Our Lady of Lourdes - Fourth Book - Part 3

THE Abbé Peyramale explained to the Bishop the surprising events of which the Grotto of Massabielle and the town of Lourdes had been the scene for nearly the last three weeks.  He recounted the ecstacies and visions of Bernadette, the words uttered by the Apparition, the gushing forth of the Spring, the sudden cures effected, and the agitation which pervaded the whole community.

His narration, which we have no doubt was highly animated and picturesque, though we regret that we cannot furnish our readers with its exact words, must have struck the mind of the good Bishop, but it could not lead hastily to his immediate conviction.  Habituated as he was to see Truth descend hierarchically from the heights of the Vatican, Monsiegneur Laurence felt little disposed to receive and accept without mature investigation a message from heaven, delivered suddenly , and in defiance of ordinary rules by a little illiterate peasant-girl.

He was, however, too well versed in all matters touching the History of the Church, to deny the absolute possibility of a fact which, after all, has had its counterparts in the secular annals of Catholicism but, at the same time, the practical tendency of his mind rendered conviction in his case somwhat difficult.  The Bishops are the successors of the Apostles.  Monseigneur Laurence was an apostle and a holy one:  but, like St. Thomas, he wished to see before he believed;  and, in some respects, this was a fortunate circumstance;  for, when the Bishop believed, every one knew that he might in all safety believe with him, and that the clearest proofs had been brought forward.

The Curé of Lourdes had not himself actually witnessed the majority of the facts he adduced;  and, in consequence of the reserve he had imposed on the Clergy, he could only appeal before the Bishop, to the declarations of third persons, and those laymen, of whom some, being either sceptical or indifferent in matters of religion, did not even follow the observances of the Church.

Besides, in the midst of so many accounts given to him, of the multiplicity and confusion of so many incidents, of the unavoidable hiatuses in his information, and of the numberless reports which were current, it was impossible for him to satisfy himself on the subject, and to display the logical and providential march of events in the methodical manner which is so easy at the present time.  It is with facts of a moral order, as it is with objects of a physical order;  we must be at some distance from them, in order to see them in their proper point of view.  The Abbé Peyramale could certainly analyze many details of what was being accomplished under his eyes;  but, just at that time, it was not in the Bishop’s or his power to see it as a whole, and to remark its admirable coherency,—they were too near the stage on which this scene was enacted.

Monseigneur Laurence did not pronounce any opinion.  Wiser in this respect than St. Thomas, he refrained from denying the truth of the fact;  for, he knew that things of that nature, though very rare, are yet possible.  He confined himself to not believing, or, in other words, to saying neither yes or no, and remaining in that methodical state of doubt which is affirmed by Descartes to be the best condition, in order to proceed to the search after truth.  As Bishop, he required documents and attestations of unimpeachable authenticity, and the second-hand proofs which he received from the Curé of Lourdes did not appear to him sufficient.  Might there not be some illusion in the child’s mind?  some exaggerations in the accounts given by the crowd?  Had not pious souls suffered themselves sometimes to be deceived by falso miracles, whether proceeding from imposture, hallucination, or the artifices of the Evil one?  All these questions suggested themselves to his mind and made it his duty to proceed with the greatest prudence.

The idea of instituting an official inquiry presented itself naturally to his mind, and public opinion, desirous of having the difficulty solved, urged the episcopal authority to take the affair officially in hand and pronounce its judgment on the matter.  The Bishop, with admirable foresight, comprehended that the very agitation of the population would injure the maturity and safety of the inquiry.  He wisely pursued the difficult course of resisting the pressure universally brought to bear upon him.  He resolved, therefore, to allow things to take their own course, to let new events become known, and to wait for the production of some striking testimony in the interests of truth, whatever might be its nature.
"It is not yet time for the episcopal authority to busy itself with this affair. To establish the judgment which is expected from us, we must proceed extremely slow, distrust the impulse of the moment, give time for reflection and request to be enlightened, in order to accomplish a careful investigation of facts."

Such was the language held by the Bishop.

He did not, therefore, cancel the order which prohibited the Clergy from repairing to the Grotto.  At the same time, however, in concert with the Curé of Lourdes, he took all proper measures to be informed, day by day, of whatever took place at the Grotto, and of all the cures, true or false, which were effected, employing for that purpose witnesses of unshaken integrity and acknowledged capacity.

It naturally resulted, from the reserved attitude adopted by the Bishop, that the investigation would be made, so to say, of its own accord, publicly, and, after having heard the adverse parties, not by a commission composed of certain persons, but by the intelligence of all, and in accordance with the necessities of the case.  Should there be any error or trickery in the affair, the unbelieving class, which resented so deeply the popular superstition, would not be slow to detect and proclaim them, with the proofs in their hands.  If, on the other hand, these events had a divine character, they would triumph alone over all obstacles, and display their intrinsic vitality, while dispensing with any external support.

Their authority, in this case, must prove incontestable in the eyes of all right-thinking persons.

The Bishop, therefore, decided to remain in this attitude of observation, whatever might happen, and as long as possible—at least for some months—and to postpone and direct interference until forced to it by the events themselves.