XI a béatifiée le
14 juin 1925, sous le nom de Soeur Marie-Bernard, de la Congrégation de Nevers.
C'est huit ans après les apparitions que Bernadette arrivait au couvent de
Saint-Gildard, le 7 juillet 1866. On comprend qu'elle y fut un objet de pieuse
curiosité, non seulement pour les Soeurs, mais aussi pour les personnes du
monde. Toutefois, cette curiosité, quand elle s'en apercevait, ne troublait
point son calme et son humilité, tant elle vivait recueillie, tout entière à la
pensée de Dieu, de Jésus et de Marie.
Dieu permit que les humiliations ne lui manquassent pas de la part des
supérieures. La Sainte Vierge lui avait promis de la rendre heureuse, "non
pas en ce monde, mais au Ciel."
Elle eut aussi beaucoup à souffrir des crises d'asthme qui déchiraient sa
poitrine. On lui confia successivement les charges d'infirmière et de
sacristine. Bientôt, elle n'eut plus qu'un état, celui de victime: victime de
pureté, elle avouait ne pas connaître le péché; victime d'humilité, elle se
regardait comme "un balai qu'on met dans un coin".
Il fallait l'entendre dire: "Marie est si belle que, quand on L'a vue une
fois, on voudrait mourir pour La revoir." Ce bonheur lui arriva le 16
avril 1879. Toute sa vie de religieuse, comme celle de Voyante abonde en traits
pleins de charme et d'édification.
Abbé L. Jaud, Vie des Saints pour tous les jours de l'année, Tours, Mame,
1950.
SOURCE : http://magnificat.ca/cal/fr/saints/sainte_bernadette_soubirous.html
Sainte
Bernadette et la foi du monde
Saint Jean XXIII prononça
ces mots un 18 février, pour la Sainte-Bernadette.
Bernadette a entendu,
elle seule, les confidences de Marie, et elle les a transmises au monde. Et le
monde — c’est là le grand miracle d’ordre moral —, le monde y a cru, et
continue d’y croire. Combien admirable, chez Bernadette, la parfaite conformité
à la doctrine dont la céleste Dame l’avait rendue dépositaire ! Et combien
lumineux l’exemple de cette sainteté qui ouvrit à une enfant si petite et si
humble la voie des cieux, dans l’au-delà, et lui assura pour toujours sur
la terre la gloire des autels et la vénération de tout le peuple
chrétien ! Quelle doctrine ! Quel exemple ! Quel encouragement
pour nous ! Ce qu’il y a de faible dans le monde, dit saint Paul, voilà
ce que Dieu a choisi pour confondre la force ; ce qui dans le monde est
sans naissance et qu’on méprise, voilà ce que Dieu a choisi (1 Co 1,
27-28). Modèle de la prière à Marie, exemple de force humble et souriante,
éloquente par le silence même dans lequel elle s’est enveloppée une fois
remplie sa mission, sainte Bernadette nous reporte comme irrésistiblement vers
ce vrai centre spirituel de Lourdes, la grotte des apparitions, où les paroles
de la Mère de Dieu ne cessent de retentir au cœur de ses enfants. Et en même
temps, la voyante qui eut le courage de quitter pour toujours ce lieu de
l’ineffable rencontre nous rappelle que Lourdes n’est qu’un point de
départ : la grâce qu’on y reçoit est un trésor que, loin d’enfouir
stérilement, on doit faire fructifier pour la gloire de Dieu et le service de
l’Église.
St Jean XXIII
Désireux de voir l’Église
vivre une nouvelle Pentecôte, le pape Jean XXIII († 1963) convoqua le concile
Vatican II. / Discours à l’occasion d’une visite à l’église romaine de
Saint-Louis-des-Français le mercredi 18 février 1959, Librairie éditrice
vaticane.
SOURCE : https://fr.aleteia.org/daily-prayer/vendredi-18-fevrier/meditation-de-ce-jour-1/
Sainte Marie-Bernard
Soubirous, vierge
Petite fille ignorante
d’un modeste meunier montagnard, Marie-Bernadette Soubirous fut choisie par la
Sainte Vierge pour être témoin des célèbres apparitions, qui, depuis lors, ont
conduit en pèlerinage à Lourdes tant de foules chrétiennes. Les apparitions
avaient lieu en 1858 ; neuf ans plus tard, Bernadette entrait chez les Soeurs
de Charité de Nevers, où elle reçut le nom de Sœur Marie-Bernard. Elle y mena
une vie pieuse et simple, et mourut après une longue maladie le 16 avril 1879,
à l’âge de 36 ans. Pie XI la canonisa en 1933.
La date du 18 février a
été choisie pour sa fête afin d’en faire l’octave de la fête des Apparitions du
11 février. Certains diocèses ont inscrit sa fête le jour de sa naissance au
ciel, le 16 avril.
SOURCE : http://www.introibo.fr/Sainte-Marie-Bernard-Soubirous
Sainte Bernadette
Soubirous [1]
Décret de la S.
Congrégation des Rites [2]
sur l'héroïcité de ses
vertus
Le 18 novembre 1923 eut
lieu dans la salle ducale au Palais du Vatican la cérémonie de lecture
solennelle du Décret sur l'héroïcité des verus de la Vénérable Bernadette
Soubirous. Cette Cause « intéresse l'univers catholique tout entier » à cause
des rapports qui la rattachent au grand fait de Lourdes, et dans une lettre à
ses diocésains Mgr. Chatelus, évêque de Nevers, déclare qu'elle est «
particulièrement chère au Pape [ancien pélerin de Lourdes], qui en possède tous
les détails et en désire le succès ».
Sur cette question : «
Est-il bien établi, dans le cas et pour l'effet dont il s'agit, que les vertus
théologales de Foi, d'Espérance et de Charité envers Dieu et le prochain, ainsi
que les vertus cardinales de Prudence, de Justice, de Force et de Tempérance et
leurs annexes, ont été pratiquées à un degré héroïque ? »
Quand on parcourt la vie
de la Vénérable Servante de Dieu Sœur Marie-Bernard Soubirous - vie qui
s'acheva dans le court espace de trente-cinq ans, - il est impossible, si on
examine avec soin et jusque dans le détail la manière de vivre et d'agir de la
Vénérable, de n'y pas rencontrer quelques imperfections ou défauts, mêlés aux
actes des vertus chrétiennes. C'est pourquoi, afin d'être à même de porter sur
la question posée un jugement exact, deux points, semble-t-il, sont à élucider
et à résoudre. Premièrement : La preuve de l'héroïcité des vertus pratiquées
par Soeur Marie-Bernard ressort-elle suffisamment et légitimement des faits ?
Deuxièmement : Cette preuve ne souffre-t-elle aucun préjudice de la présence
desdites imperfections ?
Enfance de Bernadette.
Pour reprendre les choses
d'un peu plus haut dans l'histoire de notre Vénérable, nous la voyons d'abord
naître dans un humble village de montagne, de parents pieux, et de modeste
condition, bientôt contraints de subir tous les inconvénients de la pauvreté.
L'enfant n'en fut naturellement pas exempte : de là cette santé débile dont
elle eut à souffrir dès ses premières années. Néanmoins, à peine son âge le lui
permet-elle, qu'elle n'hésite pas à entrer en service et à garder les troupeaux
pour subvenir selon son pouvoir aux besoins de sa famille et venir en aide à
ses parents.
On comprend qu'au milieu
des occupations de la vie des champs la jeune fille n'eut guère le moyen de
corriger ce que pouvait avoir d'un peu rude sa nature d'enfant de la montagne.
Cependant, sans avoir reçu aucune éducation humaine, elle faisait de
surprenants progrès dans la pratique de toutes les vertus domestiques et
surpassait les jeunes filles de son âge et de sa condition par son ardeur pour
la piété et son zèle à apprendre la doctrine chrétienne, l'Oraison dominicale,
la Salutation angélique, le Symbole et les autres prières. C'était un bonheur
et un charme de la voir et de lui parler ; son visage, sa conversation, toute
sa démarche respiraient cette candeur d'âme naïve, fruit de la simplicité et de
l'innocence, et toute entière fondée sur l'humilité. C'est pourquoi Dieu, « qui
choisit ce qui est faible en ce monde pour confondre ce qui est fort » (I Cor,
I 27), a élu cette jeune enfant pauvre, cachée et inconnue du monde, pour être
l'instrument de sa toute-puissance dans l'incomparable prodige qui s'accomplit
à Lourdes, près la grotte de Massabielle, et jeta un si vif éclat sur le milieu
du XIX° siècle.
La Voyante de
Massabielle.
Cette jeune enfant, dont
il a été question jusqu'ici, et dont nous venons d'esquisser le portrait
physique et moral, se reconnaît aisément, et le nom si populaire de Bernadette
se présente de lui-même à l'esprit. C'est Bernadette, en effet, qui, par un
privilège de la divine bonté, fut favorisée, en l'an 1858, des apparitions
réitérées de la Bienheureuse Vierge Marie : apparitions par lesquelles fut
confirmé le dogme catholique de l'Immaculée-Conception de cette même
Bienheureuse Vierge, défini et promulgué, quatre ans auparavant, par le pape
Pie IX, de sainte mémoire[3]. Du 11 février 1858, en effet, jusqu'au 16 juillet
de cette même année, plusieurs apparitions eurent lieu, durant lesquelles la
Bienheureuse Vierge Marie se montra à Bernadette, l'entretint souvent et, avec
la plus grande bienveillance, l'exhorta à prier pour les pécheurs, à baiser la
terre, à faire pénitence, et lui ordonna de faire savoir aux prêtres qu'elle
voulait qu'on lui élevât en cet endroit un sanctuaire, où l'on viendrait lui
adresser des supplications solennelles. Elle lui enjoignit en outre de boire de
l'eau d'une fontaine encore cachée sous terre, mais prête à jaillir, et de s'y
laver. Il y eut d'autres faits, que nous omettons. Celui-ci toutefois ne
saurait être passé sous silence : comme Bernadette insistait pour savoir le nom
de celle qu'elle avait été jugée digne de contempler si souvent, la
Bienheureuse Vierge Marie, joignant les mains à la hauteur de la poitrine, et
élevant les yeux au ciel, répondit : « Je suis l'Immaculée Conception. » Or,
ceci se passait le 25 mars, jour de la fête de l'Annonciation de la
Bienheureuse Vierge Marie, dans lequel l'Eglise honore également le mystère de
l'Incarnation. Cette coïncidence souligne ainsi avec autant d'opportunité que
d'éloquence le lien étroit qui existe entre la Maternité divine et l'Immaculée
Conception.
L'épreuve
Il serait trop long de
rapporter ici tout ce que Bernadette eut à souffrir pour défendre la réalité de
ces apparitions surnaturelles. Cette réalité fut reconnue d'abord par l'évêque
de Tarbes[4], après une enquête juridique, puis confirmée d'une manière
éclatante par les célèbres miracles qui suivirent bientôt. Il arriva ce qu'on
pouvait prévoir ; le nom et l'histoire du sanctuaire de Lourdes devinrent
irrévocablement associés au nom et au souvenir de Bernadette. On comprend
aisément que la voyante allait se trouver alors exposée à une forte tentation,
et ses vertus subir une redoutable épreuve, surtout son esprit de pauvreté et
son humilité. Mais rassurons-nous. Admirons plutôt ce souci constant qu'elle a
de se dérober à la curiosité des pélerins, qui rivalisaient d'adresse pour la
voir, la visiter, la combler de cadeaux, et de fuir les louanges et les
applaudissements des hommes.
La Soeur Marie-Bernard
C'est encore dans cette
louable intention que Bernadette se retira dans l'hospice que les si dévouées
Sœurs de la Charité et de l'Instruction chrétienne de Nevers[5] dirigeaient à
Lourdes, et que, après quelques années passées dans cet établissement,
instruite et formée par les Sœurs, elle sollicita et obtint d'être admise dans
leur Congrégation. Elle se rendit donc à la maison-mère de la Congrégation, à
Nevers, et, après son temps de probation, y prononça ses voeux ; son nom de
Bernadette fut changé en celui de Sœur Marie-Bernard. C'est en s'acquittant
avec une sainte ardeur de toutes les charges et obligations propres à son
nouvel état que Sœur Marie-Bernard devint le modèle des soeurs de Nevers, ses
compagnes, dans l'intimité desquelles elle passa les treize dernières années de
sa vie.
Conclusion : l'héroïcité
des vertus de Bernadette.
Nous avons là, comme en
un germe fécond, tous les éléments d'une réponse motivée à la double question
posée. Le zèle ardent et inlassable, en effet, avec lequel Sœur Marie-Bernard
n'a cessé de tendre à la perfection dans tous ses actes ; la victoire éclatante
qu'avec le secours de la grâce divine elle a remportée sur elle-même, tant par
le soin vigilant qu'elle mit à se préserver de la vaine gloire, à laquelle
l'exposait la grande notoriété de son nom, que par le courage joyeux et ardent
avec lequel elle s'efforça de réprimer et d'adoucir sa rudesse native ; son
entrée dans l'état religieux, où elle progressa chaque jour en perfection :
tout cela nous fournit manifestement la démonstration nécessaire et désirée de
l'héroïcité des vertus de Sœur Marie-Bernard.
Les légères imperfections
ne nuisent pas à cette héroïcité.
Et la valeur de cette
démonstration n'est en aucune façon infirmée par ce fait qu'elle n'est pas
parvenue à ce résultat du premier coup, que dans le chemin de la perfection, où
elle s'était résolument engagée, elle a pu laisser parfois paraître quelques
imperfections ou défauts ; car, selon la sentence bien connue de saint Grégoire
le Grand, et qui trouve ici son application, « lorsque nous nous détournons de
l'amour de cette vie corruptible, c'est " comme pas à pas " que notre
coeur s'achemine vers les réalités invisibles. Partis des régions inférieures,
nous n'atteignons jamais le sommet " du premier coup " ; car, dans sa
poursuite de la perfection, notre âme, en perpétuelle ascension, ne parvient au
but que lentement et " par degrés ».
La Cause de Bernadette
intéresse tout l'univers catholique.
Aussi le jugement de
cette Cause de choix fut-il des plus faciles à porter, même en appliquant les
règles les plus rigoureuses. Son heureuse issue réjouira à juste titre à la
fois le diocèse de Nevers, qui vit les dernières années de Sœur Marie-Bernard
et garde ses restes sacrés, et le diocèse de Tarbes et Lourdes, qui la vit
naître, et où elle passa son enfance et sa jeunesse, jusqu'à l'âge de
vingt-deux ans. Mais cette Cause ne saurait rester renfermée dans ces étroites
limites. Elle intéresse l'univers catholique tout entier. Partout où règne et
fleurit le culte de la Vierge Immaculée de Lourdes, les fidèles accueilleront
avec la plus grande joie la nouvelle de la promulgation du présent Décret
apostolique, qui termine l'enquête commencée il y a deux ans sur l'héroïcité
des vertus de Sœur Marie-Bernard.
Ses étapes.
Les deux Congrégations
antepréparatoire et préparatoire, furent en effet suivies de la Congrégation
générale, qui se réunit le 7 août dernier, en présence de Notre Très Saint Père
le Pape Pie XI. Dans cette Congrégation, S. Em. le cardinal Antoine Vico, préfet
de la Sacrée Congrégation des Rites, en lieu et place du Révérendissime
rapporteur[6] le cardinal Nicolas Marini, d'illustre mémoire, décédé quelques
jours auparavant, soumit à la discussion le Doute suivant : « Est-il bien
établi, dans le cas et pour l'effet dont il s'agit, que la Vénérable Servante
de Dieu Soeur Marie-Bernard a pratiqué à un degré héroïque les vertus
théologales de Foi, d'Espérance et de Charité envers Dieu et le prochain, ainsi
que les vertus cardinales de Prudence, de Justice, de Force et de Tempérance,
et leurs annexes ? » Leurs Eminences les Cardinaux et les pères consulteurs
donnèrent chacun à leur tour leur avis.
Notre Très Saint Père le
Pape, après avoir entendu avec joie et pesé avec attention ces avis, se réserva
le soin de prononcer lui-même le jugement suprême. Puis il exhorta tous les
assistants à implorer, en attendant, avec lui, la lumière divine par de
ferventes prières. Lorsqu'il eut décidé de manifester son intention, il désigna
ce jour du XXVI° dimache après la Pentecôte. C'est pourquoi, après avoir
célébré avec une grande dévotion les Saints Mystères, il manda au Vatican S.
