Chap 20 - Truth and It's Adversaries

  

 

In this chapter, the narrative describes the opposition that the apparitions at Lourdes faced from both civil and ecclesiastical authorities. The tension between faith and skepticism is highlighted, with the protagonist reflecting on how the truth often encounters resistance, particularly from those in positions of power. The chapter also delves into the character of M. Jacomet, the Commissary of Police, who is portrayed as a shrewd yet suspicious figure, influencing local events and embodying the conflict between religious fervor and state control.

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HOWEVER, this was not sufficient.  Truth requires to pass through another crucible.  It behoves her, without any external support, relying on herself, and herself alone, to resist the great human forces let loose upon her.  It is necessary for her to have persecutors, furious enemies and adversaries skilled in laying snares.  When Truth passes through such trials, the weak tremble and fear lest the work of God should be overthrown.  Quid timetis, modicæ fidei.  The very men who menace her now are her bulwarks hereafter.

Such furious opponents attest to the eyes of ages, that such a belief has not been established chandestinely or in the shade, but rather in the face of enemies, whose interest it was to see and control everything;  they attest to the eyes of ages that its foundations are solid, since so many united efforts were not able to shake them even at the moment when they arose in their original weakness:  they attest that its basis is pure, since after examining everything through the magnifying glass of malevolence and hatred, they failed in detecting in it any vice or stain.  Enemies are witnesses above suspicion, who in spite of themselves depose, before posterity, in favor of the very thing they would willingly have hindered or destroyed.  Consequently, if the Apparitions of the Grotto were the starting-point of a divine work, the hostility of the mighty ones of the world, must necessarily go side by side with the withdrawal of the Clergy.

God had equally provided for this.  While the ecclesiastical authority, personified in the Clergy, maintained the wise reserve advised by the Curé of Lourdes, the civil authority was equally preoccupied with the extraordinary movement which was in course of arising in the town and its vicinity, and which, pervading by degrees the whole Department, had already crossed its limits in the direction of Béarn. 

Although no disorder had occurred, this class, so prone to take umbrage, was rendered uneasy by these pilgrimages, these crowds in a state of pious recollection, and this child in a state of ecstacy.

In the name of liberty of conscience, was there no means of preventing these persons from praying, and above all from praying where they liked?  Such was the problem which official liberalism began to propose to itself.

The different degrees, M. Dutour, Procureur Imperial, M. Duprat, Juge de Paix; the Mayor, the Substitute, the Commissary of Police and many others besides, took and gave the alarm.  A miracle in the midst of the 19th Century, going forth all at once without asking permission and without any preliminary authorization, was viewed by some as an intolerable outrage on civilization, a blow against the safety of the state;  and it was necessary for the honor of our enlightened epoch that this should be set to rights.  The majority of these gentlemen besides, did not believe in the possibility of supernatural manifestations and could not be induced to see anything in it but an imposture or the effects of a malady.  At all events, several of them felt themselves instinctively opposed to any event, of whatever nature which could directly or indirectly tend to increase the influence of Religion, against which they were actuated either by blind prejudices or avowed hatred.

Without returning to the reflections which we made a short time since, it is truly a remarkable thing to see that the Supernatural, whenever it appears in the world, constantly encounters, though under different names and aspects, the same opposition, the same indifference, the same fidelity.  With certain shades of distinction, Herod, Caiaphas, Pilate, Joseph of Arimathea, Peter, Thomas, the Holy Women, the open enemy, the coward, the weak, the feeble, the devoted, the sceptic, the timid, the hero, belong to all times.

The Supernatural, more especially, never escapes the hostility of a party more or less considerable of the official world.  Only this opposition proceeds sometimes from the master, sometimes from his underlings.

The most intelligent of the little band of the functionaries of Lourdes, at that time, was undoubtedly M. Jacomet, although, in a hierachic point of view, M. Jacomet was the lowest of all, inasmuch as he filled the humble post of Commissary of Police.  He was young, of great sagacity in certain circumstances, and gifted with a facility of speaking not found generally among his peers.  His shrewdness was extreme.  No one ever more thoroughly understood the genus “Scoundrel.”  He was wonderfully apt in foiling their tricks, and the anecdotes, on this head, recorded of him are astonishing.  He did not understand so well the ways of honest men.  Quite at ease in complicated affairs, anything simple troubled him.  Truth disconcerted him and excited his suspicions—anything disinterested was an object of distrust to him, and sincerity was a torture to his mind, always on the watch to discover duplicity and evasion.  In consequence of this monomania, Sanctity would, doubtless, have appeared to him the most monstrous of impostures, and would have met no mercy at his hands.  Such whims are frequently found among men of this profession, their employment habituating them to ferret out offences and detect crimes.  They acquire, in the long run, a remarkable restless and suspicious turn of mind, which inspires them with strokes of genius when they have to do with rogues, and enormous blunders when they have to do with honest people.  Though young, M. Jacomet had contracted this strange malady of old police-officers.  In fact, he was like those horses of the Pyrenees, which are sure-footed in the winding and stony mountain-paths, but which stumble every two hundred paces on broad, level roads;  like those night-birds which can only see in the dark, and which, in broad daylight, dash themselves against the walls and trees.

