Book 5 - Part 6

The road to the Rocks of Massabielle continued to be thronged. Never did an uproarious cry escape from the crowd, nor was there any agitation in this popular stream whose waves were incessantly renewed. Canticles, litanies, vivats in honor of the Virgin were all that struck the ear, and all that M. Jacomet and his police could register in their Reports. It was something more than order; it was a state of pious recollection.

The artisans of Lourdes had widened the road which had been laid out some fifteen or twenty days previously on the slopes of Massabielle by the quarry-men. They had blown up the rock with powder, and reduced it in many places, so that they had made a broad and very commodious road on those precipitous declivities. It was a work of considerable toil, requiring trouble, time, and outlay of money. These good-hearted fellows devoted themselves to the task every evening, on their return from the work-yards in which they were employed from morning to night. They rested from the toil of their hard day’s work in laboring at this road, which led the way to God: In labore requies. Towards night-fall they might be seen clinging like a nest of ants to the side of the steep descent, digging, wheeling barrows, boring the rock, inserting powder and shivering vast blocks of marble or granite.

“Who will pay you?” they were asked.

“The Blessed Virgin,” was the reply.

Before retiring from their labor, they descended altogether into the Grotto and offered up their prayers in common.

In the midst of this magnificence of nature, beneath that lovely starry heaven, these Christian scenes offered a spectacle of simplicity and grandeur redolent of the primitive ages of the Church.

The outward appearance of the Grotto gradually changed. Up to that date tapers had been burned in it as a sign of veneration. About this time there were placed in it vases of flowers, either growing naturally or arranged in bouquets by pious hands, statues of the Virgin and ex-votos as marks of gratitude. A small balustrade had been erected by the workmen to protect these fragile articles from the involuntary accidents which might have happened from the too great eagerness of the throng.

Several persons, having received some special grace by the intervention of Our Lady of Lourdes, brought with them by way of homage to the place of the Vision their little gold cross and chain, and placed their pious offering under the guardianship of the public faith. As it was from that time the general cry of the country that the command of the Apparition must be obeyed, and a chapel erected, it became the custom to throw pieces of money into the Grotto. Considerable sums, amounting to several thousand francs, lay consequently exposed in the open air, without any outward protection, night and day; and such was the respect inspired by this spot, a short time before entirely unknown—such was the moral effect produced on souls, that not a single evil-doer was to be met with in the whole country to attempt a sacrilegious robbery.

But what made this more wonderful was the fact that, a few months previously, several churches in the neighbourhood had been plundered. The Virgin willed not that the slightest souvenir of crime should be connected with the origin of the pilgrimage it was her wish to establish.

Book 5 - Part 5

Some young women of Lourdes, of exemplary virtue, among whom we will only mention by name, Marie Courrège, a pious servant-maid respected by every one, had the same vision as Bernadette, at the Grotto, separately, twice or thrice. This was vaguely rumored abroad, but had no influence on the mass of the public. Some little children had also visions, but of a perfectly distinct and rather alarming nature. When the divine Supernatural manifests itself, the diabolical Supernatural strives to mingle itself with it. This is a truth proved in almost every page of the history of the Fathers of the Desert and of the Mystics. The abyss was troubled and the Evil Angel had recourse to his counterfeits for the purpose of troubling the souls of believers.

These various facts, which did not attract much observation at the time, are not sufficiently precise (more especially as some of their details have been forgotten) to be consigned to the pages of History. We merely point them out that we may not incur the blame of neglect. The true visions were only important so far as they affected individuals, the remainder died away of themselves.

Book 5 - Part 4

Easter-Sunday had arrived. Notwithstanding the pious apprehensions of the Minister of Public Worship, the marvellous occurrences at Lourdes had not, "weakened the religious feeling of the population of the district." Numerous conversions had taken place, and the confessionals were in a state of siege. Usurers and robbers had made restitution of their ill-gotten gains, and many scandals had ceased. The Faithful crowded to the Holy Table.

On Easter-Monday, the fifth of April, that is to say the very day the Prefect had visited the Bishop, the Mother of God had once more by an internal call, summoned the daughter of the miller, and the child, soon followed by an immense crowd, had repaired to the Grotto, where, as on the preceding days, the Heavens had opened themselves before her eyes, and displayed to her the Virgin Mary in a state of glory.

That day a very singular occurrence took place before the wonder-struck eyes of the multitude.