Em. le cardinal Vico, évêque de Porto et de Sainte-Rufine, préfet de la Sacrée
Congrégation des Rites et rapporteur de la Cause, le R. P. Ange Mariani,
promoteur général de la Foi, et moi-même, secrétaire soussigné ; puis en leur
présence il fit solennellement cette déclaration : « Il est bien établi, dans
le cas et pour l'effet dont il s'agit, que la Vénérable Servante de Dieu Sœur
Marie-Bernard a pratiqué, à un degré héroïque, les vertus théologales de Foi,
d'Espérance et de Charité envers Dieu et le prochain, ainsi que les vertus
cardinales de Prudence, de Justice, de Force et de Tempérance, et leurs
annexes. »
Il ordonna en conséquence
que ce Décret fût proclamé et enregisté dans les Actes de la Sacrée
Congrégation des Rites, le quatorzième jour des Calendes de décembre de l'année
MDCCCCXXIII[7]
+ A. card. VICO, év. de
Porto et Ste-Rufine,
préf. de la S. C. des
Rites.
ALEXANDRE VERDRE, Secrétaire.
[1] En vertu de l'ancien
Droit, elle a été proclamée Vénérable quand fut signé par Pie X le Décret sur
l'introduction de la cause de béatification (13 août 1913).
[2] Décret concernant les
diocèses de Nevers ou celui de Tarbes et Lourdes, pour la Cause de
Béatification et de Canonisation de la Vénérable Servante de Dieu Sœur
Marie-Bernard Soubirous, de la Congrégation des Sœurs de la Charité et de
l'Instruction chrétienne de Nevers (Acta Apostolicae Sedis, I. 12-23, pp.
592-596).
[3] « Nous déclarons,
prononçons et définissons que la doctrine, qui tient que la bienheureuse Vierge
Marie a été, au premier instant de sa conception, par une grâce et une faveur
singulière du Dieu Tout-Puissant, en vue des mérites de Jésus-Christ, Sauveur
du genre humain, préservée intacte de toute souillure du péché originel, est
une doctrine révélée de Dieu, et qu'ainsi elle doit être crue fermement et
constamment par tous les fidèles. C'est pourquoi, s'il en était, ce qu'à Dieu
ne plaise, qui eussent la présomption d'avoir des sentiments contraires à ce
que nous venons de définir, qu'ils sachent très clairement qu'ils se condamnent
eux-mêmes par leur propre jugement, qu'ils ont fait naufrage dans la foi et se
sont séparés de l'unité de l'Eglise, et que, de plus, par le même fait, ils
encourent les peines portées par le droit s'ils osent manifester par parole,
par écrit ou par quelque signe extérieur, ce qu'ils pensent intérieurement »
(Pie IX : Bulle « Ineffabilis Deus », 8 décembre 1854).
[4] Mgr. Bertrand-Sévère
Laurence. Né le 7 septembre 1790, à Oroix (Hautes-Pyrénées), commença ses
études avec le curé de Juncalas où il était apprenti-barbier, et les termina au
séminaire d’Aire-sur-l’Adour où il sera professeur. Ordonné prêtre le 29 avril
1821, par l’évêque de Bayonne, il fonde et dirige le séminaire de
Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre (9 août 1822). Vicaire général de l’évêque de Tarbes
(1833), il est aussi supérieur du grand séminaire. Nommé évêque de Tarbes le 31
décembre 1844), il meurt à Rome le 30 janvier 1870.
[5] Congrégation
religieuse fondée en 1680 à Saint-Saulge, en Nivernais, par le bénédictin
Jean-Baptiste de Laveyne et l’oratorien Charles Bolacre, pour servir et
médicamenter les pauvres, enseigner et catéchiser les petites filles, orner les
églises. Les premières religieuses, réunies par Marie-Scholastique de Marchangy
(morte en 1729), furent formées à l’hôpital de Nevers et émirent leur
profession en 1683. La maison mère fut transférée à Nevers (1685) et la
première règle fut approuvée, en 1700, par Mgr. Vallot. Réorganisé après la
Révolution, l’Institut se développa au XIX° siècle où il reçut son décret
définitif d’approbation (20 août 1870).
[6] Il s'agit du cardinal
ponent, c’est-à-dire du juge dont la fonction est d’être, azuprès de ses
collègues, le rapporteur de la cause à juger et le rédacteur de la sentence
finale.
[7] Le XXVI° dim. après
la Pentecôte est le 18 (et non 11) nov. , le 14° (et non 19°) jour des Calendes
de décembre (et non de novembre).
Prières
O Jésus et Marie, faites
que toute ma consolation en ce monde soit de vous aimer et de souffrir pour les
pécheurs.
Divine Mère, offrez-moi à
Jésus. Prenez mon cœur et enfoncez-le dans le cœur de Jésus.
O Marie, ma tendre Mère,
voici votre enfant qui n'en peut plus ; faites qu'à votre exemple je sois
généreuse dans tous les sacrifices que Notre Seigneur pourra me demander dans
le cours de ma vie. Ma Mère, venez à mon aide. Accordez-moi la grâce de mourir
à moi-même pour ne plus vivre que de mon doux Jésus et pour mon Jésus. Union,
union intime avec lui, comme saint Jean, dans la pureté et dans l'amour. Ainsi
toute à Jésus, qu'il me sera doux de mourir avec Jésus.
Mon âme, réjouissez-vous
d'avoir un trait de ressemblance avec Jésus : rester cachée dans l'impuissance.
Porter la Croix cachée dans mon cœur à l'exemple de Marie ; oui, j'irai au parloir avec joie quoique mon âme soit dans la tristesse. Je dirai : mon Dieu, j'y vais, mais à condition qu'une âme sortira du purgatoire ou que vous convertirez un pécheur.
Prière à Sainte
Bernadette
Ô Sainte Bernadette, qui
simple et pure enfant, avez dix-huit fois, à Lourdes, contemplé la beauté et
reçu les confidences de l'Immaculée et qui avez voulu ensuite vous cacher dans
le Cloître de Nevers et vous y consumer en hostie pour les pécheurs,
obtenez-nous cet esprit de pureté, de simplicité et de mortification qui nous
conduira nous aussi à la vision de Dieu et de Marie au Ciel. Ainsi soit-il.
Le 3 février 1858 eut
lieu la 3e apparition de ND de Lourdes
Le 18 février
Bernadette tend plume et
papier à la dame en lui disant : Voudriez-vous avoir la bonté de mettre votre
nom par écrit ? Elle répond : Ce n'est pas nécessaire. Voulez-vous avoir la
grâce de venir ici pendant quinze jours ? Je ne vous promets pas de vous rendre
heureuse en ce monde, mais dans l'autre.
Le 21 février
Vous prierez Dieu pour
les pécheurs.
Le 23 ou 24 février
Pénitence, pénitence,
pénitence.
Le 25 février
Allez boire à la fontaine
et vous y laver. Allez manger de cette herbe qui est là. Allez baiser la terre
en pénitence pour les pécheurs.
Le 2 mars
Allez dire aux prêtres de
faire bâtir ici une chapelle. Qu'on y vienne en procession. Durant la
quinzaine, la Vierge apprit une prière à Bernadette, et lui dit trois choses
qui ne concernaient qu'elle, puis elle ajouta d'un ton sévère : Je vous défends
de dire cela à personne.
Le 25 mars
Je suis l'Immaculée
Conception.
SOURCE : http://missel.free.fr/Sanctoral/02/18.php
Bernadette, sa vie après
les apparitions de Lourdes
La vie de la petite
Bernadette Soubirous après les apparitions de Lourdes ne fut pas un long fleuve
tranquille. Devenue religieuse chez les Filles de la Charité, Sœur
Marie-Bernard vécut treize ans à Nevers où elle attirait beaucoup de monde, non
sans de grandes souffrances et d’humiliations qu’elle accepta avec patience et
douceur. L’Église fête sa mémoire le 18 février.
Ce 30 octobre 1867, au
couvent des Filles de la Charité de Nevers, c’est jour de fête car
quarante-quatre novices prononcent leurs vœux solennels. Ces jeunes filles
seront professes de la communauté, puis elles recevront leur obédience, leur
poste, et seront dispersées entre les maisons de la congrégation. L’évêque les
appelle une à une. Une seule impétrante reste assise à sa place : on l’a
oubliée, ou pis encore… Mgr Forcade se penche vers la supérieure générale,
interroge : « Et notre sœur Marie-Bernard ? » »Monseigneur,
elle n’est bonne à rien ! » Un silence glacial plane ; sœur
Marie-Bernard s’est levée, écarlate. Agenouillée devant le prélat, elle
s’entend assigner cette obédience extravagante : nulle part.
« Bonne à
rien »
L’évêque se penche :
« Est-ce vrai, ma pauvre enfant, que vous n’êtes bonne à
rien ? » « Oui, Monseigneur » puis, d’une voix qui se
brise : « Je vous l’avais dit à Lourdes, et vous
m’avez répondu que cela ne faisait rien. » Contrariée car ni l’évêque ni
la jeune fille ne jouent le rôle qu’elle leur avait assigné, Mère Joséphine
dit : « Monseigneur, si vous le voulez, nous pourrons la garder par
charité ici à la maison mère et l’employer à l’infirmerie, pour le nettoyage et
les tisanes. Comme elle est toujours malade, ce sera justement son affaire
! » Mgr Forcade adoucit le propos : « Moi, ma sœur, je vous
donne l’emploi de la prière. » Sœur Marie-Bernard se retire, sans avoir
rien compris, pas plus que les autres religieuses, à l’humiliation publique qui
vient de lui être infligée. Hormis les supérieurs, personne ne sait qu’il
s’agit en fait d’un honneur exceptionnel, un moyen de la garder à la maison
mère, contrairement aux usages car c’est le couronnement d’une vie de service,
et la preuve de l’intérêt que l’on porte à ce tout petit bout de femme, haute
d’1,44 m.
Bonne à rien, sœur
Marie-Bernard ? Certes, asthmatique depuis l’enfance,
maladie qui a caché jusqu’à ces derniers mois la tuberculose qui la ronge, elle passe
son temps à l’infirmerie. Il y a juste un an, on a cru qu’une crise plus grave
allait la tuer, l’on s’est empressé, affolé à l’idée de la perdre sans avoir
entériné son appartenance à la congrégation, de l’admettre comme professe in
articulo mortis même si, le lendemain, en constatant son rétablissement,
on lui a repris le voile d’étamine noir et la croix de profession, comme la
règle le prévoit. Personne, elle est la seule à l’ignorer, ne la renverra, même
si on l’a reçue « sans dot », par charité comme dirait Mère
Joséphine, la seule à ignorer que le Ciel l’a dotée mieux que ne l’aurait
été une fille de roi et que toutes les congrégations se sont disputé la
gloire de la recevoir…
Brimades et reproches
Car sœur Marie-Bernard
est Bernadette Soubirous, qui, entre le 11 février et le 16 juillet 1858, a
vu dix-huit fois la Sainte
Vierge. Les apparitions de Lourdes ont connu un tel retentissement,
le pèlerinage a pris un tel essor
qu’avoir Bernadette dans sa communauté « ne serait pas sans
bénéfice », pour parler comme Mère Joséphine voilà peu, quand elle avait
peur que des rivales « viennent lui voler » la privilégiée. Mais, une
fois rassurées et Bernadette chez elles, les supérieures ne lui ont infligé que
brimades et reproches. Afin de la mortifier, certes, l’aider à se sanctifier,
en toute bonne conscience mais aussi un peu parce que cette fille au français
hésitant, qui sait à peine lire et écrire, et garde un caractère affirmé, ne
correspond pas à l’idée que ces grandes bourgeoises se font d’une confidente de
Notre-Dame… Pourquoi Celle-ci s’est-elle abaissée jusqu’à cette « paysanne
grossière et sans instruction alors qu’il y a des religieuses sages et vertueuses »
? C’est sûr, on se le demande…
Non que Bernadette les
déçoive, car les supérieures sont assez intelligentes pour mesurer la vertu, la
piété, l’acceptation silencieuse des croix et de la souffrance qui la
caractérisent, mais parce qu’elles ne la comprennent pas et auront, le temps
passant, de moins en moins envie de la comprendre. Un jour, quand on
commencera, après le décès de sœur Marie-Bernard, à parler d’instruire sa cause
de béatification, son ancienne maîtresse des novices qui s’obstine à la décrire
comme « une religieuse ordinaire » fera obstacle en marmonnant :
« Attendez au moins que je sois morte. »
Le diable rôde et se
brise
La vie de Bernadette à
Nevers ? Au jour de l’an, on lui souhaite « humiliations et
mortifications », ce qui résume assez bien son quotidien… Mais, dès son entrée
au couvent, qu’elle a préféré au monde, et même au mariage, elle a élu la croix
et ses douleurs, qu’elle endure en disant : « C’est pour le gros
pécheur. »
Cela ne lui interdit pas
de se sanctifier ; affectée à l’infirmerie, sa compassion, sa douceur font
merveille auprès des grandes malades qu’elle panse sans répugnance, des
agonisantes qu’elle assiste, des défuntes dont elle fait la toilette. Tant
qu’elle en a la force. En 1875, sa tuberculose devenue osseuse, lui occasionne
des souffrances atroces et la condamne, car ses genoux rongés ne la portent
plus, à rester alitée, inutile, son cauchemar. Les escarres ajoutent à son
calvaire, et les piques calculées pour briser « son petit amour
propre » des supérieures. Début 1879, elle demande que l’on retire les
images pieuses qui ornent son alcôve et nourrissent ses méditations ; elle
explique, montrant son crucifix : « Celui-là me suffit. »
Je ne pensais pas qu’il
fallait tant souffrir pour mourir.
Aux douleurs physiques
s’ajoutent des angoisses spirituelles. On a tant dit à Bernadette qu’elle
correspondait mal aux grâces reçues qu’elle s’est persuadée de son indignité,
et presque de sa damnation… « J’ai peur, j’ai si peur ! J’ai reçu tant de
grâces et j’en ai si peu profité ! » gémit-elle ; le diable
rôde, qui se brise sur l’incroyable résistance de cette toute petite femme.
L’Immaculée ne le laissera pas triompher de sa confidente. « Je suis
moulue comme un grain de blé » soupire la fille du meunier du Moulin Boly.
Mais si le grain ne meurt, il ne peut porter de fruit et Bernadette le sait.
Ses dernières paroles
Vers midi, le 16 avril
1879, elle entre en agonie. À la sœur qui lui suggère de demander des
« consolations à Notre-Dame », elle répond : « Non, pas de
consolations. Mais la force et la patience. » Elle s’éteint à 3h de
l’après-midi ce mercredi de Pâques. Ses dernières paroles font écho à celles du Christ
crucifié qu’elle a tant aimé : « J’ai soif … » « Je
ne vous promets pas de vous rendre heureuse en ce monde mais dans
l’Autre, » lui avait dit la Vierge autrefois. Désormais et pour
l’éternité, Bernadette la revoit face à face.
Also
known as
Bernada
Bernardetta
Bernardette Soubirous
Bernardette
Maria Bernadette
Marie Bernarde
Sleeping Saint of Nevers
Profile
Oldest of six children born
to Francois and Louise Casterot, and grew up very poor.
Hired out as a servant from
age 12 to 14. Shepherdess.
On 11
February 1858,
around the time of her first Communion,
she received a vision of the Virgin;
her own account of it is in the Readings section below. She received
seventeen more in the next five months, and was led to a spring of healing
waters. She moved into a house with the Sisters of Nevers at Lourdes where
she lived, worked, and learned to
read and write. The sisters cared for the sick and indigent,
and at age 22 they admitted Bernadette into their order since she was both.
Always sick herself,
and often mistreated by her superiors, she died with
a prayer for Mary‘s
aid. Since the appearances of Mary to
young Bernadette in 1858,
more than 200 million people have visited the shrine of Lourdes.
Born
7
January 1844 at Lourdes,
Hautes-Pyrénées, France
16
April 1879,
Nevers, Nièvre, France of
natural causes
body incorrupt
the sisters covered the
body in wax, and it is on display in Nevers
18
November 1923 by Pope Pius
XI (decree on heroic virtues)
8
December 1933 by Pope Pius
XI
Name
Meaning
brave as a bear
people
ridiculed for their piety
Storefront
Additional
Information
Companion
for Youth – Saint Bernadette, by Father John
T McMahon
Cures
at Lourdes Recognized by the Church
Miracle
at Lourdes – The Facts Behind the Story, by Father A.