Perfectly satisfied with himself, he was discontented with his position, to which his intelligence rendered him superior.  Hence arose a certain restless pride and an ardent wish to signalize himself.  He had more than influence, he had an ascendancy over his superiors, and he affected to treat the Procureur Imperial and all the other legal functionaries on a footing of perfect equality.  He mixed himself up with everything, domineered everybody, and almost entirely managed the affairs of the town.  In all matters regarding the canton of Lourdes, the Prefect of the Department, Baron Massy, only saw through the eyes of Jacomet.

Such was the Commissary of Police, such was the really important personage of Lourdes when the Apparitions at the Grotto of Massabielle took place.

Chap 19 - Cautious Clergy

This chapter discusses the cautious and prudent approach of the clergy in Lourdes during the early days of Bernadette's apparitions . The priests, led by Abbé Peyramale, chose to remain distant and neutral, carefully observing the events without directly involving themselves. They avoided rushing to judgment, acknowledging the possibility of divine intervention but also recognizing the potential for deception. Their restraint was guided by a desire to protect the integrity of the Church while awaiting further evidence and ecclesiastical judgment.  

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ALL these facts had naturally made a strong impression on the Clergy of the town;  but, with wonderful tact and good sense, they had from the very first assumed the most prudent and reserved attitude.

The Clergy, surprised, like all around them, at the singular event which had so suddenly taken possession of public opinion, were busily engaged in endeavoring to determine its nature.  Whereas the Voltaireanism of the place, in the largeness of its ideas, admitted only one solution as possible, the Clergy perceived several.  The fact might be natural, in which case it was the result of a fine piece of acting or of a most singular malady;  but it might be supernatural, and the question to be solved was whether this Supernatural was diabolical or divine.  God has his miracles, but the Demon has his prestiges.  The clergy were fully aware of all these things, and determined to study extremely carefully the most trifling circumstances of the event in progress.  They had, besides, from the first moment, received the rumor of so surprising a fact with the greatest distrust.  However, it might possibly be of a divine nature, and ought not therefore to be pronounced upon lightly.

The child, whose name had suddenly become so celebrated in the whole country, was entirely unknown to the priests of the town.  Since her return to the house of her parents at Lourdes a period of fifteen days, she had attended the Catechism, but had not been remarked by the Abbé Pomian, who was employed this year in instructing the children of the parish.  He had, however, once or twice asked her questions, but without knowing her name or paying any attention to her outward appearance, lost, as she was, among a crowd of children, and quite unknown as those who come last generally are.

When the whole population were rushing to the Grotto towards the third day of the Quinzaine, demanded by the mysterious Apparition, the Abbé Pomian, wishing to know by sight the extraordinary child of whom every one was talking, called her by name, to take part in the Catechism, as was his custom, when he wished to put questions to any of his little charges.  At the name of Bernadette Soubirous, a little girl, fragile in appearance and meanly dressed, rose from her seat.  The ecclesiastic remarked in her only two things—her simplicity and extreme ignorance in all religious matters.

The parish was presided over at that moment by a priest of whom we must furnish a portrait.

The Abbé Peyramale, then verging on his fiftieth year, had been, for the last two years, curé doyen of the town and canton of Lourdes.  He was, by nature, rough, perhaps somewhat extreme in his love of what was good but softened by Grace, which still, however, now and then suffered glimpses to escape of the primitive stock, knotty, but in the main good, on which the delicate but powerful hand of God had engrafted the Christian and the priest.  His natural impetuosity entirely calmed, as far as he was himself concerned, had turned into pure zeal for the house of God.

In the pulpit, his preaching was always apostolical, sometimes harsh; it persecuted everything of an evil tendency, and no abuse, no moral disorder, from whatever quarter it might proceed, was treated by him with indifference of weakness.  Sometimes the society of the place, whose vices or caprices had been lashed by the burning words of its pastor, had exclaimed loudly against him.  This had never disturbed him, and, with God’s assistance, he had almost always issued victorious from the struggle.

These men with strict ideas of duty are a source of annoyance to many, and they are seldom pardoned for the independence and sincerity of their language.  However, the one in question was forgiven;  for when he was seen trudging through the town with his patched and darned cassock, his coarsely-mended shoes and his old, shapeless, three cornered hat, every one knew that the money which might have been devoted to the wardrobe was employed in succoring the unfortunate.  This priest, austere though he was in morals and severe in doctrine, possessed an inexpressible kindness of heart, and he expended his partrimony in doing good as secretly as he could.  But his humility had not succeeded, as he would have wished, in concealing his life of devotedness.  The gratitude of the poor had found a voice:  besides, in small towns, the private life of an individual is soon exposed to the light of day, and he had become an object of general veneration.  You had only to see the way in which his parishioners took off their hats to him as he passed in the street;  only to hear the familiar, affectionate and pleased accent with which the poor, sitting on the steps of their door, said, “Good morning Monsieur le Curé!”  to divine that a sacred bond, that of good modestly done, united the pastor to his flock.  The Free-thinkers said of him, “He is not always agreeable, but he is charitable and does not care for money.  He is one of the best of men, in spite of his cassock.”  Entirely unrestrained in manner, and overflowing with good-humor in private life, never suspecting any evil, and suffering himself even sometimes to be deceived by people who took advantage of his kindness, he was, in his capacity of priest, prudent even to the verge of distrust in whatever regarded the things of his ministry and the eternal interest of Religion.  The man might sometimes be encroached upon–the priest never.  There are graces attached to a particular state of life.