The taper, which Bernadette had either brought with her, or received from one of the bystanders, was of considerable size and she had rested it on the ground, supporting it at the bottom between the fingers of her hands, which were half clasped. The Virgin appeared to her. And behold, by an instinctive movement of adoration, the youthful Seer, falling in a state of ecstacy before the Immaculate Beauty, slightly raised her hands and let them rest calmly, and without thinking of what she was doing, on the lighted end of the taper. And then the flame began to pass between her fingers, which were half open, and to mount above them, flickering in different directions, according as the light breeze blew. Bernadette, however, remained motionless and absorbed in the heavenly contemplation, utterly unconscious of the phenomenon which caused so much astonishment to the multitude around her. Those who witnessed it pressed closely on each other in order to obtain a better view. M.M. Jean-Louis Fourcade, Martinou, Estrade, Caillet, warden of the forest, the demoiselles Tard’hivail, and a hundred other persons were spectators of this unheard of incident. M. Dozons had remarked by his watch that this extraordinary state lasted more than a quarter of an hour. All at once a slight shudder was perceptible in the frame of Bernadette. Her features lost their lofty expression. The Vision had vanished and the child resumed her natural state. The bystanders seized her hand but it presented nothing unusual to the eye. The flame had spared the flesh of the youthful Seer during her ecstasy at the feet of Mary. The crowd, not without sufficient reasons, exclaimed that a Miracle had been performed. One of the spectators however, wishing to test the fact, took the taper which was still lighted and applied it to Bernadette’s hand, without her being aware of what he was doing.

“Ah! Sir,” she exclaimed, drawing back quickly, “you are burning me.”

The occurrences at Lourdes had produced such an excitement in the surrounding districts, and the influx of strangers was so great, that on that day the multitude which had in a moment flocked around Bernadette amounted to nearly ten thousand persons, and these had not been warned beforehand, as was the case during the Quinzaine.

Book 5 - Part 3

Monseigneur Laurence, as we have already observed, was still in a state of doubt as to the judgment he should form on the events which had occurred at Lourdes. Not being on the spot, not seeing directly the marvels which were in process of accomplishment, and deriving what little knowledge he had of them from the reports of ecclesiastics who had not themselves been eye-witnesses of the facts, he had not yet come to any full conviction. He was waiting.

Under these circumstances, to formally prohibit Bernadette from going to the Grotto when she felt herself called to the place by a voice from on high, would have been to attack the most sacred liberty the soul can enjoy, and this, Churchmen can respect even in a child: but to employ words of council and to pledge Bernadette not to repair to the Rocks of Massabielle, unless under the immediate influence of that irresistible suggestion, this was what the Bishop deemed it prudent to order the Curé of Lourdes to undertake, in order to prevent, as far as lay in his power, the Civil Authorities from entering on the dangerous path of persecution, to which his admirable foresight shewed him they were tending.

What in reality held the Prefect back, was not so much a question of principle as a personal consideration. He felt he must look twice before attempting a religious coup d’état with a Prelate so universally venerated as Monseigneur Laurence, more especially after having lived with him up to that moment in the most perfect harmony. Baron Massy was too deeply imbued with the political feeling of the affairs of administration not to hesitate in breaking up this feeling of cordiality, and in violently invading a jurisdiction which belonged of right to the Bishop, and to him only.

Book 5 - Part 2

On the strength of this letter, M. Massy addressed himself to the Bishop, begging him, formally, to prohibit Bernadette from repairing to the Grotto. He naturally brought forward the interests of religion, which were compromised by these hallucinations or deceptions, and the deplorable effects which things of this nature were producing on all serious minds, which sincerely sought to reconcile Catholicism with philosophy and modern ideas. As to the supposition of there being any reality in the Apparitions, M. Massy, following in the wake of M. Rouland, did not deign to notice it. The Prefect and the Minister agreed in treating such superstitions with contempt.

The Prefect was clever, but the Bishop in his turn was shrewd, and it was not easy to pass off on him the shadow for the substance. Monseigneur Laurence discerned, clearly, two things:

The first was, that the Authorities (and, by this word, we understood only the Prefect and the Minister, who happened to be in power for the time being), would have been very glad to have put the Clergy prominently forward, while, at the same time, they dictated to them their course of action. Now, Monseigneur Laurence had too high a sense of his duties as Bishop to become a mere tool in the hands of others.

The second was, that the Minister possibly and the Prefect certainly were tempted to have recourse to violent measures, that is to say, to oppose material force to opinion. Now, Monseigneur Laurence was too prudent not to exert every effort in order to avoid an evil of such magnitude.

It was necessary therefore for him, on the one hand to resist energetically the pressure brought to bear upon him by the Civil Authorities, and on the other not to irritate them; to reject their unreasonable demands as inadmissible, and at the same time to maintain a spirit of harmony.

Amidst these difficulties of so opposite a nature, the Bishop succeeded in steering a middle course.

At the same time that he stemmed the popular enthusiasm which urged him to proclaim the Miracle officially, he resisted the Minister and the Prefect, who requested him to condemn it without investigation. Impassible in the midst of the agitations of the multitude, and the blind prejudices of men in power, he was determined not to pronounce his judgment until he was thoroughly acquainted with the merits of the case, to refrain from any premature decision and to keep the future in reserve.

However, perceiving as he did, the undisguisedly hostile disposition of the Administration, he recognized it to be his duty to do all in his power to prevent the Civil Authorities from betaking themselves to deplorable acts of violence. They must be deprived of all pretext for adopting such a line of conduct. Since the Temporal Power inclined towards inconsiderate measures, the Spiritual Power must have prudence for both. Since the Prefect had not prudence enough, the Bishop must have it in excess: it was in his opinion, the only way of having enough.

Book 5 - Part 1

The question which had mounted from M. Jacomet to the Prefect had continued its upward flight, and reached the Ministry of Public Worship.