E. Bennett
My
Name is Bernadette, by Saint Bernadette
Soubirous
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
The
Holiness of the Church in the 19th Century
books
15 Days of Prayer With Saint Bernadette of Lourdes, by
Francois Vayne
Lourdes: Body and Spirit in the Secular Age, by Ruth Harris
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
Roman Martyrology, 3rd Turin edition
Saint Bernadette Soubirous, by Francois Trochu
other
sites in english
images
audio
Discerning Hearts: Saint Bernadette, A Holy Life
Discerning
Hearts: Bernadette and the Passion of Bernadette
video
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
sites
en français
Abbé
Christian-Philippe Chanut
fonti
in italiano
Benedetto XVI: Viaggio Apostolico in Francia in occasione
del 150° anniversario delle apparizioni di Lourdes (12-15 settembre 2008)
L’Osservatore Romano: Il miracolo di Lourdes? La
rivoluzione di Dio che capovolge il mondo
Readings
Nothing is anything more
to me; everything is nothing to me, but Jesus: neither things nor persons,
neither ideas nor emotions, neither honor nor sufferings. Jesus is for me
honor, delight, heart and soul. – Saint Bernadette
You must receive God
well; give Him a loving welcome, for then He has to pay us rent. – Saint Bernadette
The more I am crucified,
the more I rejoice. – Saint Bernadette
Soubirous
I had gone down one day
with two other girls to the bank of the river Gave when suddenly I heard a kind
of rustling sound. I turned my head toward the field by the side of the river,
but the trees seemed quite still and the noise was evidently not from them.
Then I looked up and caught sight of the cave where I saw a lady wearing a
lovely white dress with a bright belt. On top of each of her feet was a pale
yellow rose, the same color as her rosary beads. At this I rubbed my eyes,
thinking I was seeing things, and I put my hands into the fold of my dress
where my rosary was. I wanted to make the sign of the cross, but for the life
of me I couldn’t manage it, and my hand just fell down. Then the lady made the
sign of the cross herself, and at the second attempt I managed to do the same,
though my hands were trembling. Then I began to say the rosary while the lady
let her beads clip through her fingers, without moving her lips. When I stopped
saying the Hail Mary, she immediately vanished. I asked my two companions if
they had noticed anything, but they said no. Of course, they wanted to know
what I was doing, and I told them that I had seen a lady wearing a nice white
dress, though I didn’t know who she was. I told them not to say anything about
it, and they said I was silly to have anything to do with it. I said they were
wrong, and I came back next Sunday, feeling myself drawn to the place…. The
third time I went, the lady spoke to me and asked me to come every day for
fifteen days. I said I would and then she said that she wanted me to tell the
priests to build a chapel there.
She also told me to drink from the stream. I went to the Gave, the only stream
I could see. Then she made me realize she was not speaking of the Gave, and she
indicated a little trickle of water close by. When I got to it I could only
find a few drops, mostly mud. I cupped my hands to catch some liquid without
success, and then I started to scrape the ground. I managed to find a few drops
of water, but only at the fourth attempt was there sufficient for any kind of a
drink. The lady then vanished and I went back home. I went back each day for
fifteen days, and each time, except one Monday and one Friday, the lady
appeared and told me to look for a stream and wash in it and to see that
the priests build
a chapel there.
I must also pray, she said, for the conversion of sinners. I asked her many
times what she meant by that, but she only smiled. Finally, with outstretched
arms and eyes looking up to heaven, she told me she was the Immaculate
Conception. During the fifteen days she told me three secrets, but I was
not to speak about them to anyone, and so far I have not. – from a letter
by Saint Bernadette
MLA
Citation
“Saint Bernadette of
Lourdes“. CatholicSaints.Info. 18 September 2021. Web. 18 February 2022.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-bernadette-of-lourdes/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-bernadette-of-lourdes/
SAINT BERNADETTE
SOUBIROUS
VIRGIN, PATRONESS OF LOURDES—1844-1879
Feast: February 11
Bernadette's canonization
in 1933 was the culmination of a process which had been started nearly
three-quarters of a century earlier: she is, therefore, a saint of modern
times, and the remarkable facts of her life are readily accessible to all. Her
story even challenges the interest of those who do not share the Catholic
faith. Christianity had its beginnings among humble people without influence or
riches, such as Bernadette. Perhaps it is a natural human instinct to rejoice
when the lowly are lifted up to the heights, and especially when a child,
neglected and untaught, is chosen for special grace and favor, thus becoming an
instrument for good.
Born in Lourdes, France,
on January 7, 1844, Bernadette was the first child of Francois and Louise
Soubirous. At the time of her birth, Francois was a miller, operating a mill
which had belonged to his wife's people. He was a good-natured, easy-going man,
with little ability for carrying on a business, and before many years the mill
had been forfeited for debt. During most of Bernadette's childhood he was an
odd job man, picking up a day's work as opportunity offered, and, from time to
time, escaping from his problems and responsibilities by turning to the
delusive comfort of alcohol. His wife and children, naturally, were the chief
sufferers from his ineffectualness. Louise, whose family was of somewhat better
economic status than her husband's, was a hard worker, a warm-hearted neighbor,
and exemplary in her observance of Catholic rites. Within a short space of
years many children were born to her, only five of whom survived infancy. After
Bernadette, there was another girl, Toinette Marie, and three boys. To help
feed and clothe them it was often necessary for their harassed mother to go out
to work by the day, doing laundry and other rough tasks for the more prosperous
citizens, and, on one occasion, at least, helping to harvest a crop of grain. A
peasant woman of the region has told of seeing little Bernadette, then about
twelve, carrying the youngest baby to Louise in the field, to be nursed during
the noon-day rest period. As a child, Bernadette not only did more than might
be expected in caring for the smaller children, but helped in their moral and
religious training as well.
Bernadette was never
strong, and from the age of six she showed symptoms of the respiratory ailment
that later became a chronic affliction. It is not clear at this early stage whether
she suffered from asthma or tuberculosis, but we know that her mother was
anxious about her health and made an effort to provide special food for her.
When Bernadette was thirteen she was sent to the neighboring mountain hamlet of
Bartres, to the home of one Marie Arevant, her foster mother. It was here that
Bernadette had been taken for a few months when she was still an infant, to be
nursed by Madame Arevant, who had just lost a baby. The woman now had a large
family and little Bernadette made herself useful in the house and in the
fields. One of her duties was to tend a small flock of sheep that grazed on a
hillside nearby; it is this brief phase of her girlhood that has inspired
artists to picture her as a shepherdess. Her life was a lonely one, and we get
the impression that she was overworked and homesick while she remained in this
peasant home. At all events she sent word to her parents that she wished to
leave Bartres. One thing seemed especially to disturb her at this time;
although she was now fourteen, she had not made her First Communion. Her foster
mother had tried half-heartedly to prepare her, but after one or two sessions
had impatiently given it up, saying that Bernadette was too dull to learn.
When Bernadette went back
to Lourdes, it made her very happy to be admitted to the day school conducted
by the Sisters of Charity and Christian Instruction. This was a teaching and
nursing order whose mother-house is at Nevers, in central France. A hospice, a
day school, and a boarding school were maintained at Lourdes by these devout
nuns, who were, as a group, unusually well trained. Thus Bernadette at last
began her secular education, and, under Abbe Pomian, continued to prepare for
First Communion. She was also learning a little French, for up to this time she
spoke only the local dialect. The nuns discovered that beneath a quiet, modest
exterior, Bernadette had a winning personality and a lively sense of humor.
This might have been a happy and constructive time for the little girl had it
not been for the ever-increasing shadows of poverty at home.
After moving from one
poor location to another, the Soubirous family was now living in a single room
of a dilapidated structure in the rue des Petits Fosses; this damp, unwholesome
place had once served as a jail and was known as Le Cachot, the Dungeon. Above
loomed an ancient fortress, and the narrow cobbled street had once been a part
of the moat. The town of Lourdes, itself very old, is situated in one of the
most picturesque parts of France, lying in the extreme southwest, near the
Spanish frontier, where the Pyrenees mountains rise sharply above the plains.
From the craggy, wooded heights, several valleys descend to converge at this
site, and the little river Gave rushes through the town, its turbulent current
turning the wheels of many mills. There are escarpments of rock in and around
Lourdes, the most famous being the Massabeille, a great mound jutting out from
the base of a plateau. On the side facing the river it had an arch-shaped
opening which led into a sizeable grotto-a grotto that was soon destined to
become famous in every part of the world. At this time the Massabeille had, if
not exactly an aura of evil, a touch of the sinister. According to legend, it
had been sacred to the pagans of prehistoric times; now it served as a shelter
for fishermen or herdsmen caught by sudden storms.
It was very cold on
February 11, 1858, the day that was to mark the beginning of such an
extraordinary series of events at the rock of Massabeille. When Bernadette
returned from school her mother gave her permission to go down by the river to
pick up driftwood and fallen branches. Toinette Marie, aged nine, and Marie
Abadie, aged twelve, a neighbor's child, went with her. When the three girls
reached the Massabeille, the two younger ones took off their wooden shoes to
wade across an icy mill-stream which here joined the river. Bernadette, more
sensitive, hung behind. Standing alone beside the river, she had started to
remove her stockings when she heard a noise like a sudden rush of wind. Looking
up towards the grotto she saw some movement among the branches, then there
floated out of the opening a golden cloud, and in the midst of it was the
figure of a beautiful young girl who placed herself in a small niche in the
rock, at one side of the opening and slightly above it. In the crannies around
this niche grew stunted vines and shrubs, and in particular a white eglantine.
Bernadette, staring in fascination, saw that the luminous apparition was
dressed in a soft white robe, with a broad girdle of blue, and a long white
veil that partially covered her hair. Her eyes were blue and gentle. Golden
roses gleamed on her bare feet. When the vision smiled and beckoned to
Bernadette, the girl's fear vanished and she came a few steps nearer, then sank
reverently to her knees. She drew her rosary from her pocket, for, in moments
of stress, she habitually said her beads. The mysterious being also had a
rosary, of large white beads, and to quote Bernadette's own account: "The
Lady let me pray alone; she passed the beads of the rosary between her fingers,
but said nothing; only at the end of each decade did she say the Gloria with
me." When the recitation was finished, the Lady vanished into the cave and
the golden mist disappeared with her. This experience affected Bernadette so
powerfully that, when the other girls turned back to look for her, she was
still kneeling, a rapt, faraway look on her face. They chided her, thinking she
had passed the time praying to escape the task of gathering fuel. Tying up
their twigs and branches into faggots, they started for home. Too full of her
vision to keep quiet about it, before they had gone far Bernadette burst out
with the whole wondrous story; she asked the girls to say nothing at home. But
Toinette told Madame Soubirous that same evening, and soon the news spread
further. Bernadette wished to go back to the Massabeille the next day, but her
mother, after talking the matter over with a sister, refused 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,
Abbe 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. On their return the excited
girls, although they had seen nothing, naturally began to tell their versions
of the affair, and soon the town buzzed with varying reports and rumors. On the
next market day the peasants heard of these strange happenings. The story
reached the Mother Superior of the convent, who took a firm stand: she
announced to the class preparing for Communion, comprising Bernadette's friends
and companions for the most part, that they must stop talking and thinking of
this matter. Bernadette's teacher, Sister Marie Therese Vauzous, was even
hostile.
The apparition was
manifest to Bernadette for the third time on Thursday, February 18, when she
went to the grotto accompanied by two women of Lourdes who 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. 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. On the following day her mother and
aunt went with her, and on subsequent visits great crowds of people gathered on
the Massabeille, or down by the river, hoping to see or hear something
miraculous. During these two weeks the excitement increased to such a pitch
that the civil authorities felt obliged to take action. The police were not
content to threaten the Soubirous family; they must take Bernadette to the
local police office for questioning and try to make her admit that it was all
an elaborate hoax. Bernadette emerged from this and many another ordeal
somewhat shaken but obdurate. The authorities continued to try to discredit
her. They even gave currency to the report that the whole thing had been thought
up by Bernadette's poverty-stricken parents, so that they might derive some
profit from it. Francois and Louise Soubirous, from being puzzled, worried, and
uncertain at the outset, had now come to believe in the supernatural character
of their daughter's experiences, and stood loyally by her. They did not dream
of exploiting the affair in their own interest. As a matter of fact, pious,
well-meaning people were bringing them gifts of money and food, sometimes
asking for a token from Bernadette. These offerings were declined; even
Bernadette's small brothers were cautioned to accept nothing. The girl herself
was adamant in her determination to have no part in any kind of trafficking;
the record of her complete honesty and disinterestedness is clear and unquestioned.
However, she found the sudden notoriety unpleasant, and this sensitivity to
being stared at and talked about and pointed out was to last throughout her
life. People began to gather at the grotto in the middle of the night, awaiting
her appearance. It was rumored that she had a miraculous, healing touch.
Several cures were attributed to her.
On Sunday, February 21, a
number of persons went with her to the grotto, including citizens who had been
highly skeptical. On this occasion, Bernadette reported later, the apparition
said to her: "You will pray to God for sinners." On February 26,
while she was in the trance-like state which lasted as long as she saw the
vision, Bernadette crawled inside the grotto, and, at the Lady's bidding, uncovered
with her bare hands a little trickle of water from which she drank and with
which she bathed her face, still at the Lady's direction. This tiny spring
continued to well up and by the next day was flowing steadily down into the
river: to this day it has never ceased to gush forth from the grotto. The
people regarded its discovery by Bernadette as a miracle.
On March 2 Bernadette saw
the apparition for the thirteenth time. It was on this day that the Lady bade
Bernadette to tell the priests that "a chapel should be built and a
procession formed." Bernadette had no thought but to obey, in spite of the
open hostility of the cure of Lourdes. Dean Peyramale, an imposing man of
excellent family and background, received Bernadette and reprimanded her
harshly, asking her to inquire the name of her visitant, and to tell her she
must perform a real miracle, such as making the eglantine bloom out of season,
to prove herself. During the preceding weeks he had ordered the priests to have
nothing to do with the grotto, for it was the general practice of the clergy to
discourage or ignore religious visionaries. Very often such persons were
ill-balanced or suffering from delusions. As a matter of fact, Bernadette's
experiences were proving contagious, and before long many others, young and
old, were claiming to have had supernatural visions at the grotto and
elsewhere. Dean Peyramale's stand of determined opposition was based on the
necessity of restoring order in the parish.
On March 25, Lady Day,
Bernadette started for the grotto at dawn. When the vision appeared to her,
Bernadette said: "Would you kindly tell me who you are?" When the
girl had repeated the question twice more, the Lady replied: "I am the
Immaculate Conception. I want a chapel here." This answer, when reported
by Bernadette, caused the local excitement to rise to a still higher pitch and
the feeling grew that Bernadette's visitor was the Blessed Virgin. Only four
years before the dogma of the Immaculate Conception had been promulgated. The
seventeenth apparition took place on April 7, and the final one, more than
three months later, on July 16. By that time, the grotto, which the people were
trying to make into a sanctuary and place of worship, had been barricaded by
the town authorities to discourage worshipers and curiosity-seekers from
congregating there. During the twenty-one years that she was to remain on
earth, Bernadette never again saw the vision. The accounts of what she had seen
and heard, which she was obliged to repeat so often, never varied in any significant
detail.
Meanwhile the news of the
phenomenal happenings at Lourdes had reached the very highest ecclesiastical
and government circles: the bishop, the prefect, even Emperor Napoleon III and
his pious wife Eugenie, became actors in the drama. On October 5, the mayor of
Lourdes, on orders from above, had the grotto reopened. It was thought that the
empress herself had had a voice in this decision. At all events, it seemed to
be the only appropriate response to the overwhelming demand of the people for a
shrine Bernadette's visions, the new spring, and the cures that were being
reported, all had taken a profound hold on the popular imagination.
Due to a lucky turn,
Bernadette's family was now more comfortably situated, and, to escape visitors,
Bernadette went to live at the convent. Even there, intrusions upon her privacy
were allowed; these she bore as patiently as she could. While her fame not only
continued but steadily grew, Bernadette herself withdrew more and more. At the
age of twenty she decided to take the veil. Since the state of her health
precluded the more ascetic orders, it was considered best for her to join the
Sisters who had taught and sheltered her. At twenty-two, therefore, she
traveled to the motherhouse of the convent. Her novitiate was full of trials
and sorrows. Acting under the quite unfounded notion that Bernadette's visions
and all the attendant publicity might have made the young woman vain or
self-important, Sister Marie Therese Vauzous, now novice-mistress at Nevers,
was very severe with her former pupil. Although she made life difficult for
Bernadette, the little novice met all tests with perfect humility. She
cheerfully performed the menial tasks assigned to her, at first in the convent
kitchen, although this work must have taxed her strength. Later, when it was
noted that her sympathetic manner made her a favorite with sick people, she was
appointed assistant infirmarian. Her step and touch were light, and her very
presence brought comfort. But during these years, Bernadette was suffering from
the chronic disease which was slowly draining her life away. She was finally
given work in the sacristy, where cleverness with the needle made her work
admired and cherished. She displayed a real gift for design and color in embroidering
the sacred vestments. To all tasks she brought a pure grace of spirit and an
utter willingness to serve.
In September, 1878,
Bernadette made her perpetual and final vows. Her strength was ebbing away, but
even when she was confined to wheel chair or bed, she went on with the fine
needlework. And now she had more time for prayer and meditation. There is
little outward drama in the life of a nun, but in Bernadette's case there was
steady activity, steady growth, in things of the spirit. She had been told by
her vision that she would not attain happiness in this world. Her childhood had
been sad, and maturity had brought no easing of the burden she must carry.
