li. .1 IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // 1.0 I.I :^ 1^ 112.0 HJ4 • ■ 1.25 1.4 1 1.6 < 6" ► ■2 ^ «J>1'»' fliotographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 145S0 (716)872-4503 mc'^ i-V ^v ^ ■^.>'' *rhite robe, all res- plendent and of a material unknown to earth. A large plain white veil, like the dress, covered her head and shoulders and the whole body reaching to the ground. The feet, were bare, and seemed to rest on the wild rose-bush. Two bright roses of a gold color adorned the upper part of the Virgin's feet. Her hands were clasped on her breast as if in fervent prayer ; she held a long rosary, as white as snow, whose beads seemed joined by a chain of glittering gold ; a beautiftil golden cross as bright as the gold of the roses, hung from the rosary. Entranced with admiration, the humble child could not believe her eyes. From the midst of the light, the beautiful Lady smiled most sweet- ly on her. She seemed to salute her with her hands, and kindly bent her head. Bernadette rubbed her eye6, instinctively B I 10 sought in her pocket, took out her rosary ; and, to protect herself, attempted to make the sign of the cross. But her hand fell powerlesjs. At that moment; the Lady took, with the right hand, the crpss 9f the rosary which hung from her left wrist, made the sign of the cross, and by a smile of ineffable benignity seemed to say to the child ; do as I do. The child imitated her, and her arm freely obeyed. The Lady clasped the hands and passed the beads of her rosary between her ifingers. Bernadette recited the chapelet. Her sister had been watching her for a moment. She saw her pale, with eyes fixed ; she remarked the double movement of her arm, the motionless and attentive attitude of prayer. " Stop, said she to her companion ; look at Bernadette praying." " "What an idea to come here to pray ! ans- wered the other. It is quite enough to pray in church !^— Bah let her do it. She can do nothing else." They paid no farther attention to Ber- nadette, who was all the time motionless, on her knees, looking at the mysterious Lady. The Lady, with ravishing grace and goodness beckoned her to approach. Bernadette dare not stir. At last, the Lady held out her arms, gently bent her head, smiled as if saying fare- well......... 'X Bernadette saw once more the cold rock, the bare rose-bush, heard and saw her companions plapng. The heavenly vision had disappeared. 11 mpanion ; BernadetteiiTOse, bared her feet quickly, cross- ed the stream, and approaching her two com- panions, said to them in a voice still much agitated : " Have you seen nothing ? " And as the children quietly answered that they had not, she was silent ; and all three together ^set out on the road to Lourdes. However, questioned by her little sister, she finally related to her th« details of what she had seen, but making her promise to keep the secret. Her mother having heard of the occutfeiice, would not believe it, and told Bernadette that it was all imagination, and forbade her to return to the grotto. She feared that it tdight be some snare of the devil for the child. Bernadette kept silent ; but her little heart was oppressed. At the evening prayers, she burst out sobbing", when she came to her favorite invocation ! " ® Maby conceived without sin pray for us yrho have recourse to thee."— She, dear child^ did nbt however sui&pect thai, the apparition in the grotto was the Blessed Virgin ; but since she had^y^/- Beriiadetfe put tl^e qtiefetionL ;^toS' ^he -Blessed yii'giii;*trtt6 :5I<>tKer of Mprcy, q-o^ vvetl^d^: **T/i' rMrn with y^^; %ey, and Lnd she disappeared- , ' . ' V. • THE ii^IRST ttlREfi'^AYS Ol^ t^^ TWO MlUA^^ ; ^V! Ed-tdiette^^ twb' cdirii^i^i^is r^lat^if^i;^ lifer »^ents«Uirthat4h^y hkd seesri and he4rd. 1^Uj6h *fv^^+^dith^ %6ptt to belief e: iJelrriadett^ re-' d all that the4aa3^^6ft^ffl;ottHhadsaj^/ md hO# she h^d^&.a'de/tti^ prBfaise ' W lietulrn = Mfe mm dkf m- fifi^^ri a^yl:'^'' ; ;i^^^>f^ >^- ^^ ^t th^^^tow^^f; aiiar'bym^ mly tke^hole towtt^ Of Birttxd^sjhtil jthti iniiuia-' litis aiidfWleysi^all