On the 12th and 26th of March, the Prefect had sent in his reports to his Excellency, confining himself, until an answer was received, to the steps we have already mentioned.

The Ministry of Public Worship was not then, as is the case now, united to the department of Justice, but to that of Public Instruction. Monsieur Rouland was the Minister.

Formerly Procureur General, and at the date of our story, Minister of Public Instruction, M. Rouland had, at one and the same time, in regard to religious matters, the traditional and suspicious formalism of the old parliamentary body, and the ideas and feelings current in the University of France. Of a dogmatic turn of mind, deeply convinced of his own importance, his very philosophy tinged with sectarianism, an extravagant admirer of his own wisdom, and easily irritated against anything which did not square with his own systematic ideas, M. Rouland was unable to admit for one moment the reality of the Visions and Miracles at Lourdes. Such being the case, though at a distance of two hundred and fifty leagues from the spot where the events occurred, and having no other documents than two letters received from the Prefect, he solved the question with that decisive tone which settles matters of importance without even condescending to discuss them. Notwithstanding the advice he gave the Prefect to act prudently, it was plain that he had decided in his own mind not to tolerate either the Apparitions or the Miracles. As was always the case, in similar circumstances, the Minister assumed the attitude of a defender of the interests of religion. We subjoin a copy of the letter written by him to M. Massy, bearing date the twelfth of April.

“MONSIEUR LE PREFET:

“I have examined the reports, which you had the goodness to forward to me on the twelfth and twenty-sixth of April, on the subject of a pretended apparition of the Virgin, said to have occurred in a Grotto at no great distance from the town of Lourdes. It is of importance, in my opinion, to put a stop to proceedings which would result in compromising the true interests of Catholicism, and weakening the religious feeling of the population of the district.

“Legally, no one can establish an oratory or place of public worship, without the double authorization of the civil and religious authorities. We should then be justified, were we to carry out the law rigorously, in immediately closing the Grotto, which has been transformed into a kind of chapel.

“But, serious inconveniences would, in all probability, arise from putting this law suddenly into force. It would, therefore, be better to confine ourselves to preventing the youthful visionary from revisiting the Grotto, and to taking such measures as shall insensibly divert public attention, by rendering the visits to the spot less frequent from day to day. I could not, however, Monsieur le Préfet, give you more precise instructions at the present moment; it is a question which requires most especially tact, prudence and firmness, and, in this respect, any recommendations from me are unnecessary.

“It will be indispensable for you to act in concert with the Clergy; and I cannot lay too much stress on the advisability of your communicating, personally, with the Bishop of Tarbes in this delicate affair, and I authorize you to tell the Prelate, from me, that I do not think it expedient to permit a state of things to continue unchecked, which cannot fail of affording a pretext for fresh attacks on the Clergy and Religion.”

Book 4 - Part 14

The Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ had not said,—“I am Mary, the Immaculate;” She had said,—“I am the Immaculate Conception,” as if to mark the absolute, and, as it were, substantial character of the divine privilege granted to Her alone since Adam and Eve were created by God. It is as if she had said, not, “I am pure,” but, “I am purity itself;” not, “I am a Virgin,” but, “I am the incarnate and living Virginity;” not, “I am white,” but, “I am whiteness!”

Any thing that is white may cease to be so; but, Whiteness is always white. It is its essence and not its quality.

Mary is more than conceived without sin: She is the Immaculate Conception itself; the essential and superior type; the archetype of unsullied humanity, of humanity as it proceeded from the hands of God without having been tainted by the original stain by the impure element which the fault of our first Parents mixed with the very source of that vast river of generations, which has flowed for the last six thousand years, and of which, each of us, is a fleeting wave.

What would you do, if you wished to draw water pure from a muddy spring? You would pass it through a filter, and the water clears itself of its grosser elements. You then pass it through a second filter, then through a third, and so on. The time soon comes when the water becomes entirely pure and clear,—a liquid diamond. In the same manner did God act, when the original Spring was troubled. He chose a particular family in this world, and watched over it from age to age, from Seth unto Noah, from Shem unto David, from David even unto Joachim and Anne, the parents of the Blessed Virgin. And, when this human blood was thus filtered, so to speak, in spite of the accidents of some intermediate guilty persons, through nearly fifty generations of patriarchs and just men, there came into the world a creature absolutely pure; a creature without stain; a daughter of Adam entirely immaculate. She was called Mary, and Her fruitful Virginity produced Jesus Christ.

The Virgin, at that moment, had desired to attest by her presence and her miracles, the last dogma defined by the Church, and proclaimed by St. Peter, speaking by the voice of Pius IX.

It was the first time in her life that the little shepherd-girl, to whom the divine Virgin had just appeared, had heard the words: “Immaculate Conception;” and, being entirely ignorant of their meaning, she exerted herself to the utmost on her way back to Lourdes to retain them in her memory.

“I repeated them to myself all along the road, in order not to forget them,” she told us, one day; “and, up to the very door of the presbytery to which I was going, I kept saying, Immaculate Conception, Immaculate Conception, at each step I made, as I wished to take to the Curé the exact words of the Vision, in order that the chapel might be built.”