This eminent priest combined with the heart of an Apostle good sense of rare strength and a firmness of character which nothing could bend when the Truth was in question.  The events of the day could not fail of bringing to light these first-rate qualities.  Providence had not acted without design in placing him at this epoch at Lourdes.

The Abbé Peyramale, placing a strong check on his own somewhat sanguine nature, before permitting his Clergy to take a single step or to show themselves at the Grotto, which he did not even visit himself, determined to wait until these events had assumed some definite character—until proofs had been produced one way or other and judgment had been pronounced by ecclesiastical authority.

He appointed some intelligent laymen, on whom he could depend, to repair to the Rocks of Massabielle every time Bernadette and the multitude proceeded thither, and to keep him, day by day and hour by hour, thoroughly acquainted with what was going on.  But at the same time that he took proper measures to be informed of every particular, he neglected nothing which might prevent the Clergy from being compromised in this affair, the true nature of which was still a matter of doubt.

“Let us remain quiet,” he said to those who were impatient.  “If, on the one hand, we are strictly obliged to examine with extreme attention what is now going on, on the other, common prudence forbids us to mix ourselves up with the crowd which rushes to the grotto chanting canticles.  Let us refrain from appearing there, nor expose ourselves to the risk of consecrating by our presence an imposture or an illusion, or of opposing by a premature decision and hostile attitude, a work which possibly may come from God.”

“As for our going there as mere spectators, the peculiar costume we wear makes that impossible.  The people of the neighborhood, seeing a priest in their midst, would naturally form a group around him, in order that he might walk at their head and intone the prayers.  Now, should he give way to the pressure of the public, or to his own inconsiderate enthusiasm, and it should be discovered later on that these Apparitions were illusions or lies, it is clear to every one to what extent Religion would be compromised in the person of the Clergy.  If they resisted, on the contrary, and later on the work of God became manifest, would not that opposition be attended with the same evil consequences?

“Let us then take no part at the present, since we could but compromise God, either in the works which he intends to accomplish or in the sacred Ministry which he has vouchsafed to confide to us.”

Some, in the ardor of their zeal, urged some course of action.

“No,” he answered them firmly, “we should only be warranted in interfering in the case that some manifest heresy, some superstition or disorder should arise from that quarter.  Then only our duty would be clearly traced out by the facts themselves.  The fruits proving bad we should judge the tree to be bad, and we ought to hasten to the rescue of our flock on the first symptom of evil.  Up to the present moment, nothing of the kind has arisen; on the contrary, the crowd, perfectly recollected, confines itself to praying to the Blessed Virgin and the piety of the faithful seems ever on the increase.  

“Let us then endeavor to wait for the supreme decision which the wisdom of the Bishop shall promulgate touching these events, while we submit ourselves, apart, to a necessary examination.

“If these facts proceed from God, they are in no need of us, and the Almighty will well be able, without our puny aid, to surmount all obstacles and turn every thing to suit his designs.

“If, on the other hand, this work is not from God, He will Himself mark the moment when we ought to interfere and combat in his name.  In a word let providence act.”

Such were the profound reasons and considerations of deep wisdom which determined the Abbé Peyramale formally to prohibit all the priests in his jurisdiction from appearing at the Grotto of Massabielle, as also to abstain from going there himself.

Monseigneur Laurence, Bishop of Tarbes, approved highly of this prudent reserve, and extended even to all the priests of his diocese the prohibition of mixing themselves up in any way in the events at Lourdes.  When any question respecting the pilgrimage of the Grotto was put to a priest, either at the tribunal of Penance or elsewhere, the answer was determined on beforehand:

“We do not go there ourselves, and are consequently unable to pronounce on these facts with which we are not sufficiently acquainted.  But it is plainly allowable for any of the faithful to go there, if such is their pleasure, and examine facts on which the Church has not yet pronounced any decision.  Go, or stay away:  it is not our business to advise you or dissuade you from doing so—neither to authorize nor to forbid you.

It was, we must allow, very difficult to maintain such an attitude of strict neutrality:  for each priest had to struggle on this occasion not only against the force of public opinion, but further against his own individual desire—and that certainly a legitimate one—to assist in person at the extraordinary things, which were, perhaps, on the point of being accomplished.

This line of conduct, however difficult it might be to keep, was nevertheless observed.

In the midst of the whole populations, stirred up all at once like an ocean by a strange unknown blast, and driven towards the mysterious rock where a supernatural Apparition conversed with a child, the entire body of the Clergy, without one single exception, kept aloof and did not make their appearance.  God, who was invisibly directing all things, gave his priests the strength necessary not to give way to this unheard of current, and to remain immovable in the bosom of this prodigious movement.  This immense withdrawal on the part of the Clergy ought to show manifestly that the head and action of men went for nothing in these events, and that we must seek their cause elsewhere, or to speak more correctly, higher.

