THE great majority of cures effected by the water of Massabielle, were characterized by a rapidity, nay suddenness, which plainly indicated the immediate agency of sovereign power. There were, however, some which did not present this typical and undeniably supernatural character. They were effected in a slow and progressive manner, owing to the more or less frequent applications of draughts or lotions, and keeping pace with the ordinary march of natural cures―however miraculous they might be in their original principle.
At Gez, a village in the neighborhood of Lourdes, a little boy, seven years of age, had been a remarkable instance of one of these mixed cures, which any one, according to the bent of his mind, might attribute to a special grace proceeding from God, or to the sole efforts of Nature. This child, who was called Lasbareilles, was born completely deformed with a double curvature of the back and breast bone.
His legs, which were excessively slender and almost withered, were paralyzed, owing to their extreme weakness. The unfortunate little creature had never been able to walk. He was always either lying or sitting down. Whenever it was necessary to change his position, his mother carried him in her arms. Sometimes, however, the child, resting himself on the edge of the table, or supported by his mother’s hand, succeeded in standing upright and taking a few steps at the cost of violent efforts and immense fatigue. The medical man of the place had declared his inability to cure him; and seeing that the little fellow suffered from essentially organic rachitis, no remedy had been applied to his case.
The parents of the unfortunate child, having heard the miracles at Lourdes mentioned in the course of conversation, had procured some of the water from the Grotto; and during the space of fifteen days, they had, in three separate instances, applied lotions to the body of the child, without any favorable result.
Their faith was not, however, on that account discouraged; if hope were banished from the world, it would truly be found again in the hearts of mothers. The fourth lotion was applied on Holy Thursday, that is to say, the first of April, 1858. On that day the child had taken a few steps alone.
These lotions had become more and more efficacious, and the child’s state underwent a progressive amelioration. He had come, at the end of three or four weeks, to walk almost as well as any body. We use the expression “almost” as he retained in his movements an awkwardness of gait which seemed to be a kind of reminiscence of his original infirmity. The emaciation of his legs had disappeared by degrees with his weakness, and his chest was almost entirely straightened. All the inhabitants of Gez, who well knew the former state of the child, attributed this recovery to a Miracle. Were they right or wrong in so doing? Whatever our own opinion may be on the subject, there is cetainly much to be said on both sides of the question.
Another child, Denys Bouchet, from the market-town of Lamarque, in the canton of Ossun, had been also cured of a general paralysis in very much the same way. A young man, twenty-five years of age, Jean Louis Amaré, who was epileptic, had found his terrible malady yield entirely, but only be degree, to applications of the water of Massabielle.
His legs, which were excessively slender and almost withered, were paralyzed, owing to their extreme weakness. The unfortunate little creature had never been able to walk. He was always either lying or sitting down. Whenever it was necessary to change his position, his mother carried him in her arms. Sometimes, however, the child, resting himself on the edge of the table, or supported by his mother’s hand, succeeded in standing upright and taking a few steps at the cost of violent efforts and immense fatigue. The medical man of the place had declared his inability to cure him; and seeing that the little fellow suffered from essentially organic rachitis, no remedy had been applied to his case.
The parents of the unfortunate child, having heard the miracles at Lourdes mentioned in the course of conversation, had procured some of the water from the Grotto; and during the space of fifteen days, they had, in three separate instances, applied lotions to the body of the child, without any favorable result.
Their faith was not, however, on that account discouraged; if hope were banished from the world, it would truly be found again in the hearts of mothers. The fourth lotion was applied on Holy Thursday, that is to say, the first of April, 1858. On that day the child had taken a few steps alone.
These lotions had become more and more efficacious, and the child’s state underwent a progressive amelioration. He had come, at the end of three or four weeks, to walk almost as well as any body. We use the expression “almost” as he retained in his movements an awkwardness of gait which seemed to be a kind of reminiscence of his original infirmity. The emaciation of his legs had disappeared by degrees with his weakness, and his chest was almost entirely straightened. All the inhabitants of Gez, who well knew the former state of the child, attributed this recovery to a Miracle. Were they right or wrong in so doing? Whatever our own opinion may be on the subject, there is cetainly much to be said on both sides of the question.
Another child, Denys Bouchet, from the market-town of Lamarque, in the canton of Ossun, had been also cured of a general paralysis in very much the same way. A young man, twenty-five years of age, Jean Louis Amaré, who was epileptic, had found his terrible malady yield entirely, but only be degree, to applications of the water of Massabielle.
Some other analogous cases had occurred.