During the last two years of life a tumor developed on one knee, which was
followed by caries of the bone. She suffered excruciating pain. One day, when a
Superior came to visit her and said, "What are you doing in bed, you lazy
little thing?" Bernadette simply replied, "I am doing my stint. I
must be a victim." She felt that such was the Divine plan for her.
The nuns, the novice
mistress, and the Superior had all long since come to regard her as the vessel
of Divine grace and to believe in the reality of those visitations of her
youth. She still suffered from the curiosity of visiting strangers. Not only
did nuns and priests come to Nevers but celebrities from Paris and other parts
of France came to see for themselves the now famous Bernadette. Disliking
publicity as she did, yet not wishing to remain isolated and aloof if a glimpse
of her could help or inspire any other human soul, she met this test too-and
sometimes with a native cleverness. Once a visitor stopped her as she was
passing down a corridor and asked where she could get a glimpse of Sister
Bernadette. The little nun said, "Just watch that doorway and presently
you will see her go through." And she slipped away through the door. Such
was the prestige her presence gave to the order that many young women now
joined it.
On her death-bed, in a
spasm of pain, Bernadette pressed the crucifix closer to her, and cried,
"All this is good for Heaven!" That afternoon, as the nuns of the
convent knelt round her bed to repeat the prayers for the dying, they heard her
say in a low voice, "Blessed Mary, Mother of God, pray for me! A poor
sinner, a poor sinner-" She could not finish. The date was April 16, 1879.
As soon as the news spread, people came streaming towards the convent,
chanting, "The saint is dead! The saint is dead!" Bernadette's body
was placed in a casket which was sealed, then buried near the chapel of St.
Joseph in the convent grounds. When it was exhumed in 1908 by the commission
formed to forward the examination of Bernadette's life and character, it was
found to be intact and uncorrupted. In August, 1913, Pope Pius X conferred the
title of Venerable upon her, and in June, 1925, the ceremony of beatification
took place. Since then, her body, reposing in a handsome glass reliquary, lies
in the convent chapel, guarded above by a statue of the Blessed Virgin, and by
the nuns who keep vigil. In Rome, on December 8, 1933, the Feast of the
Immaculate Conception, amidst a brilliant setting and the fanfare of silver
trumpets, Bernadette Soubirous was admitted to the company of saints. This
little nun, humble, unlettered, honest, and obedient, is venerated by the great
host of Catholic worshipers throughout the world. Tens of thousands of them
journey annually to the glorious shrine at Lourdes.
The story of Lourdes as a
pilgrimage place forms a strange contrast to Bernadette's retired life of
prayer and service. Its growth from a sleepy country town to its present status
as the most popular pilgrimage place in Christendom has been phenomenal. A
railroad line from Pau was built, facilitating the influx of visitors who, from
the very first year, were drawn to Lourdes. Dean Peyramale and his superior,
the bishop of Pau, who at first had scoffed, came to believe most ardently; it
was the aged dean who found the money for raising the great basilica to Our
Lady, which was completed in 1876. Participating in the ceremony were
thirty-five prelates, a cardinal, and three thousand priests. Sister Bernadette
had no share in these rites. Another church at the base of the basilica was
erected and consecrated in 1901. The entire district has been enhanced by
architecture and landscaping to make it an impressive sanctuary, with a
background of great natural beauty.
Of the cures at Lourdes
it can be said that even non-believers have observed something here that
medical science cannot explain. The commission of physicians, known as the
Bureau of Constatations, who examine evidence and report on their findings,
operate with great caution and circumspection. The alleged cure must be
immediate and permanent to be regarded as a miracle. Medical records prior to
the trip are studied, as well as the patient's subsequent medical history. The
patient may himself be a witness, and it is most moving to hear the words,
"I was sick and now I am well," which give such comfort and hope to
others who are ailing. Only a few cures each year stand up against these rigid
tests, but those few are enough. The thousands-the lame, the halt, the blind
-continue to come, to be washed in the waters of the spring, to share in the
processions, the singing, the prayers, the impressive rites, and breathe the
pure air of faith. The Canticle of Bernadette hovers in that air, and even
those well persons who go to Lourdes simply searching for a renewal of faith
find themselves amply rewarded, for the spirit of the child Bernadette is still
a potent inspiration.
Saint Bernadette
Soubirous, Virgin, Patroness of Lourdes. Celebration of Feast Day is February
11. Taken from "Lives of Saints", Published by John J. Crawley &
Co., Inc.
Provided Courtesy of:
Eternal Word Television Network, 5817 Old Leeds Road, Irondale, AL 35210, www.ewtn.com
SOURCE : http://www.ewtn.com/library/mary/bernadet.htm
Oltar
s kipoma Marije Lourške in sv. Bernardke v spodmolu Lurška jama pri Zagorju.
Altar
with sculptures of Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Bernadette of Lourdes in the
rock shelter Lourdes Cave (Lurška jama) near Zagorje.
St. Bernadette Soubirous
St. Bernadette Soubirous
was born in 1844, the first child of an extremely poor miller in the town of
Lourdes in southern France. The family was living in the basement of a
dilapidated building when on February 11,1858, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared
to Bernadette in a cave above the banks of the Gave River near Lourdes.
Bernadette, 14 years old, was known as a virtuous girl though a dull student
who had not even made her first Holy Communion. In poor health, she had
suffered from asthma from an early age. There were 18 appearances in all,
the final one occurring on the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, July 16.
Although Bernadette’s
initial reports provoked skepticism, her daily visions of “the Lady” brought
great crowds of the curious. The Lady, Bernadette explained, had instructed her
to have a chapel built on the spot of the visions. There the people were to
come to wash in and drink of the water of the spring that had welled up from
the very spot where Bernadette had been instructed to dig.
According to Bernadette,
the Lady of her visions was a girl of 16 or 17 who wore a white robe with a
blue sash. Yellow roses covered her feet, a large rosary was on her right arm.
In the vision on March 25 she told Bernadette, “I am the Immaculate
Conception.” It was only when the words were explained to her that Bernadette
came to realize who the Lady was.
Few visions have ever
undergone the scrutiny that these appearances of the Immaculate Virgin were
subject to. Lourdes became one of the most popular Marian shrines in the world,
attracting millions of visitors. Miracles were reported at the shrine and in
the waters of the spring. After thorough investigation Church authorities
confirmed the authenticity of the apparitions in 1862.
During her life
Bernadette suffered much. She was hounded by the public as well as by civic
officials until at last she was protected in a convent of nuns. Five years
later she petitioned to enter the sisters of Notre Dame. After a period of
illness she was able to make the journey from Lourdes and enter the novitiate.
But within four months of her arrival she was given the last rites of the
Church and allowed to profess her vows. She recovered enough to become
infirmarian and then sacristan, but chronic health problems persisted. She died
on April 16, 1879, at the age of 35.
She was canonized in 1933.
SOURCE : http://www.ucatholic.com/saints/bernadette-soubirous/
Bernadette Soubirous V (RM)
(also known as Mary Bernarda Soubirous)
Born in Lourdes, France, January 7, 1844; died in Nevers, France, on April 16,
1879; canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1933; also honored on February 18 in France.
Marie Bernarde (called Bernadette by family and friends) Soubirous, was the
oldest of six children born to the impoverished miller François Soubirous, and
his much-younger wife, Louise Casterot. The family lived in the basement of a
damp building in the rue des Petits Fossés after her father rented a mill of
his own. Bernadette was not a strong child; the dampness of their home and the
vestiges of the cholera she contracted in 1854 aggravated the asthma and other
ailments from which the young girl suffered.
At age 14, she was considered to be ailing, undersized, of pleasant
disposition, sensitive, and a slow student--even stupid--but was a kind,
helpful and obedient child.
On February 11, 1858, the teenaged Bernadette was collecting scraps of wood on
the bank of the River Gave when she was initially granted a vision of the
Blessed Virgin, who did not identify herself at first. For the next six months
Bernadette saw a light-enhaloed female form of indescribable beauty, near a
cave in the Massabielle cliff. In total, Bernadette had 18 visions of the
Virgin Mary at the grotto, which principally concerned prayer and penance.
Bernadette showed people the grotto in which the BVM appeared. Most of them
mocked her but from February 18 until March 4, Bernadette continued to see and
talk with Our Lady every day. The clerical and civic officials who subjected Bernadette
to numerous interrogations found her to be veracious and completely
disinterested in self-advancement.
People followed Bernadette. The saw the girl fall into ecstasy; they heard her
speak, but they saw nothing. The unknown 'lady' said to Bernadette: "I
wish to see people here"; "Pray for sinners"; "Tell the
priests I wish to have a chapel here"; "Processions are to come
here"; "Go, drink from the spring and wash in its water."
In obedience to this last injunction, the saint dug with her hands into the
earth of the grotto, and there gushed forth a spring, unknown until that
day--February 25, that for years has yielded 27,000 gallons weekly. Cures
effected by drinking of the water mobilized pilgrimages of thousands which
streamed to the grotto.
By March 4, about 200,000 people were accompanying Bernadette to the site. When
Bernadette begged the lady for a name on March 25, she replied three times
using the local dialect: "I am the Immaculate Conception--" a name
that the girl did not understand because word of the definition had not yet
reached the people of Lourdes. The last vision occurred on July 16, the Feast
of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
The Church met these beginnings of the Lourdes pilgrimages with great reserve,
almost with hostility. In part this was because after the appearances ceased,
there was an epidemic of copycat visionaries and morbid religiosity in the
district, which increased the reserved attitude of the church authorities
towards Bernadette's experiences.
But Lourdes became a symbol. In an age in which the existence of or at all
events the possibility of knowing a supra-mundane God was denied, a permanent
medical bureau had to be opened in Lourdes, which has collected, with the help
of thousands of physicians of all creeds, an immense documentation of
professionally attested, inexplicable cures.
Bernadette's simplicity and integrity were never questioned. Although the
publicity that accompanied her visions had helped her father to find work,
Bernadette gained little more than the spiritual consolation of a few months.
For some years she suffered greatly from the suspicious disbelief of some and
the tactless enthusiasm and insensitive attentions of others; these trials she
bore with impressive patience and dignity. She resided with the nuns at the
hospice for five years (1861-1866) in order to escape the publicity, but people
sought her out even there. In 1866 Bernadette joined the Sister of Notre-Dame
at Saint Gildard in Nevers, France; she had wished for entrance two years
earlier but had been prevented by bad health. She was happy with the nuns. Her
health remained fragile, and she was given the last sacraments within four
months of her arrival; she was allowed to take her first vows through a special
dispensation. She recovered, however, and worked first as an infirmarian and
later as a sacristan.
Here she was more sheltered from trying publicity, but not from the
'stuffiness' of the convent superiors nor from the tightening grip of asthma.
"I am getting on with my joy," she would say. "What is
that?" someone asked. "Being ill," was the reply.
The nuns, disappointed by the simplicity of this child of nature, in whom they
had expected to find a second Teresa of Ávila or another Catherine of Siena,
made the peasant girl feel bitterly the scant esteem in which they held her;
and even her superiors, with the aim of protecting the visionary of Lourdes
from the sin of pride, were not sparing in humiliations.
With the excuse that she was a "stupid, good-for-nothing little
thing," her profession was continually delayed. God gave to the despised
creature, who was punished for 13 years because of her visions, the strength to
say: "You see, my story is quite simple. The Virgin made use of me, then I
was put into a corner. That is now my place. There I am happy and there I
remain."
Thus, she lived out her self-effacing life, dying at the age of 35 as did Saint
Benedict Labre. The events of 1858 resulted in Lourdes becoming one of the most
important pilgrim shrines in the history of Christendom, ending with the
consecration of the basilica in 1876. But Saint Bernadette took no part in
these developments; nor was it for her visions that she was canonized, but for
the humble simplicity and religious trust that characterized her whole life
(Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Sandhurst,
Schamoni, Trochu, Walsh, White).
Saint Bernadette is the patron saint of shepherds (White).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0416.shtml
Carte
du pays de Lourdes à l'époque des Apparitions (1858)
Companion
for Youth – Saint Bernadette, by Father John T McMahon
“It is some years since I
made myself a little soldier, though an unworthy one, of Your Holiness. My
weapons are prayer and sacrifice and I will use them to my last breath. Then
the prayer of sacrifice will fall away, but the weapon of prayer will follow me
to Heaven.” – letter of Bernadette to the Holy Father
Saint Bernadette: A
Friend for Youth
My dear boys and girls,
young men and women growing up, teenagers, as we have learned to call you, I am
writing this pamphlet for you, and I am asking Mary, the Immaculate Spouse of
the Holy Ghost, that you may read it, think it over, and adopt its plan of
taking Bernadette to your heart as a worthwhile companion to be with you during
these difficult growing-up years.
Our Lady looked like a
beautiful young girl of sixteen or seventeen years when she appeared to
Bernadette. The youth and beauty of the apparition captivated Bernadette. Mary
chose as her confidant a girl of thirteen years. She rewarded Bernadette’s
absolute trust in her by keeping her young in heart and youthful in appearance.
A priest, Father Cros, who saw her as a postulant at Nevers, tells us:
“To look at her you would
say that she is just the same child of thirteen years that she was at the time
of the Visions. I do not think it would be possible to find a child of thirteen
years with a younger face than Bernadette has at the age of twenty-one. Her
youth has a supernatural charm that it is impossible not to feel, she herself
is a Vision.”
Bernadette was tiny, only
four and a half feet tall. She looked younger than her years and behaved like a
happy, bright young girl throughout a life of stress and strain and suffering
until she died at the age of thirty-six.
Mary appeared as a young
girl in order that youth of an age with her might not be frightened to confide
in her. She made a confidant of a girl of thirteen that boys and girls of a
similar age group may come naturally to her. And lest some may find difficulty
in approaching Mary directly because of her great holiness, she recommends to
youth that they may come indirectly to her through Bernadette, her own
confidant and messenger. That is the idea I propose to you, adolescents,
namely, that you come to Bernadette, make her your companion and confidant, and
ask her to bring you to Mary and Mary will then lead you to her Divine Son.
Delinquent youth need a
Bernadette to answer their troublesome questions and to give them a motive, a
purpose, and an ideal t o fight for. They are in revolt and ask, “Why should we
obey our parents and teachers or those in authority?” “Who will thank us for
going straight, or who will recognize us for living clean?” “Why should we
discipline ourselves at all or submit to any rules and regulations? Who cares
what happens to us?” My dear youth, let Bernadette answer all these and similar
questions.
“I made myself a little
soldier.” – Saint Bernadette
In a letter to the Pope,
written on instructions from her Bishop, she said: “I come to you, Holy Father,
like a poor little child to the tenderest of fathers, full of submission and
confidence. What can I do, Holy Father, to show you my filial love? I can only
go on doing what I have been doing up to now, that is to say, suffer and pray.
It is some years since I made myself a little soldier, though an unworthy one,
of Your Holiness. My weapons are prayer and sacrifice and I will use them to my
last breath. Then the weapon of sacrifice will fall away, the weapon of prayer
will follow me to Heaven.
“I hope that our good
Mother will have pity on her children and that she will deign once more to
place her feet upon the head of the cursed serpent and thus put an end to the
cruel sufferings of the Holy Church and to the sorrows of its august and
well-beloved Pontiff.”
Bernadette from her
childhood determined to become “a little soldier” to fight for the Pope with
her “weapons of prayer and sacrifice.” She had something to fight for, a thing
bigger than herself, a real crusade to join with enthusiasm. She looked upon
the Pope as the Commander-in-Chief directing the war against Satan on so many
fronts. He needed soldiers so badly to fight for him with the prayer of
petition and the prayer of sacrifice, to plead for him and to suffer for him,
to ask for him and to give for him. She saw the Mystical Body of Christ
attacked by Satan-inspired enemies. She saw the cruel sufferings of the Church
which caused such sorrow to Christ’s Vicar on earth. In answer to the
invitation in Christ’s words: “Greater love than this no man hath, that a man
lay down his life for his friends,” she devoted her young life to the Church
and its mission to save souls. Hers was a short life, just thirty-six years,
but they were years of prayer and sacrifice which were a true martyrdom.
Enroll Under the Banner
of Bernadette
Today the plight of the
Church is more terrible than in Bernadette’s time. The Church of silence, the
Church in chains, the Church behind the Iron curtain and in the
Soviet-dominated lands is suffering as never before. The communists’ hatred of
the Pope and his children is diabolical, fanned into destroying flames with
blasts from hell.
Here is a cause to fight
for, a crusade that demands love and devotion, loyalty and service, courage and
generosity to an heroic degree. Enroll under ‘Bernadette’s banner and face
something bigger than yourselves, a call to get out of yourselves, a campaign
that will make you forget your own little needs, and will urge you to put the
Pope and the Church above selfish gain and selfish pleasure.