Chap 18 - Challenges Faced

In this chapter, the narrative continues to explore the life and experiences of Bernadette Soubirous after her visions of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes. The chapter delves into Bernadette's spiritual journey, her growing reputation as a visionary, and the challenges she faces from both supporters and skeptics. It also touches on the development of the Lourdes site as a place of pilgrimage, emphasizing Bernadette's humility and the impact of her experiences on her life. 

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Such were the observations which were exchanged from morning to night among the sagacious intellects which then represented Medicine and Philosophy at Lourdes.

The greater part of these thinkers had seen enough of Bernadette to establish the fact that she was not acting a part.  This satisfied their spirit of inquiry.  From the fact of her evident sincerity, they concluded that she must be either mad or cataleptic.  Their strength of mind did not permit them to admit even the possibility of any other explanation.  When it was suggested to them to study the fact, to see the child, to go to or to revisit the Grotto, to follow in all their details these surprising phenomena, they shrugged their shoulders, laughed as the so-called philosophers only can laugh, and observed, “We know all this by heart.  A crisis of this kind is by no means rare.  Before a month is over, this child will be raving mad and probably paralyzed.”

There were some, however, who were not satisfied with such superficial reasoning.

“Phenomena of this nature are rare,” observed Doctor Dozons, one of the most eminent physicians in the town;  “and for my own part I shall not allow this opportunity of examining them carefully to escape.  The advocates of the Supernatural cast them so often in the teeth of men of our profession, that I should be wanting in curiosity were I not to study attentively and go to the bottom of this much vexed question, de visu and by personal experience, now that they are produced at the present moment under my very eyes.”

M. Dufo, an advocate, and several members of the bar;  M. Pougat, president of the Tribunal, and a great number of other persons, determined to devote themselves, during the fifteen days announced beforehand, to the most scrupulous investigation, and to be as much as possible in the first ranks.  The number of observers increased in proportion to the interest excited by the facts.

Some of the medical profession, some autochthon Socrates’, some local Philosophers, terming themselves Voltaireans to induce others to believe that they had read Voltaire, firmly resisted their own curiosity, and held it a point of honor not to figure among the stupid crowd which was increasing daily in number.  As it almost always happens, the grand principle of these fanatics of Free-thinking was not to examine at all.  In their view, no fact deserved attention which deranged the inflexible dogmas which they had learned in the Credo of their newspaper.  From the heights of their infallible wisdom, at their shop-doors, in front of the cafés, or at the windows of the club, these intellects of the highest order smiled with ineffable disdain as they saw pass by the innumerable stream of humanity which was borne along—by I know not what wild spirit of enthusiasm–toward the Grotto.

Chap 17 - Spreading Excitement

This chapter describes the spreading excitement in Lourdes after Bernadette's visions. Initially, skepticism arose among the locals, with many believing the apparitions were a hoax or a result of hallucinations. However, as more people witnessed Bernadette's sincerity and her ecstatic states during the visions, doubt began to fade. The events drew significant attention, leading to widespread discussions and debates, with some attributing the phenomena to religious experiences and others to medical conditions.

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  ON her return to Lourdes, Bernadette had to inform her parents of the promise she had made to the mysterious Lady, and of the fifteen consecutive days in which she was to repair to the Grotto.  On the other hand, Antoinette and Madame Millet recounted what had past, the marvelous transfiguration of the child during her ecstacy, the words of the Apparition and the invitation to return during the Quinzaine.  The rumor of these strange events spread immediately in every direction, and, being no longer confined to the lower classes, threw the whole society of the country, from very different motives, into the most profound state of agitation.  This Thursday, 18th of February, 1858, was market day at Lourdes.  As usual, the attendance was numerous, so that, the same evening, the news of Bernadette’s visions, whether true or false, was dispersed in the mountains and valleys, at Bagnères, Tarbes, Cautarets, Saint Pé, nay, in all directions in the Department, and in the nearest towns of Béarn.  On the morrow, about a hundred persons were assembled at the Grotto at the moment of Bernadette’s arrival.  The following day, there were not less than four or five hundred;  and, on Sunday morning, the crowd collected was computed at several thousands.

And yet, what did they see?  What did they hear under these wild rocks?  Nothing, absolutely nothing, save a poor child praying, who claimed to see, and who claimed to hear.  The more apparently insignificant the cause, the more inexplicable, humanly speaking was the effect.

“It must be,” argued believers, “either that the reflection from on high was really visible on this child, or that the breath of God which stirs up hearts as it wills, had passed over this multitude.  Spiritus ubi vult spirat.

An electric current, an irresistible power from which no one could escape, appeared to have roused up the entire population at the word of an ignorant shepherd girl.  In the work-shops and yards, in the interior of families, at the parties of the higher classes, among clergy and laymen, at the houses of rich and poor, at the club, in the cafés and hotels, on the squares, in the streets, evening and morning, in public and private, nothing else was talked of.  Whether any one sympathized with or was opposed to it, or, without taking part either way was simply curious and inquisitive to learn the truth, there was not a single individual in the country who was not strongly—I had almost said entirely—engrossed in the discussion of these singular events.

Popular instinct had recognized the personality of the Apparition without waiting for her to declare her name.  “It is, beyond a doubt, the Holy Virgin,” was repeated by the multitude on every side.  In presence of the essentially insignificant authority of a little girl not yet fourteen years of age, who pretended to see and hear what no one around her saw or heard, the philosophers of the place had fair play against Superstition.