tti^'OoiltitiTf'krottAd,: '' '; '• If the apparition is real," was geneif^lly s*iid^ l! 18 " it is certainly the Blessed Virgin who is ap- peo^ring to Bernadette." On Friday, the I9th, whea at dawn, little Bernadette accompanied l>y her father and iqidther, arrived in front qf the grotto, she found about a hundred persons alreiidy there. From that timei, the crowd of spiectators increased e(very morning ; on the 20th tl^ere were four or five hiin4red at the grotto ;. on sunday, the 21st several thousands. They were everywhere around the grotto, and eyen^pi^ the common be- yond the stream. • The child's mother had the happiness of see- ing with her own eyes her daughter as if en- tranced, in ecstasy, by the presence of the ap- parition ; like all the spectators, she sav{ that little face, so humble and so plain in its natural state, all at once illuminated and transfigured. All who saw Berna4^tte in ecstasy declared that they never b&eldloa^y thing like it on earth, aiid that long years after> tl\eir impression^f it wajs as yiyiji i^ on ,the filr^t day, • . .^A^, to the lijftle se^r j(iyo^«^^ as she was henceforth calte4, »he knielt aown befpr^ the grptko, tj:>Qk'Jf|^T) rosary and prayed as if she» were alone. EyeryiHing about l^r breathiatd im^o- C(ei?Lpe, triith, and canidqr. jThe heaveiil,y appa- riiipn <}ii^a.ppeared ahnp^t i^^ays at the. i^tant wjienjbj^^ f^yore4iittlepne. had finished; her rosary. t*lie people^ jv^^^ and re^peci&llv^,,,,/ \ " '' -rum^ h ■ 1J> On Sunday, the 21st, the Blessed Virgin ap- peared as usual to her little friend. She smiled at Bern8tdette,'ahd gtaciouslv saluted her with her head and by a gestuirb of the hand. '^ ' At one moihetet the apparition seemed to draw back, and as if t6 glide into the interior of Ithe rock. So as riot to lose sight of her, the [child approached the edge of the ca,Yern, drajg- ging herself along on her knees i and noticing that the face of the beautifur Lady had all at jonce becoihe sad, and sorrowful ; ** What is the [matter ? " sh^ Teritured to say ; " what niTist be [done? " — ^^ Ptay for sUtfihrs, " ariSwered the [Mother of Mercy. And the spectators saw two llar^e tears roll down Beriiadettie|s cheeks, whilst [her eyeej, fixed 6n Ma;by, reimfiiined wide open. Toy soon appeared a^in on the child's face, >ecause that of th«e Virgfin had recip'tered its ;race and ^ cici^efifty. AfteEr w^iich,* she disapp'^" red.- '■ '^/' ■ ''■'■ V7 ^1;?- : )ili ' y hi; lONTRADICTIOJSrS AND PERSEdt^TlONS stlFFERiED BY POOR lilTTM; BEUINjIDETTE. The works of tb6g6odQ-od are always crossed >y the rage of the deyil and by tlie ignorance )r the pasiEridns of men. The gr^at things which ^ere passilig and being prepared ^ii the grotto >f Lourdeis, for the glory of O^od and the salvation f ; j! of, S0|^.^, . wer^ tb^^ijeipj*? p^rimp^ly ftt^v?ke(J and misrepresented. ' , {. ,* ,: , Some cried iQpt " Supexstitipn,, illusion, ^lly." " This little girl ii^ insane," sai4 \h^y i > /** she m\w\ be shut .ups-7,,, r Thiafphild |e plftying a dis- gra,c<^ft^l farce. Justice shp^^ interfere, pually, others a littl^ more i][iod.^rate.apjd,tietterpofitA?d, adinitted t^a^t tfey^QO.uld n^ do.ulit eithj^^r.of the cMld's qau^or of pi;pbif y , \ ,*-*! t ii^ sipiply^ /' «^d4ed they, ** a | n;^^ui[al p)(jeu9i|[ienM^, » which. , i^oia^^s yri^hin jthe,)rang^,pf,mQ^ciup. i, j^et,^,p^ypiipian ^x,amin^' th^ ^ng, ^Ip^^^ly^^jOif fi , cevteiinly-, .t^i,ese so-cajled visipns will melt,;^way \like snow,. in i^psi4e dQ>yni. ^jhe Qpmmisfiary, of, policy,, i^ the 'df^xno(f^ oi; tj^p,i |^me;,Sunf}^y,.^,ihe, people yiferie cpming mii fj:owi;yesp€^rs^,^en.^{One.pl!ws ageiit?, .^ho. jn^ing,^^^ %^^gfe.t)^€> ,crow4 which siirrounded and was questioning popj Bernadette, had the courage to arrest her " in the name of the law," an^^o the just indignation of all. " Follow me to the commissary of police," ^'^ Ijie to,the SfhM^ rp,^^^^ ay k mi^\ i vki/tj iv v But it Vk\sf px^Jjf^^ QSi^gj^t }:^Y ^^)yd dpYie. The crafty commissary used every means : employ- ^l^f^.^pMfi^^^mi Wftit W9^,th^.,tT.W(iwiii|ch disc(a^c^T|te4f a^% y)h d^iXf^tvymi t!