Our Lady of Lourdes - Seventh Book - Part 8

  THIS missive reached Monseigneur Laurence  precisely at the moment he had issued the Order with which the reader is acquainted, and had constituted a Commission of Inquiry regarding the extraordinary events which the all-powerful hand of God had brought to pass.

  Although the Bishop could not but be extremely astonished and indignant at the extravagant stories which the Minister gave out as if they were truth itself, he replied in a tone of moderation to his Excellency’s letter.  Without giving his own opinion on the matter in debate―as he did not wish from prudential motives to bring on a premature decision―he re-established the exact nature of the facts which had been so disgracefully travestied.  He explained with equal clearness and frankness the line of conduct which he had followed himself and prescribed to his Clergy, until the increasing importance of the events around him had obliged him to interfere and to appoint a Commission of Inquiry.  To the Minister, who, without knowing anything or examining anything, urged him to condemn, he replied that he was engaged in investigation.

MONSIEUR LE MINISTRE,―I read your despatch with great astonishment.  I am also informed of what is passing at Lourdes, and, as Bishop, deeply  interested in reprobating whatever is calculated to cause sorrow to Religion and the faithful.  I am, therefore, enabled to inform you that the scenes you mention in your letter have never existed such as they have been described to you, and that if some things to be regretted have occurred they were of a very transient nature and have left no traces behind them.

  The occurrences to which your Excellency alludes must have taken place since the closing of the Grotto and the first week in July.  Two or three children of Lourdes took it into their heads to play the part of Visionaries and perform sundry antics in the streets.  The Grotto, as I observed being then closed, they found means of entering it and of offering their services to visitors, who had been stopped at the barriers, to bless their chaplets in the interior of the Grotto and to receive their offerings, for the purpose of appropriating them to themselves.  One of them, who made himself most remarkable by his eccentricities―sometimes highly improper―was attached to the parish church at Lourdes, as chorister.  The Curé gave him a severe reprimand, expelled him from the Catechism class and excluded him from the service of the Church.  This disorder was only transient.  The public saw nothing in it beyond the frolics of certain children, which a few threats soon put it to an end.  Such are the facts which some too zealous persons have magnified in their reports into permanent scenes.

  I should be glad, Monsieur, for you to obtain information as to what is passing at Lourdes from persons of birth and education who have stopped in that town in order to see the places for themselves, to converse with the inhabitants and with the child who had seen the Vision, such as the Bishops of Montpellier and Soissons, the Archbishop of Auch, M. Vène, Inspector of the Mineral Waters, Madame Bruat, wife of the Admiral, M. Louis Veuillot, etc., etc.

  The Clergy have up to the present time kept altogether aloof, on the occasion of the affairs at the Grotto.  The Clergy of the town have displayed admirable prudence, never going to the Grotto in order to avoid giving credit to the Pilgrimage, but on the contrary favoring the measures taken by the authorities.  And yet they have been reported to you as favoring Superstition.  I do not accuse the first magistrate of the Department as his intentions have always been upright;  but in this affair he has placed too much confidence in his subordinates.

  In my letter in answer to the Prefect, bearing date April 11th, a letter which has been submitted to you, I offered that magistrate my sincere cooperation to bring this affair to a happy termination.  But it was impossible for me to accede to his wishes by stigmatizing, from the Christian pulpit, without enquiry or investigation, those who were in the habit of going to pray at the Grotto, nor could I prohibit them from going there, more especially as no disorder of any kind was reported, though on certain days the visitors might have been counted by thousands.  Besides the fact that the Church always assigns specific reasons for her prohibitions, and the information I had received on the subject was insufficient, I was also morally certain, that my words would not have been listened to at a moment when the minds of all were in a state of the highest excitement.

  The Prefect, being at the Council of Revision at Lourdes, on the 4th of May, had the religious objects which were in the Grotto removed by the Commissary of Police at Lourdes, and, in a speech which he addressed to the Mayors of the Canton, he said that he had taken that measure with the consent and approval of the Bishop of the Diocese―an assertion which was repeated some days later by the organ of the Prefecture.  I was informed of this step by the journals, and by the Curé of Lourdes.  I lost no time in writing to the latter desiring that the orders of the Prefect might be respected.  I never complained either at the time or since that I appeared to have shared in a measure of which I was entirely ignorant.  Although numerous letters have reached me begging me to enter my protest, I have refrained from doing so, not wishing to add to the embarrassments of the situation.
  The objects of piety being removed from the Grotto, we might hope that the number of visits to the spot would gradually decrease and that this Pilgrimage, which had so unexpectedly sprung into   existence, would be brought to a close.  The public claimed, right or wrong, that the water which flows in the Grotto effected marvelous cures;  the crowds became more numerous and people flocked to the spot from the neighboring departments.

  On the eighth of June, the Mayor of Lourdes issued an Order, forbidding all access to the Grotto.  This Order was based on the interests of Religion and the public health.  Although Religion had thus been brought prominently forward, and the Bishop had not been consulted, the latter did not make any formal expostulation;  he kept silent for the reasons explained above.

  You see, Monsieur le Ministre, from these few details that the reserve of the Clergy in this affair has not been pushed to extremes.  In my opinion it has only been prudent.  When I could, I cooperated with the measures taken by the civil authorities, and if they have not always been successful, it is not the Bishop who must incur the blame.

  Now, yielding to the expostulations addressed to me from all quarters, I thought the time had arrived for me to occupy myself usefully with this affair.  I have named a Commission for the purpose of seeking for and collecting the elements necessary to form a decision―as far as I am concerned―on a question which keeps the country in agitation, and which, to judge from the information which reaches me, seems to interest the whole of France.  I am confident that the Faithful will receive my decision with submission, as they know well that I shall have neglected no means of arriving at truth.  This Commission has been in operation for some days.  I am determined to give every publicity to my Order by means of the Press, in the hope that it may contribute to calm the public mind while waiting for the promulgation of the decision.  I shall do myself the honor of forwarding your Excellency a copy of it within a few days.

                          I am, etc., etc.,

                      B.S., BISHOP OF TARBES

  Such was the letter of Monseigneur Laurence to M. Rouland.  It was clear, it was conclusive, and it was unanswerable.  The minister of Public Worship did not reply to it.  He resumed his former silence, in which he showed his wisdom.  Perhaps he would have displayed still greater wisdom if he had never broken it.