This child is not even old enough to take an oath, and her testimony would scarcely be received at any of the tribunals when deposing to the most insignificant fact;  and would you believe her, when the question in point is an impossible event, an Apparition?  Is it not evidently a farce concocted for the sake of raising money by her own family, or by the clerical party?  It only requires two sharp eyes to see through this wretched intrigue.  In less than ten minutes any one of us might have seen through it.

Some of those who held this language determined to see Bernadette, to ask her questions and be present at her ecstacies.  The child’s answers were simple, natural, free from contradictions, and given with an accent of truth which it was impossible to mistake, so as generally to produce the conviction in the most prejudiced minds of her entire sincerity.  With regard to her ecstacies, those who had seen at Paris the greatest actresses of our day, agreed that art could not go so far.  The supposition of the whole thing being a piece of acting, could not hold out against the evidence of four and twenty hours.

The Savants, who at first had permitted the philosophers to decide the point, now took a high tone.

“We know this state perfectly well,” they declared.  “Nothing is more natural.  This little girl is sincere, perfectly sincere in her answers;  but she is in a state of hallucination.  She fancies she sees, and does not see:  she believes she hears, and does not hear.  As regards her ecstacies—in which she is equally sincere—they are not acted nor do they proceed from art.  It is a purely medical question.  The young Souberous suffers from attacks of a certain malady:  she is cataleptic.  In a derangement of the brain, complicated with a muscular and nervous agitation, we have a full explanation of the phenomena which makes so much noise among the vulgar.  Nothing is more simple.”

The little weekly newspaper of the locality, Le Lavedan, an advanced journal which habitually appeared behind its time, deferred its issue a day or two in order to speak of this event, and, in as hostile an article as it could produce, summed up the lofty speculations of philosophy and medicine, elaborated by the clear heads of the place.  From that moment—that is to say, from the Friday night and the Saturday—the idea of the whole thing being a piece of acting had been abandoned in face of the clearness of the facts, and the free-thinkers did not return to it any more, as may be proved by all the newspapers then issued.

In conformity with the universal tradition of High Criticism in matters of religion, the excellent editor of the Lavedan commenced with a little spice of calumny and insinuated that Bernadette and her companions were thieves.

“Three young children had gone to pick up some branches of trees which had been felled near the gates of the city.  These girls, being surprised in the very act by the proprietor, fled as quick as their legs could carry them to one of the grottos, which are contiguous to the forest road of Lourdes.”

The Free-thinkers have always written History in this manner.  After this straight-forward action, which proved his good-will and admirable sense of justice, the editor of the Lavedan  gave a tolerably correct account of what had taken place at the Rocks of Massabielle.  Indeed, the facts were too notorious and had been witnessed by too many to be denied.

“We will not relate,” he added, “the innumerable versions which have been given on this subject;  we will only say that the young girl goes every morning to pray at the entrance of the Grotto,—a taper in her hand—and escorted by more than five hundred persons.  There she may be seen passing from the greatest state of collectedness to a sweet smile, and falling once more into the highest state of ecstacy.  Tears escape from her eyes, which are perfectly motionless, and remain constantly fixed on that part of the Grotto where she fancies she sees the Blessed Virgin.  We shall make our readers acquainted with the further progress of this adventure, which finds every day new adepts.”

Not a word of acting or jugglery.  They knew well that this hypothesis fell to the ground on your first conversation with Bernadette, on your first glance at her ecstacy and the tears which momentarily inundated her cheeks.  The excellent Editor affected to pity her, in order to induce others to believe that she was in invalid.  He never mentioned her without calling her, in accents of gentle compassion, “the poor visionary.”  “Everything,” he said, from the opening of his article, “leads to the supposition that this young girl suffers from an attack of catalepsy.”

“Hallucination,” “catalepsy,” were the two great words in the mouths of the savants at Lourdes.  “Be sure of one thing,” they often said, “there is no such thing as anything supernatural.  Science has abolished it.  Science explains everything, and in science alone can you find anything certain.  It compares and judges and looks to nothing but facts.  The supernatural was all very well in those ignorant ages when the world was brutalized by superstition and unable to observe things accurately;  But, in the present day, we defy its being brought forward, for we are here.  In the present instance, we have an example of the stupidity of the common people.  Because a little girl is out of health, and, when attacked by fever, has all kinds of crotchets in her head, these blockheads loudly proclaim a miracle.  Human folly must, indeed, be boundless to see an Apparition in what does not appear, and detect a voice in what is heard by no one.  Let this pretended Apparition cause the sun to stand still, like Joshua;  let her strike the rock, like Moses, and make water gush from it;  let her cure those pronounced incurable;  let her, in some way or other, command nature as its mistress––then we will believe.  But who does not know that things of this nature never do happen and never have happened.”

Chap 16 - The Virgins Request

In this chapter, Bernadette and her companions, Antoinette and Madame Millet, face a challenging journey to reach the Grotto of Massabielle. Despite the difficulties, Bernadette is filled with energy and reaches the Grotto first, where she experiences another apparition of the Virgin Mary. The Virgin asks Bernadette to visit the Grotto daily for fifteen days and promises her happiness in the afterlife., The chapter highlights Bernadette's deep faith and the growing significance of the Grotto as a sacred place.