^e few^ ^^rivilie^^ child. Thfe! examination bad lasted a full hour. The commissary Ivas furious. Outside the crowd were indignant and were becoitoing threatening. Fathei Soubirous aj)peared to <^laim his child ; ^* For this titoe,I»pardqn her, " said the conimis- s.ary;;if* but in ease oif^ second offeanee, she shall be puli in prison . ; ; Y^ou rJoMOW ihat ^e Provn- reur Imperial djoes hot jest. " Andv dismissed, by a fenttalgesture^&e father and child returned home,; to the great sjitigfacti^n of the crowd. U Khysieians and those who. i miedestly called, themselves "> men of j^cieuice, "5 rsuceeeded no befcten. On Snufday^^ th^ 21ftt, one of flie best physicians of Loujfdes^ Doctor ? Dozbnis, wished ta observer Minseifrthe^ " oateleptic or ihysterical symptomis; ••: wihichy laocording: td hitny must 'ex- plajin all. H^ 4herefdre went early to thfe grotto, and ;^laced himselif luear Bernadettfe, so las to :better^^amineithem.! !<[•«! -^ ,MMi%.y;^h.tu ..r-irfq He was bewildexed : hot oj^4 of the symj^tcAns I of these; strange diseases, perifectly known t6\ medicine^ were hearer anianifestied. All absorbed as she wagiin the contemplation of the Blessed I Vjirgiuy the , childr had ho wevea? perfect con's* > Iciousne^S of all that was! passini^ around her ;: her taper ^oinar.'6ut, she inimediatrty held out her. handr-to have it relighted, and some one attempting to touch the ros^^bush in the cavern :,) ( ; i I ; <: : it ! 22 with a stick, she quickly made a sign to slop, and her face expressed fear. " This, " said the doctor, " is not the stifiness of catalepsy, nor the hallacinatioh vnih its unconscionsness ; this is an extraordinary case of an order altogether unknown to medicine. " He took hold of Bernadette's arm ; it Was flexible and perfectly supple. He felt her puke : the pulsation was tranquil, regular, entirely normal. No symptom whatever of disease. Decidedly ** science " Was at fault. In spite of this, the opposition continued and became real persecution. The commissary of police was indignant. A Warrant was issued against the innocent child ; and Bernadette, declared insane, by the prefect, waft on the point of being taken from her l;)«rents to be shut up in a lunatic asylum. "Without the truly sacerdotal energy of the venerable pastor of Lourdes, the crime would hav^ beien perpe^ trated. "This child is innocent," cried the priest, indignantly, when the Procureur Imperiaf, and the mayor of Lourdes, came to announce the prefect's decision ; " this child is innocent. Yoti could find no pretext upon which to pro- secute her. Such a measure will be the most odious persecution, the more odious that it strikes a poor defenceless creature. The pre- IV^ct cannot, by any law, have Bernad^tte arres- tf»d. "As a priest, as pastor of this parish, I owe a duty to «tll, and especially to the weakest. 28 , '* I know my duty as a pastor. Go, then, and tell the Prefect that his officers will find me at the threshold of this poor famiily, and that tiiey shall have to pass over my body, before they touch a hair of this poor little girrs .head. Make inquiries, you are free to do so ; [but if you wish to strike the innocent, know, [that before reaching the least and humlest of my>£ock» it is by me you must commence Jl. They dared not go fartner, and the innocent child was saved by the Blessed Virgin in. the {iirst place, then, by the courage and faith of the Abbe PeyramaliB. That excellent priest had more right than any other to take Bernadette's cause in hand, for, since the commencement of the apparitions, he had maintained the most prudent, the most perfect reserve, relative to the occurences in the grotto. He had exacted this same reticence from his assistants, leaving to time in the first [place, and then to his Bishop, the care of deter- mining in. a definite manner the real character [of the mysterious apparitions. As to Beruadette, she had much to suffer Ihefore the evidence of the truth and power of [the immaculate Virgin should have triumphed [over tall obstacles. jQne djiy, during the apparition, the commis- jary of police