To serve beside
Bernadette is to follow her example. She obeyed:, so must you. She had pluck
and that must you develop. She kept her powder dry, that is, she cared daily
for her weapons, she used them constantly.
Bernadette Obeyed Her
Queen
A soldier must obey and
if he fails in obedience he fails in all. The source of delinquency is that
youth have no motive strong enough, no sanction compelling enough, to help them
accept the difficult discipline of obedience to parents, to teachers, to
Church, and to State. Obedience is the virtue and discipline they need most.
Our Blessed Lord was
obedient even unto death. At Nazareth “He was subject” to His parents for
thirty years. From the Annunciation when Mary pronounced her all-powerful “Fiat
mihi,” “Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done unto me according to Thy
Will,” her life became an absolute surrender’ to the Will of God. Men and women
have fashioned themselves into saints through the austere grandeur of a loving
obedience.
During the Apparitions
Our Lady must have spoken to Bernadette of the value and virtue of a willing
and joyful obedience. Bernadette obeyed The Lady in facing her parents’ scorn
at home, in the interviews with the parish priest, and in her calm and
unruffled acceptance of her companions’ doubts and jeers. When the parish
priest forbade her to attend the first big ceremony at the Grotto, her
companions urged her to go, but Bernadette obeyed her pastor, and showed not
the least sign of resentment. just imagine the scene a modern girl would create
in her home were she in Bernadette’s place! After all, Bernadette was the star
in the “Lourdes Affair.” Her name and pictures were known throughout France.
Why should she be ordered to stay away from the Grotto she had put on the front
page of the nation’s news? How plausible, how convincing to worldly minds, but
not worth considering to Bernadette who loved The Lady and because of that love
obeyed her parish priest. In obedience to her superiors in the convent at
Nevers, Bernadette never mentioned Lourdes to the Sisters of the community, or
to visitors, unless commanded to do so.
Bernadette’s Weapon of
Prayer: The Rosary
A good soldier looks
after his weapons, cleans them and tests them and keeps them near him, ready
for any emergency. A soldier without his weapons is a burden on his battalion.
He is useless to them in the fight.
Bernadette assured the
Pope that she was his “little soldier,” and promised him to use to her dying
breath her weapons of prayer and penance. She dedicated her life to the constant
use of her two weapons, and when death opened the gate of heaven to her soul,
she promised to continue using her weapons of prayer for his intentions.
Her chief weapon of
prayer was the Rosary. She had learned the prayers that compose the Rosary within
the family circle, and the beads were her constant companion. It is no wonder
that at the big startling moment of the first Apparition she instinctively did
what so many Catholics do in a sudden crisis-“dived for the beads.” How
reassuring it must have been to Bernadette to see The Lady carrying a Rosary of
white beads on a golden chain, suspended on her right arm 1 How awful it would
have been had Bernadette left her beads at home
My dear young people,
resolve now to have “the beads on your person” as a rule of Catholic living.
Boys, consider your pockets empty unless you can feel your beads. Girls, check
your bag before you leave home and make sure the beads are in it. Boys and
girls, you should be as faithful to this rule of carrying your beads as a Protestant
friend of mine who has walked back from the bus queue on discovering that he
had not put his beads into his change of suit.
As a young priest I went
each week to give religious instruction to the boys of the Christian Brothers’
College, Perth. I always concluded my talk with a call: “Show me your beads,
boys.” We arranged a mutual fine. A boy without his beads paid one penny
towards the Bushies’ Scheme. If I did not have my beads I paid a shilling. I
got more pennies than the boys got shillings. But one Saturday morning as
I was swimming in Crawley
baths a group of the boys saw me, swam out to me, and one of them, now Father
Edward Bryan of the Diocese of Geraldton, asked, “Where is your beads, Father?”
I paid the shilling but ruled such a situation out in future. I have met many
of those boys in later life, and they assure me that although they had
forgotten most of what I had told them, this admonition remained, and they
never leave home without searching in their pockets for their beloved beads.
Mary’s Autobiography: The
Rosary
Bernadette was not very
bright in school, she found it very difficult to learn the Catechism, in fact,
she was considered a dull child. But she learned her prayers in the family
circle and the Rosary became part of herself. She concentrated on the events of
Mary’s life and thought about them as she said the vocal prayers. That early
training in meditation helped her in later life to make a mental pilgrimage
every day to the Grotto at Lourdes. She found more consolation and help from
this pilgrimage in the mind than an actual visit to the Grotto would have given
her.
The Rosary, my dear young
people, is Mary’s autobiography, breaking to us, through meditation, the news
of her life story, revealing the thoughts that filled her heart during the
great events in the life of her Son, the Sorrowful, Joyful, and Glorious
Mysteries. If you wish to be devoted children of Mary honour her by a daily
Rosary. You may spread the five decades throughout the day, saying a decade or
two in the bus, others walking outside during lunch hour or quietly sitting
alone. On Mary’s big feast days she will be delighted to receive the whole
fifteen Mysteries as a feast day gift. These fifteen decades should be
staggered, it is too much to attempt them all at one time.
Through Mary to Jesus
Remember always that the
main basis of devotion to Mary is her relationship with Jesus. Written in large
letters within the Rosary Church at Lourdes are the words: “Per Mariam ad
Jesum,” “Through Mary to Jesus.” The Virgin Mother bore God’s greatest Gift to
mankind. He was in her arms in the stable. He nestled close to her heart in the
flight into Egypt. With her He dwelt at Nazareth. She stood beside the Cross on
Calvary. “Thou hast borne Him in thy heart: thou hast followed Him from
Bethlehem to the Cross of Calvary. He is doubly thine-by the holiest love and
the divinest sorrow. Henceforth forever His adorers must be thy servants.”
Look upon the Rosary in
your pocket, or in your bag, as the weapon which you can draw when Satan with
smiling eye would tempt you. Get your hand quickly on the beads, and the feel
of them will assure you that you have Mary beside you to fight with you and for
you. Never go to bed without the beads either on you or near by, a weapon ready
at hand to dispel the first whispered invitation to sin. Satan does not sleep.
During the Apparitions
Bernadette wore the Miraculous Medal around her neck. Follow her example and
you have an additional cl aim on Mary’s special protection.
Bernadette’s Weapon of
Penance
We are living in an
unholy age. Although it is the age of Mary it is also the age of Satan. And
Satan is having a frightening success with youth. This is evident in many ways.
Satan’s main target today
is youth. Think about this, my dear young people, and see what you can do to
outfight Satan.
Bernadette’s second
weapon was penance. She accepted willingly the pain of body and humiliation of
soul which were hers from her thirteenth year to her death at the age of
thirty-six. She was a very sensible girl and faced the facts that The Lady told
her: “I do not promise that you will be happy in this world but in the next.”
Later, in the convent at Nevers, when she was no longer able to help in the
infirmary, or in the sacristy, she said: “My job is to be sick.” That is the
real song of Bernadette, the song of resignation.
Self-denial,
self-discipline, self-control, self-mastery are not easy but are essential if
you would build yourselves into what God expects you to be. Bernadette is a
wonderful, encouraging, and bright companion to call to your side, someone of
your own age, young in spirit, full of fun, but determined to become a saint.
The Apparitions convinced
Bernadette that the hope of seeing The Lady was worth more than anything which
Satan could offer in sensuality and pleasure. She was always most emphatic
about the Lady’s beauty. When asked later throughout the years, whether she was
as beautiful as so-and-so or so-and-so, she used to say: “They can’t make to
it.” This was her patois way of saying: “They are not in it. My Lady is
beautiful . . . beautiful . . . more than anything ”
Thou art beautiful, Mary,
and original sin is not in thee. Sinlessness is a thing of beauty and the only
totally sinless, pure, human creature was to show her heavenly beauty at
Lourdes-the stainless, beauty of the Immaculate Conception. God takes pleasure
in no beauty like the beauty of a pure sinless soul. Lourdes teaches the
pilgrim to hate sin as revoltingly ugly.
The Mass Is The Arena
Bernadette brought the
fight to discipline herself, the battle for self- mastery, into her praying of
the Holy Mass and so must you. Life is a daily fight along three fronts,
physical, mental, and spiritual. You must pay the little daily tax of
discipline on all three planes of life if you would achieve the full flowering
of yourselves. Neglect to discipline yourselves and you dig the graves of your
higher possibilities. You will remain mediocrities unless in mind, body, and
spirit you are determined to build yourselves from within. The Chinese have a
proverb: “You cannot carve rotten wood.” Neither can you carve a strong
character out of a selfish, indolent, “having a good time,” way of life.
Life is a daily fight
against yourselves. You are called upon to govern your thoughts, to curb your
impatient tongues, to restrain the eager curiosity of your eyes, to close your
ears to sexy talk, to say “no, you cannot have that” to many an attractive
invitation, to practise the “soft answer” in the hope that you may win the
person instead of the argument, to be courteous and good mannered, which costs
many acts of self-discipline, to listen patiently when you want to talk, to say
a kindly word or do a generous act to someone who has been nasty to you, and to
pat another on the back for some success. Each day calls for many small
victories over self.
Create A Spiritual Credit
Balance
You will build yourselves
into holier and better persons by bringing this fight into the Mass, where you
will pray the Holy Spirit to shed His Light on your shortcomings and grant you
courage to tackle them. This is no soft enterprise. No, it issues a daily
challenge, and promises you the rare joy of achievement. At each Mass you
offer, put upon the Paten your resolve to avoid this and do that, this very
day. Whenever you score a small victory over self, store it for the Chalice,
and deposit it in the Chalice as a spiritual credit balance upon which you can
call when in need.
Through the guidance of
the Holy Spirit you can make the Mass a spiritual exchange where you may bargain
with your small gifts for something better, something richer. Self-discipline
is a nasty medicine to take, but once you realize its purchasing power you take
it with a better relish. Discipline is a coin with which we buy something worth
while. This idea of the Mass as a spiritual credit balance and exchange can sow
seeds of holiness in your lives.
The Lord Loves A Cheerful
Giver – The Bishop of Nevers Writes
“Bernadette conquers you
by her mystery, her simplicity, her purity, her suffering and by the strange
charm of a holiness that can be sensed and felt and that nevertheless retains
the secret of its mystical life, as is, indeed, always the case when the divine
touch is sensibly present.”
That is what I hope for,
that you, teenagers, will be captivated by this most attractive girl, with her
deep brown eyes and her wonderful sense of humour. Bernadette was a very
likeable girl who enjoyed simple things. She would be an ideal companion to
take on a picnic, enthusiastic, vital, interested, and awake to the humorous
side of things. She never looked her years or carried them heavily. Indeed, one
might look upon her as a Peter Pan among the canonized.
She Liked Bright Colours
She liked to be happy and
to wear bright colours. She was dress conscious as our girls are today. An
eye-witness reports an occasion when Bernadette was surprised “working on a
dress to enlarge it and give it the appearance of a crinoline,” and the
observer, shocked at this “tendency towards dress,” reported that it was much
too worldly for a girl who had seen Our Lady. Bernadette just laughed and
continued with her sewing.
Bernadette was between
two fires. On the one hand there were many adoring admirers seeking a lock of
her hair, or a piece of her dress, ardent fans as we have today, and, on the
other hand, there were her severe critics who in their zeal tended to forget
that she was only a young girl. If she wanted to press and iron her Sunday
dress so that she would look smart, they frowned upon it. She was never left in
peace, and yet, her youth and natural vivacity would break through and sparkle.
Her sense of fun never deserted her.
Bernadette was lively and
happy and she was not above a little mischief. One day at school when silence
reigned in the class, a child suddenly sneezed, followed immediately by
another, and then a third, until finally it sounded as though the whole class
was sickening for a mass cold. But suppressed giggling soon indicated that
there was no cause for misgiving. In fact the cause was quite different. Bernadette
had been prescribed the use of snuff for her asthma- and she had handed her
snuff-box round the class!
Smallest Nun at Nevers
At her reception at
Nevers, dressed in white and wearing a long veil, she walked at the head of
forty-four other aspirants. She went ahead of the others “only because she was
the smallest of all.” Naturally, all present turned their eyes to her to
distinguish her amongst her companions. But Bernadette wanted to hide herself.
Afterwards when the hour for recreation arrived, Bernadette, now Sister Marie-
Bernard, naively enquired: “Can you skip when you’re in the Novitiate? I do
love to hold the rope for others.” Imagine the arched eye-brows of the French
Mistress of Novices when this bit of innocence was reported to her! Skipping,
indeed, how did she ever get into our convent!
A new postulant arrived
at Nevers, and said: “How I would like to see Bernadette!” Bernadette was
standing close by. “This is she,” said an older nun. “That?” said the
postulant, before she could stop herself. “Merely that,” said Bernadette, as
she held out her hand with her sweet smile.
Some rash person told her
that they were selling her portrait at Lourdes for a penny. She laughed gaily,
not because her portrait was on sale, but because of the penny. “It’s all I’m
worth,” she owned.
She found book learning
very difficult and her natural humility made it a constant source of regret for
her. She was heard to exclaim on one occasion when her memory and her knowledge
had failed her: “You could more easily throw the book at my head than hammer
that lesson in.”
All the time she and her
family refused to accept the presents visitors wanted to give her. “I’m not a
shopkeeper,” she would say. For those who asked her to autograph holy pictures,
she wrote in her careful childish handwriting “P.P. Bernadette”-(“Priez pour
Bernadette”) “Pray for Bernadette,” and before long this led to her companions
giving her the odd nickname of “Pepe Bernadette.”
A Humorous Mimic
She feared her parish
priest of Lourdes, Abbe Peyramale, “more than a policeman.” But she faced him
and delivered the Lady’s message that he should build a church at the rock at
Massabielle, organize processions there, and encourage the people to come in
great numbers. Picture the face of the testy old pastor on hearing this strange
request! The child was quickly ushered to the door and chased home. Bernadette
was a gifted mimic and had her family in fits as she “did” the parish priest
and mimicked his grunts and growls.
Later she laughed when
Father Peyramale endorsed a procession but forbade her to attend. He got sick
himself and could not attend either. “Father Peyramale forbade me to attend the
procession,” she said, “but the Blessed Virgin caught him out; she sent him a
fine bellyache, which prevented him from attending himself.”
She was unafraid of
threats of prison after eight days of examination by the Magistrate, M. Rivers,
and laughed when he told her he was going to send her to goal for causing “all
those crowds!” “I am ready,” she said, “Put me in prison, but make certain that
the locks are strong, or I shall escape.”
Always Glad to See
Children
She escaped the attention
of the curious whenever she could. “O Sister,” some visiting ladies cried
yearningly to the unknown sacristan, “might we just see Bernadette?” Bernadette
smiled, bowed, and went to fetch herself, but failed to find her. “What,” her
sisters once said to her. “You are hiding from the Bishop. And you could get
forty days’ indulgence if you kissed his ring.” “O, well – ‘My Jesus Mercy,’ There
I have got a hundred!”
The day when she
accompanied some Sisters to the little holiday house she loved because the
river and trees reminded her of Lourdes, she was sent for as some Bishops had
come to inspect her. “These excellent Bishops,” she said with a charming little
air of petulance, “would be wise to stay in their dioceses and let us alone. We
were so comfortable here.”
The only ones whom she
was really glad to see were children.
Her heroic trust in God,
allied to her God-given humour and sense of fun, helped Sister Marie-Bernard to
keep going throughout her trials. She had plenty of common sense and a natural
spring of good humour which could bubble over into pure joy. For instance, her
snuff-box-the doctor had prescribed snuff to ease those terrifying bouts of
asthma which racked her frail frame, choking her so cruelly that she would gasp
out in agony: “Open my chest.” She produced her snuff box at recreation one
day, to the great scandal of a Sister. She cried out: “Oh, Sister Marie
Bernard, you will never be canonized.” “Why not?” asked the “snuffer.” “Because
you snuff. That bad habit almost disqualified Saint Vincent de Paul.” “And you,
Sister Chantal,” twinkled Sister
Marie-Bernard in reply,
“you are going to be canonized because you don’t indulge.” The story recalls
that day in the class room at Lourdes when Bernadette sent the snuff around the
class and had them all sneezing.
In the infirmary one day,
a pot of milk heating on the fire suddenly boiled over. The Sister Infirmarian
rushed to the rescue, crying: “The milk is escaping.” From her sick bed Sister
Marie- Bernard advised: “Quick, call a policeman.”
“I Can Only Pray and
Suffer” – Saint Bernadette
She had the gift of
clever mimicry and when she was in charge of the infirmary she became expert at
“taking off” the mannerisms of good Doctor Robert Cyr, who, all innocent of
this, declared her a competent and trustworthy nurse. Little did he know that
many a time she had the novices streaming tears of laughter by putting on a
little “act” from the infirmary.