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THE repairs of M. de Lafitte’s mill had been completed, and the mill-stream restored to its usual channel, so that it was impossible to reach their place of destination by Ile du Chalet, as had been the case on the former occasion.  It was necessary to scale the side of the Espélugnes, taking a miserable road which led to the forest of Lourdes, and then descend by a breakneck path to the Grotto, in the midst of the rocks and steep and sandy declivity of Massabielle.

Bernadette’s companions were somewhat afraid on meeting these unexpected difficulties.  She herself, on the contrary, on reaching the place felt her heart thrill, and was impatient to arrive at the Grotto.  It seemed to her as if some invisible being bore her along and lent her unwonted energy.  Though usually so frail, she felt herself strong at that moment.  Her step became so rapid in ascending the hill, that Antoinette and Madame Millet, strong and young as they were, experienced some difficulty in following her.  Her asthma which usually obliged her to walk slowly, seemed for the moment to have disappeared.  She was neither out of breath nor tired when she reached the summit.  While her companions were bathed with perspiration, her visage was calm and tranquil.  She descended the rocks, though for the first time in her life, with the same ease and activity, being conscious as it were of some invisible supporter by whom she was guided and sustained.  On these almost peaked declivities, in the midst of these rolling stones, on the edge of the abyss, her step was as firm and fearless as if she had been walking on the broad and level surface of a high-road.  Madam Millet and Antoinette did not venture to follow her at this, to them, impossible pace, but descended slowly and cautiously, as was indeed necessary in so perilous a path.

Bernadette accordingly reached the Grotto a few moments before them.  She prostrated herself and commenced to recite her chaplet, gazing at the same time on the niche, festooned with the branches of the wild rose, which was still empty.

All at once she uttered a cry.  The well-known brilliancy of the aureola began to shed its rays within the cavern.  A voice, which called her, became audible.  The marvelous apparition stood there once more a few paces above her.  The admirable Virgin inclined her head, all-luminous with eternal serenity, toward the child, and with a motion of her hand signed to her to draw near.

Just at this moment Bernadette’s two companions, Antoinette and Madame Millet, arrived, after having gone through the most painful exertions.  They perceived the features of the child to be in a state of ecstatic transfiguration.

She heard and saw them.

“She is there,” she said.  “She makes a sign for me to advance.”

“Ask her if she is angry at our being with you.  Should such be the case, we will retire.”

Bernadette regarded the Virgin, invisible to all save herself, listened for a moment and turned again toward her companions.

“You may remain,” she answered.

The two women kneeled down by the side of the child and lighted a wax taper which they had brought with them.

It was doubtless the first time since the creation of the world that a light of the kind had shone in this wild spot.  This act so simple, which seemed to inaugurate a sanctuary, had in itself a mysterious solemnity.

Under the supposition that the Apparition was divine, this sign of visible adoration, this lowly little flame lighted by two poor country women, would never more be extinguished, but would increase in volume from day to day through the long series of future ages.  In vain would the breath of incredulity exhaust itself in efforts, in vain would the storm of persecution arise;  this flame, fed by the faith of the people would continue to mount towards the throne of God, steady and inextinguishable.  While these rustic hands, doubtless unconscious of the importance of the act, lighted the flame for the first time with so much simplicity in this unknown grotto in which a child was praying, the dawn, first of silvery whiteness, had assumed successively golden and purple tints, and the sun, which despite the clouds, was shortly to inundate the earth with his light, began to appear from behind the crest of the mountains.

Bernadette in an ecstacy of delight contemplated the faultless beauty.  Tota pulchra es, amica mea, et macula non est in te.

Her companions addressed themselves to Bernadette afresh.

“Advance towards Her since She calls you and makes signs to you.  Approach.  Demand from Her who she is, and why She comes here?  Is it a soul from Purgatory that entreats for prayers and would have Masses said for it?  Beg her to write on this piece of paper what She wishes.  We are disposed to do all she desires, all that may be necessary for her repose.”

The youthful Seer took the paper, pen and ink handed to her and advanced toward the Apparition, who seeing her approach encouraged her with a Mother’s glance.

However, at each step which the child took, the Apparition drew back by degrees into the interior of the cavern.  Bernadette lost sight of her for a moment and entered under the vault of the grotto from below.  There, always above her but much nearer in the opening of the niche, she saw again the radiant Virgin.

Bernadette, holding in her hands the writing materials which had just been given her, stood on tiptoe in order to be able to reach with her tiny arms the height where the supernatural Being was standing.

Her two companions also advanced with the object of trying to hear the conversation about to be engaged in.  But Bernadette without turning and apparently in obedience to a gesture of the Apparition, signed to them with her hand not to approach.  Covered with confusion they retired a little on one side.

“O Lady,” said the child, “if you have anything to communicate to me, would you have the kindness to inform me in writing who you are and what you desire?

The divine Virgin smiled at this simple request.  Her lips opened and she spoke.

“There is no occasion,” she replied, “to commit to writing what I have to tell you.  Only do me the favor to come here every day for fifteen days.”

“I promise you this,” exclaimed Bernadette.