and the general of militia carried th^ir insolence so far as to attempt to. put them* selves, so to saVv between Bernadettfe and the 24 I Mother of Grod. They placed thems^A'^es before the child in her ecstasy, and tried to disturb her. Bat her indi^naiit god-mother energeti- cally defended the freedom of the littte one, who was doing no harm and whom none had the right to annoy; i < • 1 Several times Bernadette's parents were threa- tened, as well as :herselll But nothing could subdue the quiet firmness of the poor child. This was what reassured her frightened reiati- vesi She repeated -to them : ^'They will not do air that they say, and 0od is stronger than they are. Dot not fear. Do as I do * I am not aiVaid. If they, put me in p-rison, they will have the trouble of taking me out again. ^' ^ j ' ^A. M' i "This annoyance' and persecution lasted for several months. But let us return to the story of the marvelous apparitions. ^ < *il'|i^* J , { ti * i .' t » I ,t . ' -.u: V THE FtFTH DAY OF THE ' FORTNiaHT. ^ ^ Oil returning home, after th6 storAiy sceiie with the commissary bf police, Bernadette's father had forbidden her to return to the grotto; With a swelling heart, the child subhiitted. She knew ilD mote hiQW toi disobey, than idke did how to lie: i , i •' On Mondaiyv February 22nd, she wa« mwi earlv tor scHooLwh^re other ttials awaited hei*. ox Besides the privation which had been imposed upon het she was grieved at seeing herself tur- ned into ridicule by soliie of the school children. The poor child kilew not what to do ; she did not wish to disobey her father and yet she thought she was doing wrong in not keeping the promise which she had made to the myste- rious Lady, so beautiful, so kiiid, so beloved. The good God himself took care to remove the difficulty. When Bernadette came out of school to go home, a strange, irresistible force took i:)Ossession of her, and urged her like a leaf car- ried by the wind, towards the grotto. She reached there without w^ell knowing how. A considerable crowd had been there all the morning, vainly awaiting the little seer. But alas ! Bernadette might pray, watch, say the rosary over and over again ; nothing appea- red. A long time passed thus. Much grieved (the child went away in tears. Assailed by a [thousand questions, she answered, her eyes red with crying : " To-day the Lady did not appear I to me. I sayr nothing." Many people mocked I her. " Other days, " said Bernadette, I saw her as I see you ; and we spoke tog :^ \i One morning, a coleljpve you, imagine that it is the Blessed Virgin Marjj. But take care ; you alone «ay you see Ler;ifyou falsely pretend to see her in the jrotto, you are taking the way never to see her |n Heaven. " "I do not know if it is the Blessed ""irgin. Father, " answered the child ; " but I see the vision as I see you, and she speaks to oae as truly as you igpeak tome. And I come [o tell you, from her^ that she wants a shrine to )e raised to her at the Rocks of Massabielle, rh^re she appears to me, ". t i ^ Much agitated, ith^ good Father Peyramde lade h^r repeat the very words used by the so 'iiii Lady at tlie grotto. " After having confided to me the secret which concerns me and which I can not reveaJ to any one, " said the childi'"the Lady add^d : * J4/^fl? ndw, go and tell the priest that a shrine Must be erected here, and that people come in procession to it,^-^ After a moment's teflection^ the pastor rej)lied : " I can not take yonr word for thii^, you linders- tand: Tell this Lady that she must make her- self known. If she is the Blessed Virgin, let her show it by some miracle. Sh6 appears to you, you tell me, on a wild rose-bush ? -■ It is now February ; tell her, from me; that if feire Wishes a shrine built, she must make the rose^ bush bloom." And he dismissed her. ^ /What had passed between the child and th^ priest was soon known in the town. Curiosity and excitement were general ; and several free- thinkers of the neighbourhood resolved to ^gO henceforth to the grotto, in order to assist at th^ exposure of the " superstition. " xn. <>^ ^ tfhf APPARITION OP WEDNESDAY, trEBRtTARlT 24TH— SECOND SECRET, A^ND EXORTATION TO n t:w pENANdB. * ^ nm'/* ■ 7 *i>*^%1 ? •^*' ' '. .