A special wish of hers
was that her sisters should pray for her, after her death. “You will say that I
was a saint,” she complained, “and leave me to roast in purgatory.”
One of her occupations,
at one time, was to paint “Sacred Hearts” on images of piety, and she would say
to her companions: “If anyone says I have no heart, you can reply that I spend
the whole day manufacturing hearts.”
Her cousin, Sister
Victoire, once said to her: “You are lucky to be kept here in the
Mother-house.” “Oh,” was her reply, “what else could they have done with me?
I’m no good at anything.”
“Well, at least, you can
pray for others.”
“That’s all I can do,”
answered Sister Marie-Bernard, “I can only pray and suffer.”
As always, she faced
facts squarely. In October, 1875, it had become clear that her active life was
at end. She had served for six years in the infirmary and then for almost two
in the sacristy. From that until her death in 1879, she filled her last and
most important post, that of suffering. “My job is to be sick,” she told a
superior, who, calling to the infirmary, had asked her: “What are you doing
there, little lazybones?”
Her Sense of Humour Saved
Her
Her sense of humour
brought her through the long series of exhausting interviews and awkward questions.
She was derided by her two companions at the Grotto, who called her a fool, but
that was nothing to what her mother said when Bernadette described what she had
seen and heard. She was commanded to chase such things out of her head for she
had seen nothing. Her mother even suggested that it might have been the Devil
that she saw, to which the calm, smiling Bernadette replied that the Devil
would certainly not be saying the Rosary and besides would not be as pretty as
The Lady.
Her touch of innocent humour
turned the tables on her inquisitors. “You want me to believe that you have
actually seen the Virgin Mary,” asked an eminent gentleman. Calmly and politely
Bernadette replied: “I don’t ask you to believe it-I am only telling you what
happened.”
Referring to the incident
during one of the Apparitions when Our Lady instructed Bernadette to eat some
of the grass near where she stood, one questioner asked:
“Did Our Lady take you
for a beast?”
Quickly came the reply:
“Do you think that way when you eat salad?”
She was asked a very
tricky question, what she would do if the Pope ordered her to make known the
secret she claimed Our Lady gave her. Bernadette’s reply was beautifully
simple:
“If I told His Holiness
it was a secret, he would not ask me.”
Imagine a simple child on
her first Holy Communion asked this subtle question: “Which has made you the
happier, to receive the good God or to have spoken with the Blessed Virgin?”
Bernadette answered
calmly: “I do not know which made me happier. These things go together and
cannot be compared. I do know that I have been very happy in both
circumstances.”
No wonder the parish
priest reported to the Bishop at this time that Bernadette’s development since
the Apparitions was astonishing.
Her Cold Reception at
Nevers
Her cold reception at the
Mother House at Nevers was a very severe trial for Bernadette. She was reminded
that the Lady had t o tell her several times to drink of the spring water and
to wash her face in it. “You can judge of the lack of humility,” said the Mistress
of Novices in a loud whisper to the Mother Superior. Bernadette, quick of
hearing, answered instantly with a flash of her native repartee: “But the water
was so dirty!”
The Mother Superior made
one final appeal to the Bishop that they send Bernadette back home. “My Lord,”
ob jected the Mother Superior, “she has not the necessary health. She is not
trained for anything.” To which the Bishop, who had gone to see Bernadette in
the Hospital in Lourdes and had found her cleaning vegetables in the kitchen,
answered: “She could always scrape your carrots.”
“I Served as a Broom for
the Blessed Virgin”
At Nevers, engrossed in
her little jobs in the infirmary, or in the sacristy, Bernadette had fulfilled
her hope of complete obscurity and smallness. Once her Superior asked her: “Do
you feel tempted to vain-glory, having been thus favoured by Our Lady?”
Bernadette answered in all sincerity that had Mary found anyone still more
ignorant than she was, to such a one would she have appeared.
One day she put a strange
question to one of her companions, Sister Phillippine. “Tell me, what do they
do with a broom when you’re finished with it?”
“Why do you ask me that?”
inquired Sister Phillipine in astonishment. “Never mind,” went on Bernadette
insistently. “I do ask you: what do they do with a broom when you’re finished
with it?”
“What a question! Why,
you put it back in its place, of course.”
“In its place? Where is
that?” “Behind the door.”
“Exactly! You see, I
served as a broom for the Blessed Virgin. And when she no longer had any use
for me she put me in my place: behind the door.”
And with a gentle gesture
Bernadette added: “There I am, and there I shall remain.”
“O God, the protector and
lover of the humble,
Who didst cheer Thy
servant, Bernadette, with the vision and conversation of Mary Immaculate, grant
that by the simple way of faith we may become worthy to see Thee in heaven.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.” -Prayer of the Mass of Saint Bernadette.
About The EBook
The text of this article
is taken from the booklet Companion for Youth – Saint Bernadette, by
Father John T McMahon, M.A., PH.D.
It has the Nihil Obstat
of Percy Jones, Censor Deputatus, and the Imprimatur of Archbishiop Daniel
Mannix, Archdiocese of Melbourne, Australia, 4 October 1958.
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/companion-for-youth-saint-bernadette-by-father-john-t-mcmahon/
Catholic
Truth Society – Saint Bernadette – Miracles at Lourdes, The Facts Behind The
Story
“. . . Your life begins,
Bernadette.” So ends the story of the earthly life of that little girl whose
revelations astonished the world. And today, sixty-six years after that day in
1879, millions thrill to the sweet song she made, unconsciously, for all the
world to hear — a song of innocence, humility and love — made not for bodily
ears, but for the ears of the soul.
She learnt it from the
lovely lady that she saw in the grotto of Massabielle, whose words she might
well make her own: “My soul does magnify the Lord . . . for He has looked upon
the lowliness of His handmaid . . . and He that is mighty has done great things
to me.” For in a lesser way God had done great things to her, too. She was
lowly and poor and unlearned, but she was chosen to be a messenger from heaven.
On February 11, 1858,
Bernadette Soubirous, child of poor parents in the town of Lourdes, in Southern
France, went with two other children to gather firewood by the banks of the
River Gave. She was fourteen years of age, an innocent and gentle girl, rather
dull at her lessons. The day was bitterly cold, so when the other two girls
took off their shoes and crossed a small stream, she waited behind, because she
suffered from asthma.
However, when the others
had gone further on to collect sticks, Bernadette decided to follow them. She
had taken off one of her stockings when she heard the sound of a strong wind,
but could see nothing. Just across the stream in the side of the hill, there
was a large cave, or grotto, with a kind of niche or opening high up at the
back. Let Bernadette herself tell the story of what now happened.
What Happened to
Bernadette
“I turned towards the
meadow, and I saw that the trees were not moving at all. I had half noticed,
but without attending to it, that some branches were waving somewhere near the
grotto. I went on taking my shoes off, and I was putting one foot into the
water, when I heard the same sound in front of me. I lifted my eyes, and I saw
a mass of branches and brambles tossed and waving this way and that; under the
higher opening in the grotto; though nothing stirred all round. Behind these
branches, in the opening, I saw immediately afterwards, a white girl, not
bigger than I, who made me a little bow with her head. At the same time she put
her hands out a little from beside her body — her arms were hanging down like
the (pictures of our) Lady. A rosary was hanging on her right arm.
“I was frightened. I
stepped back. I wanted to call the two little ones, but I dared not. I rubbed
my eyes again and again; I thought I must be mistaken. Looking up, I saw the
girl smiling at me very sweetly. She seemed to be inviting me to approach, but
I still was frightened. All the same, it was not a fear like what I have felt
at other times, because I would always have stayed to look at that, but when
one is frightened one goes away quick. Then I thought of saying my prayers. I
put my hand in my pocket and took out the rosary that I always carry in it; I
knelt down and meant to make the sign of the Cross, but I could not put my hand
to my forehead — it fell back. Meanwhile, the girl put herself sideways and
turned towards me; this time she was holding the big rosary in her hand. She
crossed herself, as though to pray. My hand was trembling; I tried again to
make the sign of the Cross, and this time I could. After this, I was no more frightened.
I said my rosary. The girl made the beads of hers slip (through her fingers),
but she did not move her lips.
“While saying my Rosary,
I was looking as hard as I could. It was wearing a white dress, hanging down to
the feet, of which only the tips appeared. The dress was fastened quite high
up, round the neck, by a fold from which a white cord was hanging. A white
veil, covering the head, went down over the shoulders almost to the hem of the
dress. On each foot, I saw a yellow rose.
“The sash of the dress
was blue, with its ends hanging down to her feet. The chain of the rosary was
yellow; the beads, white, large and widely separated. The girl was alive, very
young and surrounded with light. When I had finished my Rosary, she bowed to
me, smiling, retired into the niche and disappeared all of a sudden.”
Ecstasy
Bernadette was examined
and re-examined upon the details of what she saw, but never did she alter or
add anything to the description. What, then, is the explanation of this strange
story? Imagination? That’s what her parents said. That’s what the civil
authorities and the clergy said. But events proved otherwise.
In spite of all kinds of
hindrances, she returned to the grotto about eighteen times during the
following days, and each time her “beautiful girl” appeared again. When the
vision appeared, Bernadette’s face became transfigured with ecstasy. It shone
with a heavenly radiance so that her mother hardly recognised her. “Tears were
running from her eyes,” said a man who saw her on the second occasion; “she was
smiling, and her face was beautiful — more beautiful than anything I have ever
seen.” At times, she was completely lost to everything else in the world, even
when surrounded by thousands of people.
Was this hallucination?
Not one of the symptoms of hallucination was present. A doctor observed her
pulse and breathing during the ecstasy and found them both to be normal. She
was perfectly calm and, after the visions, she acted in a quite normal way. She
was not seeking publicity, for she took no notice of the crowds, and she tried
to avoid the questioners who pestered her. She never spoke of the vision unless
compelled to by inquirers. People were struck by the charming grace of her
gestures, and the transparent faith and devotion she displayed when she made
the sign of the Cross so beautifully in imitation of her lady.
The Miraculous Spring
On February 25, there was
an entirely new development. Bernadette was seen to move about the grotto, and
then to scratch in the ground with her hands. She said afterwards that the lady
told her to drink of the spring, and wash in it. She could see no spring, but
the lady pointed to this place, and when she began to dig, she found a little
muddy water. She drank some, and rubbed it on her face. The people thought she
was mad, and the scoffers began to laugh — the whole thing had become a joke.
But the joke became very
serious when it was discovered in the afternoon that a stream of clear water
was flowing from the muddy hole. Very soon, the spring was pouring forth 27,000
gallons per day, and it has continued to do so till the present time.
Soon after this,
Bernadette went to Monsignor Peyramale, the Dean of Lourdes, with a message
from her lady. She had been told to go to the priests and to tell them that a chapel
should be built at the grotto. Also, the lady had said: “Let processions come
hither.” The priest replied: “Have you any money to build a chapel?” “No”, she
said. “Neither have I. Ask the lady for some.” The priests gave her no
encouragement. None of them had been to the grotto. It is the policy of the
Church not to recognise alleged visions or miracles until there is overwhelming
proof that they are genuine.
It was not long before
such proof was forthcoming, but it was only after several years that a
commission of enquiry set up by the bishop finally pronounced that the
happenings at Massabielle could be accepted as supernatural.
Things began to happen,
however, that made it more and more difficult to be an unbeliever. A child that
had been paralysed from birth lay dying. The doctor said there was no hope, but
the mother, in desperation, carried her baby to the grotto and bathed him in
the ice-cold water of the spring. Immediately the child became well; he was
completely cured. Fifty years afterwards, he was to be seen at Lourdes, as a
man helping to carry the sick.
Such are the facts,
briefly outlined, upon which the noted author, Franz Werfel, based his story,
“The Song of Bernadette.” In 1940, France was overrun by the armies of Hitler.
Fleeing from the Nazi persecution, Franz Werfel (not a Catholic, but a Jew)
found himself in Lourdes, with little chance of escape. He expected any day to
find himself a prisoner, and condemned to death. But the days dragged on, and
the Nazis did not come. Franz Werfel was not idle during this time. He took the
opportunity to make a study of the famous shrine of the Blessed Virgin and its
history; and he made a vow that if he should escape to America, he would write
a book to tell the story of the little girl whose name was already famous
throughout the world.
Hollywood and Lourdes
And so “The Song of
Bernadette” was written, and the world acclaimed it as a best-seller. Then
Hollywood was not slow to see in this beautiful story the material for an
outstanding film. We are not accustomed to associate spirituality with
Hollywood, but there can be no doubt that this film is a rare achievement. As
someone said to me after seeing the picture: “You are impressed not so much by
what you see as by what you do not see.” For there is a depth in it of truth
and beauty that must appeal to all except the most material-minded.
Some there are, I know,
who think the story is too good to be true — such things just don’t happen in
these days, they say. But history and science are against them, for there is
overwhelming evidence that the story is true.
In the film, certain
historical details have been altered somewhat for the sake of dramatic effect,
but not the main facts of the story. It might be well to point out here one or
two items in the film that are not historically accurate. It is not true, for
instance, that Bernadette was persuaded to enter the convent. It was her own
desire entirely. She was sent to board with the Sisters in order to finish her
schooling, and also to escape from the endless crowd of inquirers who wanted to
cross-examine her. Some years later, she asked to be admitted as a Sister into
the convent and was sent to Nevers, where she afterwards spent most of her time
looking after the sick.
Another point worth
mentioning is this: It is true that Bernadette suffered from the severity of
her Novice Mistress, Sister Marie Vazous, who seems to have failed to
understand the precious soul committed to her charge. Possibly for dramatic
effect, the severe side of Sister Vazous’ character is considerably exaggerated
in the film. Allowance should be made for this. Otherwise, the character may
give a false impression to those not otherwise acquainted with convent life.
The End of the Song?
But, despite such minor
defects, “The Song of Bernadette” (movie) tells a truthful story very
beautifully. The lady had said to Bernadette: “I do not promise to make you
happy in this world, but only in the next.” And so, quite rightly, the story
ends on a note of triumph: “Your life begins, Bernadette . . . .”
That was the last note to
be heard on earth, then, of the sweet song of the little peasant girl of
Lourdes. Or was it? If it were, then did the whole world take up the chorus.
For her story was told in many lands, and the grotto of Massabielle became a
focal point of devotion, first for hundreds, then for thousands, and finally
for millions. Streams of pilgrims came from near and far. A large church was
built near the grotto, and then a second and third, one above the other. Far
from being forgotten, Lourdes has become more and more famous. The number of
pilgrims before the war had reached over a million per year. And many of those
who go are sick, and some are dying — all hoping to benefit, bodily or
spiritually, from the divine gifts that are dispensed there.
But why should this be
so? Why all this enthusiasm? What proof is there that an extraordinary power is
at work there? Indeed, what proof have we that the whole story of Bernadette
and her lovely lady is anything more than a pious legend — very beautiful and
poetic, no doubt, but the product of a child’s imagination? This is the
twentieth century. Science should have something to say about such alleged
wonders.
The Verdict of Science
Yes, and it is twentieth
century science that gives the answer.
On one side of the large
square before the basilica at Lourdes, there is an office called the “Bureau
des Constatations.” Within that office there meets a committee of doctors. Any
qualified medical practitioner from any part of the world, be he atheist, Jew,
Protestant or Catholic, may sit on that committee. In actual fact, large
numbers of doctors come there to take part in its deliberations — and many of
them are unbelievers.
There is a reason for the
existence of this bureau, for wonderful things take place at Lourdes, well
worthy of scientific investigation. Yes, the sick are cured — not all the sick
who go there, by any means; but over 4000 cures have been recorded, besides
many that have not been investigated.
This, then, is
faith-healing, perhaps? Religious excitement, auto-suggestion, the power of the
mind over the body? Yes, faith-healing can work wonders — of a sort. In the
right circumstances, it can cure, at least temporarily, many ailments due to
nervous disorder. So-called “faith-healers” and psychologists both make use of
this mover of mind over body.
Medical Evidence
But the cases
investigated by the bureau at Lourdes are not cures of nervous disorders. They
are cures of organic disease. “Faith-healing” has never cured a man in the last
stages of cancer — much less, cured him in one day. Auto-suggestion never
caused a tuberculosis patient, spitting blood and dying, to jump from his bed,
never again to suffer from any traces of the disease. Broken limbs are not set
overnight by the power of the mind over the body — especially when a large
section of the bone has been removed. But all these things, and many more
equally wonderful, have happened at Lourdes. The bureau rejects immediately any
cure that might possibly be explained by suggestion, or any other natural
cause. It examines only alleged cures of organic disease. And then, it demands
the most complete medical evidence, with doctors’ diagnosis, X-ray photographs
and a full history of the case. If then, after a thorough examination of the
patient’s present condition, it is found that a cure has taken place, and if
after a considerable period of time, it is found to be permanent, the bureau
will pronounce that medical science can give no explanation of the cure.