The Virgin smiled anew and made a sign of being satisfied, thereby showing her entire confidence in the word of this poor peasant-girl who was but fourteen years old.

She knew that the little shepherd-girl of Bartrès was like those pure children whose fair heads Jesus loved to caress, saying:  “Of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

She also replied to the promise of Bernadette by a solemn engagement.

“And I,” she said, “I promise to render you happy, not in this but in the other world.”

Bernadette, without losing sight of the Apparition, returned to her companions.

She remarked that the Virgin while She followed her Herself with Her eyes, suffered Her gaze to remain for upwards of a moment with an expression of kindness on Antoinette Peyret, the unmarried one of the two, who was a member of the Congregation of the Children of Mary.  She repeated to them what was passing.

“She is gazing on you at this moment,” said the youthful Seer to Antoinette.

The latter was deeply impressed by these words, and since that time has been living on this souvenir.

“Ask Her,” said they, “if it would be displeasing to Her if we were to accompany you here every day during the fifteen days?”

Bernadette put the question to the Apparition.

“They may return with you,” replied the Virgin, “and others besides.  I desire to see many persons here.”

In saying these words she disappeared, leaving behind her that luminous brightness which had surrounded her, and which itself vanished by degrees.

On this as on other occasions the child remarked a peculiarity which seemed to be as it were the law of the aureole with which the Virgin was constantly surrounded.

When the vision takes place,” she said in her way of speaking, “I see the light first and then the ‘Lady’; when the vision ceases it is the ‘Lady’ that disappears first and the light afterwards.”

Chap 15 - Questions

In Chapter 15 of "Our Lady of Lourdes," many people from the lower classes come to question Bernadette about her visions. Despite her simplicity, her sincerity convinces those who speak with her. However, doubts remain, and some question whether the apparition might be a spirit in need of prayers. Bernadette, urged by an internal impulse, revisits the Grotto with Antoinette Peyret and Madam Millet after receiving permission from her parents. 

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DURING the first days of the week, many persons of the lower classes came to the house of the Souberous’ to put questions to Bernadette.  The child’s answers were clear and precise.  She might possibly be laboring under an illusion, but no one could see her or hear her speak without being convinced of her good faith.  Her perfect simplicity, her innocent youth, and the irresistible emphasis on her language, something,—what I know not, in all this,—inspired confidence, and most frequently produced conviction.  All those who saw her and conversed with her, were entirely convinced of her veracity, and fully persuaded that something very extraordinary had taken place at the Rocks of Massabielle.

  However, the mere declaration of a little ignorant girl could not suffice to establish a fact so entirely out of the ordinary course of things.  Stronger proofs were necessary than the word of a child. 

  Besides, what was the nature of this Apparition, even granting its reality?  Was it a spirit of light, or an angel from the abyss?  Was it not some soul in a state of suffering wandering to and fro and demanding the prayers of others?  Or further, such or such a one who had died long ago in the country in the odor of piety, and whose glory was now being made manifest?  Faith and superstition–each proposed their hypotheses.

  Might it have been the funereal ceremonies of Ash-Wednesday which served to incline a young girl and a lady of Lourdes to one of these solutions? Did the glittering whiteness of the attire of the Apparition suggest to their minds the idea of a shroud and a phantom?  We know not. The young girl was called Antoinette Peyret, a member of the Congregation of the Children of Mary;  the other was Madame Millet.

  “It is doubtless some soul from Purgatory which entreats for Masses,” thought they.

  And they went in search of Bernadette.

  “Ask this Lady who she is and what she wishes,” said they to her.  “Let her explain this to you, or, as you may not be able to understand her well, let her commit it to writing, which would be still better.”

  Bernadette, who was strongly urged by some internal impulse to re-visit the Grotto, obtained fresh permission from her parents, and the following morning at about six o’clock, with the break of dawn, after having assisted in the church at the half-past five o'clock Mass, she proceeded in the direction of the Grotto, accompanied by Antoinette Peyret and Madam Millet.

Chap 14 - Filled With Joy

 

In this chapter, Bernadette returns to Lourdes filled with joy, while her companions are fearful of the supernatural events they have witnessed. The story of Bernadette's visions begins to spread throughout the town, causing a mix of reactions among the people. Despite her parents' doubts about the reality of the apparition, Bernadette's  sincerity causes them to waver in their skepticism. The chapter ends with Bernadette refraining from returning to the Grotto until the following Thursday.

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ON her way back to Lourdes, Bernadette was filled with joy.  She pondered in the depth of her soul on these strikingly extraordinary events.  Her companions experienced a kind of vague terror.  The transfiguration of Bernadette’s countenance had proved to them the reality of a supernatural apparition. Everything that exceeds nature is a source of terror to it.  “Depart from us, Lord, lest we should die,” was the exclamation of the Jews in the Old Testament.

  “We are afraid, Bernadette.  Let us not return here again.  Perhaps what you have seen comes to do us harm,” said her timid companions to the youthful Seer.