Anyone is free to go to Lourdes
and study the medical files of the various cases. Men of science go there in
large numbers, many of them having no belief in the supernatural. These go out
of curiosity, or they go to scoff. But they come away either converted or
baffled. Not a single one of them has ever found a natural explanation for what
goes on there.
In the beginning, it was
thought that the water of the spring might have some curative properties, but
chemical analysis showed it to be nothing but ordinary drinking water. Anyhow,
nowadays many cures take place apart from the use of the spring water.
The Case of John Traynor
By way of an example, it
may be of interest to give here some details of one of the cases recorded at
the Medical Bureau. I choose the case of John Traynor.
John Traynor was a
Liverpool man. In 1914, when the First World War broke out, he was mobilised
with the Royal Naval Reserve, to which he belonged. On April 25, 1915, he took
part in the landing at Gallipoli. He was in charge of the first boat to leave
ship, and was one of the few from that boat to reach the shore that day. He
seems to have been literally sprayed with bullets. Medical Corps men brought
him back dazed and suffering to the beach. A well-known English surgeon
operated on him in Alexandria, in an attempt to sew together the severed nerves
in the upper arm, which a bullet wound had left paralysed and useless. The
attempt failed, and so did another.
He suffered now
frequently from epilepsy, and in April, 1920, a doctor realised that this was
probably the result of the head wounds, and operated on the skull. But his
condition was no better after this operation. He had fits as often as three
times a day. Both legs were partly paralysed, and nearly every organ in his
body was impaired.
Somebody arranged to have
him admitted to Mossley Hill Hospital for Incurables on July 24, 1923. He never
went there. By that date, he was in Lourdes instead.
“You’ll Die on the Way”
A pilgrimage to Lourdes
was being organised from Liverpool. John Traynor decided he was going, and
managed to scrape together the few pounds necessary. But his doctor would not
give him a medical certificate to travel. He tried several others. They all
refused. “You cannot make the trip,” said one of the priests. “You will die on
the way, and bring trouble and grief to everybody.”
But John Traynor was a
determined man, and he went to Lourdes all the same. Three times, they tried to
take him off the train in France to bring him to a hospital, as he seemed to be
dying. Each time there was no hospital where they stopped, and the only thing
to do was to go on again with the patient on board. So he arrived at Lourdes.
On the morning of the
second day there, he was being wheeled to the baths when he had a bad epileptic
fit. Blood flowed from his mouth, and the doctors were much alarmed. As he came
to, he heard them saying: “Better take him back at once to the ‘Aisle’ (the
place where the sick are cared for)”.
“No, you won’t,” he
protested. “I’ve come to be bathed, and I’m not going back.”
“You’ll die in the bath,”
they said.
“If I do, I’ll die in a
good place.”
Certified Incurable
And so John Traynor was
lifted into the bath — a physical wreck, covered with sores, a dying cripple.
The signed statement of Doctors Azurdia, Finn and Harley testifies that he was
suffering from:
epilepsy
paralysis of the radial,
median and ulnar nerves of the right arm
atrophy of the shoulder
and pectoral muscles
a trephine opening in the
right parietal region of the skull — in this opening, about one inch, there is
a metal plate for protection
absence of voluntary
movement in the legs, and loss of feeling
lack of bodily control
A second time he was
placed in the bath, and then he was taken to be blessed during the procession
of the Blessed Sacrament in the great square in front of the church. Just as
the Sacred Host had passed by, his right arm, which had been dead since 1915,
was violently agitated. He burst the bandages and blessed himself — for the
first time in years. A strange feeling came into his legs. The stretcher-bearers
thought he was having another bad turn. He was given an injection to keep him
quiet, and taken back to bed.
From Cripple to Coal-Man
That was in the
afternoon. Early next morning he heard the bells ringing out the Lourdes hymn,
and jumped out of bed. He fell on his knees to finish the Rosary he had been
saying, and then ran out of the ward, pushed two assistants out of the way,
and, in his pyjamas, ran barefoot a distance of some two or three hundred
yards, over the rough gravel, to the Grotto.
John Traynor was cured.
“All I know, he said
afterwards, “was that I should thank the Blessed Virgin, and the Grotto was the
place to do it. My mother had taught me that when you ask a favour from Our
Lady, or wish to show her some special veneration, you should make a sacrifice.
I had no money to offer, as I had spent my last few shillings on rosaries and
medals for my wife and children, but, kneeling there before the Blessed Mother,
I made the only sacrifice I could think of. I resolved to give up cigarettes.”
Soon after that and any
time afterwards for twenty years, you could have seen in Liverpool a hefty
16-stone man, in the coal and haulage business, lifting 200 lb. sacks of coal,
who was officially classified as 100 per cent disabled and permanently incapacitated.
That man was John Traynor. He died in 1943 from hernia, a complaint in no way
related to the illness and wounds of which he was cured in Lourdes.
Another group of experts
testified, though unconsciously, to the miracle. The British War Pensions Ministry,
after extensive investigations, awarded him full disability pension for life.
They never revoked that decision.
If the enemies of
religion could find a natural explanation for such a case as this, they would
certainly do so. But they have failed. Lourdes is an unanswerable challenge to
modern belief. You cannot argue against Lourdes. You cannot use the weapon of
science. You can only close your eyes to the facts, or else — believe.
Zola Writes Fiction
There are some, of
course, who say that miracles can’t happen, therefore they don’t happen. No
amount of evidence would convince people with such an unscientific approach to
the question. There are none so blind as those that will not see. Such a man
was Emile Zola, the French novelist, who went to Lourdes and afterwards wrote a
novel on what he saw there. He actually witnessed two unmistakable cures. Marie
Lebranchu (called “La Grivotte” by Zola in his novel) had tuberculosis in a
very advanced stage, and Zola saw her coughing up blood on the train going to
Lourdes. Next day, (20 th August, 1892) she was completely cured. In his novel,
Zola tells the story, but attributes her improvement to nervous excitement, and
makes her collapse and die on the way home. But she did not collapse, and never
had a recurrence of the disease.
Zola knew this, and when
a doctor afterwards asked him why he had made the story conclude in a way that
was opposed to actual facts, he replied in a tone of annoyance: “I suppose I am
master of the persons in my own books, and can let them live or die as I
choose? And besides,” he added, “I don’t believe in miracles. Even if all the
sick in Lourdes were cured in one moment, I would not believe in them!” That
reminds you of the Gospel words: “Neither will they believe if one should rise
from the dead.”
Anyhow, Zola’s answer is
the best that modern materialism can give. It shows what prejudice will do to a
person’s judgment in face of incontrovertible facts. And there are no secrets
about Lourdes — no skeleton in the cupboard. Anyone is free to go there and
study the evidence and see for himself.
Miracles of Grace
But let us not get things
out of proportion. The miraculous cures at the Blessed Virgin’s shrine are only
a small part of the story of Lourdes. For something far more important goes on
there all the time. Anyone who goes there, as I have done, will realise that.
Yes, the Grotto of Massabielle is a focal point of intense prayer. If you want
to see living faith, not smothered by convention or human respect — transparent
faith, unmistakably sincere, then go with a pilgrimage to Lourdes.
Listen to the murmuring
torrent of the Rosary, many languages together in a mighty unison, as thousands
of pilgrims march in procession carrying lighted candles; and remember the
message that Bernadette brought to the priest: “And the lady said, ‘Let
processions come hither’.”
Or kneel in the great
square before the church as Christ in the Sacred Host is carried round for the
blessing of the sick. There they lie, helpless on their stretchers or sitting
in wheel chairs, in long rows; and behind them kneel their relations and
friends and the thousands of pilgrims. How like those days in Galilee, when
they brought out their sick and blind and crippled that the Saviour might touch
them!
This Is Near Heaven
Then a voice rings out,
the voice of a priest leading the prayers: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on
us!” And then: “Lord, we adore You!” And round the square, the echo rolls from
all those voices: “Lord, we adore You!”
“Lord, we hope in You!’
And the answer comes: “Lord, we hope in You!”
“Lord, we love You!” He
who does not pray at Lourdes is indeed hard of heart. Then, as the Blessed
Sacrament approaches, you hear the invocations:
“You are the Christ, the
Son of the living God!”
“You are my Lord and my
God!”
“You are the Resurrection
and the Life!”
Again and again, the
voices rise in response: “You are the Resurrection and the Life!” Yes, and
Lourdes is indeed a place of resurrection and life. For the sick and the
suffering go away from there with new hope, new courage, new resignation and
new peace. And there are conversions there — the conversion of sinners, the
conversion of unbelievers. Bernadette once during her visions, after
prostrating herself on the ground, stood and, turning to the people, cried out
three times the word “Repentance!” How many countless souls have been brought
to repentance here at the feet of the Blessed Virgin!
So does the Mother of God
lead us to her Divine Son and to His Church. That Church has never in her long
history lacked the testimony of miracles in her difficult task of convincing
mankind of her divine mission to teach and sanctify all men. The Divine seal of
miracles is the simplest and surest guide for the seeker after the true
religion. The facts are obvious and beyond dispute. The only explanation is the
direct intervention of God, Who cannot deceive His children. Thus, the
testimony of Lourdes to the truth of the Catholic Church is its real
significance for modern man.
And it all began with
that gentle little girl, so “stupid,” so favoured, who went gathering firewood
by the Gave at Massabielle. These are the facts behind the story that has
captivated the world.
Deathbed of a Saint
The life of Bernadette is
a perfect example of how God makes use of the humblest of instruments to do His
work. “For the weak things of the world has God chosen that He may confound the
strong.” Bernadette’s life was one of humility, charity, suffering and the love
of God. And, as she lived, so did she die. Here is an account of her death:
“At that hour, as
increasingly throughout her illness, it was noticed how alive her eyes were.
Their limpid depth had often been spoken of; they must have been wonderful, and
specially in her face, that was so “peasant” in its purity. She answered all
the prayers for the dying, and then, an hour before her departure, raising her
eyes, cried three times, “Oh!” in a voice, they said, of surprise rather than
of pain. Her body trembled throughout; she put her hand on her heart, and said,
with clear accentuation: “My God, I love You with all my heart, with all my
soul, and with all my strength.” She then took the crucifix into her own hands
and kissed it, and begged pardon once more for all the trouble she had given.
Then she said she was thirsty; she made, for the last time, her “marvellous
sign of the Cross,” and drank a few drops. Then she said gently: ‘Holy Mary,
Mother of God, pray for me, a poor sinner, a poor sinner,’ and died very
quietly during this last prayer.”
“Your life begins,
Bernadette . . .”
In 1933, Bernadette was
declared a Saint by the highest authority in the Church.
– from the booklet Saint Bernadette – Miracles at Lourdes, The Facts Behind The
Story, by Father A. E. Bennett, B.A.; published by the Australian
Catholic Truth Society, 1945
Santa
Bernardita - Santuario de Lourdes - Santos Lugares
The
Holiness of the Church in the Nineteenth Century – Bernadette Soubirous
Article
In one of the well-known
apparitions of 1858, the ever-blessed Virgin promised that she would make her
favored child, Bernadette Soubirous, “happy, not in this world, but in the
next.” What Mary promises she surely fulfills. On 13 August 1913, Pius X signed
the decree inaugurating Bernadette’s process of beatification. Every one in
Rome has the greatest interest in its happy and speedy promotion. After the
last apparition, 28 July 1858, Bernadette disappeared altogether from Lourdes.
Her work at the pilgrimage was done, her connection with the Shrine was severed
and in her after life there are recorded no visions, ecstasies, or the like,
but only trials and humiliations. This shows that she had not been an
overwrought, wonder-seeking hysteric.
On 8 July 1866, she
entered the convent of Saint Gildard of the Sisters of Charity at Nevers. Here
she was to be known as Sister Mary Bernard. We may easily understand that she
was universally treated with a certain esteem and reverence. But she was not in
the least moved by it. On the contrary, she was always rather painfully
affected when friends came to see her. She never believed that on account of
the heavenly favors accorded her she was entitled to any prerogative above her sisters.
All of them were deeply touched by her humility and modesty. God had sent her
to the school of the cross that she might learn her own littleness and that her
character might be purged of all the imperfection that might cling to it. The
Blessed Virgin had not promised her a happy life in this world. Yet there have
been probably very few who have enjoyed so profound a peace of mind and so
genuine a joy as Bernadette. She died in her thirty-fifth year on 16 April
1879, at Nevers, quite forgotten.
Of the exhumation of her
body, 22 September 1909, an eye-witness relates:
“Not the least trace of
corruption nor any bad odor could be perceived in the corpse of our beloved
sister. Even the burial dress was intact. The face was somewhat brown, the eyes
slightly sunken and she seemed to be sleeping. The damp funeral garments were
exchanged for new ones. The body was placed in a new zinc coffin lined with
white silk. Within it was placed a record enclosed in a glass tube, and giving
an account of the opening of the coffin and of the condition of the body. After
this the coffin was again deposited in the mortuary chapel in our garden.”
MLA
Citation
Father Constantine Kempf,
SJ. “Bernadette Soubirous”. The Holiness of the
Church in the Nineteenth Century: Saintly Men and Women of Our Own Times, 1916. CatholicSaints.Info.
17 March 2018. Web. 18 February 2022. <https://catholicsaints.info/the-holiness-of-the-church-in-the-nineteenth-century-bernadette-soubirous/>
Santa Bernardetta
Soubirous Vergine
Lourdes, 7 gennaio 1844 -
Nevers, 16 aprile 1879
Quando, l'11 febbraio del
1858, la Vergine apparve per la prima volta a Bernadette presso la rupe di
Massabielle, sui Pirenei francesi, questa aveva compiuto 14 anni da poco più di
un mese. Era nata, infatti, il 7 gennaio 1844. A lei, povera e analfabeta, ma
dedita con il cuore al Rosario, appare più volte la «Signora». Nell'apparizione
del 25 marzo 1858, la Signora rivela il suo nome: «Io sono l'Immacolata
Concezione». Quattro anni prima, Papa Pio IX aveva dichiarato l'Immacolata
Concezione di Maria un dogma, ma questo Bernadette non poteva saperlo. La
lettera pastorale firmata nel 1862 dal vescovo di Tarbes, dopo un'accurata
inchiesta, consacrava per sempre Lourdes alla sua vocazione di santuario
mariano internazionale. La sera del 7 Luglio 1866, Bernadette Soubirous decide
di rifugiarsi dalla fama a Saint-Gildard, casa madre della Congregazione delle
Suore della Carità di Nevers. Ci rimarrà 13 anni. Costretta a letto da asma,
tubercolosi, tumore osseo al ginocchio, all'età di 35 anni, Bernadette si spegne
il 16 aprile 1879, mercoledì di Pasqua. (Avvenire)
Patronato: Pastori
Etimologia: Bernardetta
= ardita come orso, dal tedesco
Emblema: Giglio
Martirologio
Romano: A Nevers sempre in Francia, santa Maria Bernarda Soubirous,
vergine, che, nata nella cittadina di Lourdes da famiglia poverissima, ancora
fanciulla sperimentò la presenza della beata Maria Vergine Immacolata e, in
seguito, preso l’abito religioso, condusse una vita di umiltà e
nascondimento.
Per tutta la vita santa Bernadette Soubirous cercò di assomigliare il più possibile alla Vergine Immacolata, che lei vide, ascoltò, amò. Fin dall’inizio delle apparizioni ella si trova implicata in una situazione del tutto paradossale: lei, che non sa né leggere, né scrivere e comprende soltanto il patois, si fa portavoce di un avvenimento soprannaturale, che fa eco in tutto il mondo. Bernadette che, dall’11 febbraio al 16 luglio 1858, aveva assistito a 18 apparizioni dell’Immacolata Concezione nella grotta di Massabielle, riesce a sbaragliare tutti: subisce numerosi interrogatori ufficiali perché è sospettata di impostura.
Vogliono farla crollare, affinché cessi quell’incontrollato flusso di persone alla grotta delle guarigioni… Ma sono tutti sconcertati dalla sua limpidezza. Le sue risposte alla santa Giovanna d’Arco schivano tutte le trappole: non si confonde mai e non si contraddice. Scriverà di lei Monsignor Bertrand-Sévère Laurence, Vescovo di Tarbes, nella Lettera pastorale del 18 gennaio 1862: «Chi non ammira, avvicinandola, la semplicità, il candore, la modestia (…)? Mentre tutti parlano delle meraviglie che le sono state rivelate, solo lei mantiene il silenzio; parla soltanto quando viene interrogata (…) alle numerose domande che le vengono poste, dà, senza esitare, risposte nette, precise, pertinenti e piene di convinzione. (…) Sempre coerente, nei vari interrogatori a cui è stata sottoposta, ha mantenuto tutte le volte la stessa versione, senza togliere o aggiungere nulla».
È semplice e mite, ma risoluta nella sua posizione e non è disposta a patteggiare con nessuno, così come non rinuncia al suo Rosario da quattro soldi: rifiuta a Monsignor Thibault, Vescovo di Montpellier, di scambiarlo con uno in oro e benedetto dal Papa. Di fronte agli scettici irriducibili si limita a dire: «Non sono stata incaricata di farvi credere. Sono stata incaricata di riferire». Fin dai tempi delle apparizioni esprime la volontà di farsi suora, senza che questo riguardi i tre segreti che la Vergine le aveva confidato e che lei non ha mai rivelato.
Dove avrebbe potuto, meglio che nella vita religiosa, mettere in pratica quelle consegne di «preghiera» e di «penitenza per la conversione dei peccatori» che aveva ricevuto? Diventa suora della Carità e dell’Istruzione cristiana di Nevers. Fin dai tempi del noviziato Bernadette è stata una presenza costante in infermeria, malata al punto da essere ammessa a fare la professione in Articulo mortis, il 25 ottobre 1866.
Nonostante le sue sofferenze, il rumore assordante, intorno a lei, non cessa, anzi. Con frequenza incessante è chiamata in parlatorio per incontri e domande. A suo avviso i circa cinquanta vescovi che sono andati a trovarla avrebbero fatto meglio a «restare nelle loro diocesi». Impara a leggere e a scrivere. Ha una buona mano per cucire e ricamare e poi è bravissima ad animare i giochi dei bambini. Vivace, disapprova ogni ipocrisia, ogni menzogna, ogni ingiustizia. Ha il carattere fiero, serio, onesto della sua gente, per cui ogni promessa è sacra. Si è fatta religiosa per nascondersi in Dio e invece, per obbedienza, deve essere in prima linea perché è sulla bocca di tutti. Questo problema viene da lei risolto nell’ottobre del 1873 ed è una specie di patto che si rifà alle parole dell’Immacolata: «Mi recherò con gioia in parlatorio (…). Dirò a Dio: sì, ci vado, a condizione che un’anima esca dal purgatorio o che convertiate un peccatore».
La Madonna a Lourdes lasciò il dono dell’acqua miracolosa. Non parlò, però, dei
malati fisici, bensì dei malati nell’anima e per essi Bernadette diede la sua
giovane vita. Il peccato è il principale nemico dell’uomo, quello che corrompe
e allontana da Dio sia spiritualmente che fisicamente. La salma incorrotta
della bellissima santa Bernadette Soubirous è ancora lì, nella cappella del
convento di Saint-Gildard, a testimoniare che la guarigione dell’anima è più
importante della guarigione del corpo.
Autore: Cristina Siccardi
Massimeno
(Trentino), chiesa della Madonna di Loreto - Statue della Madonna e di santa
Bernadette
Massimeno
(Trentino, Italy), Our Lady of Loreto church - Statues of Virgin Mary and saint
Bernadette
A metà strada tra Lione e Parigi, adagiata lungo la Loira, c’è Nevers, la città in cui è sepolto, da circa 125 anni, il corpo incorrotto di santa Bernadette Soubirous. Entrando nel cortile del convento di Saint Gildard, casa madre delle Suore della Carità, si accede alla chiesa attraverso una porticina laterale. La semioscurità, in questa architettura neogotica dell'Ottocento, è rotta dalle luci che illuminano un’artistica cassa funeraria in vetro. Dentro c’è il piccolo corpo (appena un metro e quarantadue centimetri di altezza) di una giovane religiosa che sembra quasi dormire, con le mani giunte attorno a un rosario ed il capo reclinato a sinistra. E’ il corpo mortale di Bernadette, la veggente di Lourdes, rimasto pressocchè intatto dal giorno della sua morte. Per la scienza un fatto “inspiegabile”, per la fede invece un segno inequivocabile del “dito” di Dio in una vicenda, come quella di Lourdes, che ha tutti i caratteri dell’eccezionalità e i cui effetti si possono contemplare anche oggi in quello straordinario luogo di fede e di pietà mariana che è la piccola città dei Pirenei dove Maria apparve per la prima volta l’11 febbraio del 1858.
Quella mattina era un giovedì grasso e a Lourdes faceva tanto freddo. In casa Soubirous non c’era più legna da ardere. Bernadette, che allora aveva 14 anni, era andata con la sorella Toinette e una compagna a cercar dei rami secchi nei dintorni del paese. Verso mezzogiorno le tre bambine giunsero vicino alla rupe di Massabielle, che formava, lungo il fiume Gave, una piccola grotta. Qui c’era “la tute aux cochons”, il riparo per i maiali, un angolo sotto la roccia dove l’acqua depositava sempre legna e detriti. Per poterli andare a raccogliere, bisognava però attraversare un canale d’acqua, che veniva da un mulino e si gettava nel fiume.
Toinette e l’amica calzavano gli zoccoli, senza calze. Se li tolsero, per entrare nell'acqua fredda. Bernadette invece, essendo molto delicata e soffrendo d'asma, portava le calze. Pregò l’amica di prenderla sulle spalle, ma quella si rifiutò, scendendo con Toinette verso il fiume. Rimasta sola, Bernadette pensò di togliersi anche lei gli zoccoli e le calze, ma mentre si accingeva a far questo udì un gran rumore: alzò gli occhi e vide che la quercia abbarbicata al masso di pietra si agitava violentemente, per quanto non ci fosse nell’aria neanche un alito di vento. Poi la grotta fu piena di una nube d’oro, e una splendida Signora apparve sulla roccia.
Istintivamente, Bernadette s'inginocchiò, tirando fuori la coroncina del Rosario. La Signora la lasciò fare, unendosi alla sua preghiera con lo scorrere silenzioso fra le sue dita dei grani del Rosario. Alla fine di ogni posta, recitava ad alta voce insieme a Bernadette il Gloria Patri. Quando la piccola veggente ebbe terminato il Rosario, la bella Signora scomparve all’improvviso, ritirandosi nella nicchia, così come era venuta.
Bernadette Soubirous aveva compiuto 14 anni da poco più di un mese. Era nata, infatti, il 7 gennaio 1844, da Louise Casterot e François, un mugnaio ridotto in miseria dalla sua eccessiva “bontà” verso i creditori. Bernadette, che era la primogenita, a 14 anni non sapeva né leggere né scrivere e non aveva ancora fatto la prima Comunione, tuttavia sapeva assai bene il Rosario e teneva sempre con sé una coroncina da pochi spiccioli dalla quale era solita non separarsi mai. È, quindi, proprio a una quattordicenne poverissima ed analfabeta, ma che prega tutti i giorni il Rosario, che la Madonna decide di apparire la mattina dell’11 febbraio 1858, in un piccolo paese ai piedi dei Pirenei.
Intanto la notizia delle apparizioni si diffonde in un baleno. Nell’apparizione del 24 febbraio la Madonna ripete per tre volte la parola “Penitenza”. Ed esorta: “Pregate per i peccatori”.
Infine nell’apparizione del 25 marzo 1858, la Signora rivela finalmente il suo nome:: “Que soy – dice nel dialetto locale - era Immaculada Councepciou…” (Io sono l’Immacolata Concezione). Quattro anni prima, Papa Pio IX aveva dichiarato l'Immacolata Concezione di Maria un dogma, cioè una verità della fede cattolica, ma questo Bernadette non poteva saperlo. Così, nel timore di dimenticare tale espressione per lei incomprensibile, la ragazza partì velocemente verso la casa dell’abate Peyramale, ripetendogli tutto d’un fiato la frase appena ascoltata.
L’abate, sconvolto, non ha più dubbi. Da questo momento il cammino verso il riconoscimento ufficiale delle apparizioni può procedere speditamente, fino alla lettera pastorale firmata nel 1862 dal vescovo di Tarbes, che, dopo un’accurata inchiesta, consacrava per sempre Lourdes alla sua vocazione di santuario mariano internazionale.
La sera del 7 Luglio 1866, Bernadette Soubirous varcava la soglia di Saint-Gildard, casa madre della Congregazione delle Suore della Carità di Nevers. “Sono venuta qui per nascondermi”, aveva detto con umiltà. Tante attenzioni, tante morbose curiosità attorno alla sua persona dopo le apparizioni, non le davano che dispiacere. Nei 13 anni che rimane a Nevers sarà infermiera, a volte sacrestana, ma spesso ammalata lei stessa… Svolge tutte le sue mansioni con delicatezza e generosità: “Non vivrò un solo istante senza amare”.
Ma la malattia avanza implacabile: asma, tubercolosi, tumore osseo al ginocchio. L’11 dicembre 1878 è definitivamente costretta a letto: “Sono macinata – dice lei – come un chicco di grano”. All’età di 35 anni, il 16 aprile 1879, mercoledì di Pasqua, alle 3 del pomeriggio, gli occhi della piccola veggente che videro Maria si chiudono per sempre. Beatificata nel 1925, il Papa Pio XI l’ha proclamata santa l’8 dicembre 1933.
Autore: Maria Di Lorenzo
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/31950
Il vescovo Jacques
Perrier fa il punto sul giubileo per il 150° anniversario delle apparizioni
mariane
Il miracolo di Lourdes? La rivoluzione di Dio che capovolge il mondo
di Giampaolo Mattei
Centocinquanta anni ma sembra che tutto sia iniziato oggi. Centocinquanta anni
portati benissimo. "Il miracolo di Lourdes? La conversione. Lo stile di
Lourdes? La semplicità. La rivoluzione di Lourdes? Il primo posto a malati e
disabili. Il segreto di Lourdes? L'incontro con Gesù, attraverso sua Madre,
nell'Eucaristia e dunque un senso per la vita". A parlare è monsignor
Jacques Perrier, vescovo di Tarbes e Lourdes. È stato lui a presiedere nel
santuario francese la festa dell'11 febbraio, a 150 anni esatti dalla prima
apparizione dell'Immacolata alla giovanissima semianalfabeta e malaticcia
Bernadette Soubirous, in una grotta sulla riva del Gave dove pascolavano i
maiali. Quest'anno la festa dell'11 febbraio è stata celebrata nel pieno del
giubileo indetto proprio per il 150° dalle apparizioni. Nell'intervista
monsignor Perrier presenta il significato di questo particolare anno lourdiano.
Che cosa dice Lourdes all'uomo di oggi?
Lourdes capovolge i criteri del mondo. È un luogo dove non ci sono porte. Tutti
possono entrare. Ma il posto in prima fila lo avranno sempre gli ammalati, i
disabili, i poveri, le persone emarginate e sole, i piccoli secondo i criteri
del mondo. È questo anche il senso del giubileo. Spero si comprenda
l'importanza che l'11 febbraio continuerà ad avere per ogni persona e non solo
per chi viene a Lourdes o vive sulla propria carne l'esperienza del dolore.
Il punto dopo due mesi di giubileo?
L'obiettivo unico è ben chiaro: la conversione. In una società che
schiaccia il sacro, gli uomini trovano nei santuari spazi di vita e speranza.
La concessione dell'indulgenza plenaria disposta dal Papa rende ancora più
evidente il senso del pellegrinaggio a Lourdes in questo anno.
Perché il giubileo?
La risposta è semplice: non lo abbiamo pensato noi, ma la storia.
Esattamente 150 anni fa la Vergine Immacolata è apparsa, diciotto volte, a una
ragazzina quattordicenne di nome Bernadette Soubirous. Le apparizioni sono
avvenute dall'11 febbraio al 16 luglio 1858 qui a Lourdes. Noi vogliamo far
rivivere quel clima di fede e semplicità evangelica. Quel clima di
speranza. Siamo invitati, Benedetto XVI lo afferma nel messaggio
per l'11 febbraio, a puntare lo sguardo sull'Immacolata. Come modello reale. E
non si può contemplare Maria senza essere attratti da Cristo e non si può
guardare Cristo senza avvertire subito la presenza di Maria. Il Papa spiega che
esiste un legame inscindibile tra la Madre e il Figlio e questo legame lo
avvertiamo, in maniera misteriosa, nel sacramento dell'Eucaristia. In queste
parole di Benedetto XVI c'è, in sintesi, che cosa è Lourdes e il giubileo che
stiamo celebrando.
Aveva ragione quel commissario di polizia che, interrogando duramente
Bernadette "per smascherare l'inganno delle apparizioni", la
rimproverò dicendo: "Ma tu fai correre tutti qui!".
E qui continuano a venire tutti! Infatti abbiamo pensato il giubileo con
iniziative rivolte a ogni categoria di persone. Ma sono l'anno liturgico e le
festività mariane a scandire il tempo, a dare particolare forza a determinate
celebrazioni. Non è un caso che il giubileo si sia aperto, e si chiuderà, nel
giorno dell'Immacolata Concezione.
Ma a Lourdes si viene per il miracolo?
La conversione del cuore è il vero miracolo. Non si devono però neppure
dimenticare le guarigioni fisiche. Come è noto, la Chiesa ne ha riconosciute
finora 67 su oltre settemila segnalazioni. Al di là dei numeri, è evidente che
Lourdes resti un mistero nonostante studi e indagini. Qui le persone ammalate
non pregano solo per se stesse, ma anche per i loro vicini di fila, sconosciuti
fino a un attimo prima. A Lourdes si vivono esperienze di amicizia vera, di
fede, solidarietà. Qui tante persone disperate ritornano a casa con il pieno di
speranza, di vita. Scoprono di non essere sole, già quando fanno il viaggio in treno.
Il treno è un elemento del pellegrinaggio.
Il treno è senza dubbio il mezzo di trasporto preferito perché consente di
vivere una forte esperienza di comunione già nel tragitto che si compie per
raggiungere il santuario. Si pensi poi che la ferrovia è arrivata a Lourdes già
nel 1866.
Che cosa cerca e che cosa trova il pellegrino a Lourdes?
Cerca e trova la conversione, la rivoluzione di Dio che può avvenire nel cuore
di ogni persona tanto che la malattia diviene non un peso ma un'opportunità.
Milioni di persone continuano a compiere gesti semplici e umili. Qui si viene
per vivere il messaggio centrale di Lourdes: penitenza e conversione. Non
c'è nulla di nuovo, ma è l'uomo che diventa nuovo. Le iniziative giubilari
hanno esattamente questo obiettivo.
L'iniziativa più caratteristica?
L'unica novità, se così vogliamo chiamarla, è l'itinerario giubilare pensato
proprio per caratterizzare questo anno. Si articola in quattro essenziali tappe
che richiamano la vita cristiana, dal battesimo all'Eucaristia. I pellegrini, a
piedi, partono dalla chiesa dove c'è il fonte battesimale di santa Bernadette.
Passano nel luogo poverissimo dove visse con la sua famiglia e dove la sua
particolare vocazione prese corpo. Il percorso attraversa poi il santuario, la
grotta di Massabielle e culmina nella cappella dell'antico ospedale dove
Bernadette ricevette la prima comunione. Un'altra particolarità: al
pellegrino diamo un attestato, nello stile di Santiago de Compostela.
Straordinarietà nell'ordinarietà, dunque.
Per facilitare i pellegrinaggi abbiamo stabilito "missioni"
specifiche con i volontari tra i malati, i disabili, gli emarginati, i giovani;
per la pace tra i popoli; per l'unità dei cristiani e il dialogo con le altre
religioni. Tutto questo ovviamente nutriti dall'Eucaristia, in spirito di
conversione e in una dimensione mariana. Sono realtà tipiche di Lourdes, non
abbiamo inventato niente. Abbiamo appuntamenti fissi: messe e confessioni
in diverse lingue, l'Angelus, il rosario meditato, la via crucis. È un calendario
noto da sempre ai pellegrini. Stiamo anche dando vita a convegni scientifici,
spettacoli teatrali e musicali. Non mancano importanti contributi teologici.
L'incontro teologico più importante?
Il ventiduesimo congresso mariologico-mariano che si svolgerà dal 4 all'8
settembre, sul tema Le apparizioni della Beata Vergine Maria. Tra
storia, fede e teologia. Il fenomeno delle apparizioni mariane, infatti, ha
sempre attirato, lo si vede anche oggi, l'attenzione e l'interesse di immense folle
di credenti, ma anche di tanti che non sono cristiani.
Quale messaggio arriva dal giubileo?
A Lourdes si annullano tutte le barriere, si superano incomprensioni e ostilità
perché si parla il linguaggio semplice e a tutti comprensibile dell'amore di
Dio. Qui si incontrano la pietà popolare e la teologia più alta, la scienza e
l'esperienza religiosa più autentica. In una parola, a Lourdes c'è tutto
l'uomo.
(©L'Osservatore Romano 13 febbraio 2008)
SOURCE : https://www.vatican.va/news_services/or/or_quo/interviste/2008/037q08b1.html