  The children returned, according to promise, in time for Vespers.  When the office was over, the fineness of the weather attracted many of the inhabitants to prolong their walk as they chatted together, enjoying the last rays of the sun, so mild in these splendid winter days.  The story of the little girls circulated here and there among these various groups.  By this means, a rumor of these strange events began to be spread abroad in the town.  The report, which at first had only agitated a humble knot of children, grew rapidly in proportion like a wave, and penetrated from one to another into the masses of the population.  The quarriers, very numerous in that part of the country, the seamstresses, the artisans, the peasants, the female servants, the nurses, the poorer classes in general, talked of this asserted apparition among themselves—some believing, others disputing it;  some only laughing at it, while many exaggerated it.  With one or two exceptions, the bourgeoisie did not even take the trouble of thinking for a moment about such childish stories.  

  Singularly enough, Bernadette’s father and mother, though fully convined of their child’s sincerity, regarded the Apparition as an illusion.

  “She is but a child, they said.  “She fancied she saw something, but she has not seen anything.  It is only the imagination of a young girl.”

  However, the extraordinary preciseness of Bernadette’s story puzzled them.  At times, carried away by the earnestness of their daughter, they felt themselves shaken in their incredulity.  Much as they wished her not to return to the Grotto, they did not venture actually to forbid her doing so.

  However, she did not return there until the following Thursday.

Chap 13 - Holy Water

 

In this chapter, Bernadette receives permission from her mother to return to the Grotto with her companions. Once there, she again sees the Virgin Mary and follows her friends advice to sprinkle holy water on the apparition. The Virgin remains peaceful, and Bernadette's conviction grows stronger, deepening her spiritual connection. The encounter continues to draw curiosity from others and solidifies the significance of these visions for Bernadette.

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THE sun rose brightly on the Sunday morning, and the weather was splendid.  There are often in the valleys of the Pyrenees, days warm and mild, like those of spring, which seem to have strayed into the lap of winter.

  On returning from Mass, Bernadette begged her sister Marie, Jeanne and some other girls, to urge her mother to remove her prohibition and to permit them to re-visit the Rocks of Massabielle.

  “Perhaps it is something wicked,” said the chilren.

  Bernadette replied that she could not believe such to be the case, as she had never seen a countenance of such marvelous goodness.

  “At all events,” rejoined the little girls, who, being better educated than the poor shepherd-girl of Bartrés, knew a little of the catechism—“at all events, you must throw some holy water over it.  If it is the Devil, he will depart.  You shall say to it, if you come on the part of God, approach;  if you come from the Devil, depart.”

  This was not precisely the formulary for exorcism;  but in point of fact these little theologians of Lourdes reasoned on the case with as much prudence and discretion as any Doctor in the Sorbonne.

  It was therefore carried in this youthful council, to take some holy water with them.  Besides, in consequence of all these conversations, a certain amount of apprehension had entered the mind of Bernadette.

  Nothing remained now but to obtain permission.  The children demanded this in a body after the mid-day repast.  The mother was at first unwilling to grant their request, alleging that as the Gave flowed by and washed the Rocks of Massabielle, their going there might be attended with danger;  the the hour of Vespers—which they must on no account miss—was near at hand, and that all this story was childish.  But we know how difficult it is to resist the prayers and entreaties of a troop of children.  All promised prudence, expedition and good behavior, and the Mother ended by giving way.

  The little group proceeded to the Church and devoted a few moments to prayer.  One of Bernadette’s companions had brought with her a pint bottle which was duly filled with holy water.

  On their first arrival at the Grotto, there was no manifestation of any kind.

  “Let us pray,” said Bernadette, “and recite the chaplet.”

  The children accordingly kneeled down, and commenced to recite the Rosary.

  All at once the countenance of Bernadette appeared to be transfigured, and was so in reality.  An extraordinary emotion was depicted on her countenance, and her glance, more brilliant than usual, seemed to inhale a divine light.

  The marvelous apparition had just become manifest to her eyes;  her feet resting on the rock, and clothed as on the former occasion.

  “Look!” she said;  “she is there.”

  Alas!  the sight of the other children was not miraculously released, as was her own, from the veil of flesh which hinders us from distinguishing spiritualized bodies.  The little girls perceived naught but the solitary rock and the branches of the wild rose which descended in a thousand wild arabesques to the base of the mysterious niche, in which Bernadette contemplated an unknown Being.

  However, the expression of Bernadette’s countence was of such a nature, as to leave no room for doubt.  One of the girls placed the bottle of holy water in the hands of the youthful Seer.

  Then Bernadette, remembering the promise she had made, rose, and shaking the little bottle briskly several times, sprinkled the marvelous Lady, who stood, graciously, a few paces in front of her in the interior of the niche.

  “If you come on the part of God, approach,” said Bernadette.

  At these words and actions of the child, the Virgin bowed several times and advanced almost to the edge of the rock.  She appeared to smile at the precautions and hostile weapons of Bernadette, and her countenance lighted up at he sacred name of God.

  “If you come on the part of God, draw near,” repeated Bernadette.

  But, when she observed her beauty so gloriously brilliant and so resplendent with celestial goodness, she felt her heart fail her at the moment of adding —“If you come on the part of the Devil, depart.”  These words which had been dictated to her appeared monstrous in the presence of this incomparable Being, and they fled forever from her thought without having mounted to her lips.

  She prostrated herself afresh and continued to recite the chaplet, to which the Virgin appeared to listen as her own beads glided through her fingers. 

  At the close of this prayer the Apparition vanished.