• ■■ ■ i A prominent citizen of Lourd^s, of ri^ht, but somewhat sceptical mitidi related to Mr. Henri Lasserre, how, on that day, he was ai: convinced by the evidence of the supernatural) He did not Bee the rose-bush bloom,, but he saw Berjiadette in ecstasy ; he saw the beaveuly reflectipn on the ffi^ce of the humble child ; and his good faith returned. " I reached the grotto, " said he^ " very much disposed to investigate, and, to tell the truth,*to have a good laugh, expecting a farce or some- thing rediculous. I placed myself in the first row. The crowd was immense. About sunrise, Bernadette arrived. I wa^ near her. She knelt down, without heeding the crowd which sur- rounded her, as if she had been alone. Very soou heif look seemed to receive and reflect an unknown light. Before this transfiguratiou of the child, all my preconceived denials fell to the ground at oncOj and gave place to an extra- ordinary feeling which took possession of me» in spite of myself. I felt certain that a myste- rious being was there. Suddenly and entirely transfigured, Bernadette was no longer Berna- j^ d<3tte. iHer attitude, her slightest gesture had a superhuman majesty. She smiled at the invisible being. i u oi i.i >k i ^ '* I was no less moved thdln the other spec- tators. Like them,.! held my breath to try and hear the conversation which was taking place between the vision and the child. " At a certain moment, Berukadette advanced on her knees, from the $pot where she was praying, that is to say, from the banks of the '-■if i 32 fp 1!!|[ 14 Grave, to the end of the grotto. This was about fifteen feet. Whilst she thus ascended the somewhat steep side of the rock, those who were in her way very distinctly heard her pronounce these words: ' Penance !...... penan- ce ! !....penance! ! ! ' " The more than impartial witness who relates this touching scene, saw Bernadette come out of her ecstasy and immediately become again, a poor little girl, almost in rags, in no way distinguished from other peasant children. He was the receiver of taxes at Lourdes, and it was he, who on the Sunday previous, had assisted at Bernadette's examination by the commissary of police. What had passed during this sixth apparition ? Had the child delivered the pastor's message ? The rose-bush had not blossomed. When, on leaving the grotto, Bernadette pre- sented herself at the pastoral residence, Father Peyramale, with his usual calmness, said to her, " Well, did you see the vision to-day ? and what did she say ? " "I saw the vision, " answered the child, " and I said to her : * Our pastor asks you for some proofs, for instance to make the rose-bush under your feet blossom ; because my word does not suffice for the priests, and they will not trust me. ' Then she smiled but witli- out speaking. Then, she told me to pray for sinners, and commanded me to come up to the end of the jyrotto. And she said three time : 88 o relates ome out le again, no way ren. He id it was assisted cnmissary cause my land they ait with- pray for LP to the i-ee time : * Penance !... .penance ! !... .penance ! ! ! ' I repea- ted these words dragging myself to the end of the o-rotto on my knees. There she revealed to me a second secret which concerns only myself, then, she disappeared. " " And what did you find at the end of the grotto ? " " I looked after, she had disappeared (for while she is there, 1 notice nothing but herself, she absorbe me,) and I saw nothing but the rock, and in the ground a few blades of grass growing up in the sand. " " Let us wait, " said the pastor. But in this recital Bernadette omitted some interesting particulars, of which we cannot deprive the pious reader. Whilst the child was absorbed in the ecstasy, she was seen to kiss the ground, several times, ascending on her knees the rugged rock which arose before her, as far as the end of the grotto, on the left. The Blessed Virgin had said to her : ' You will pray to Grod for sinners You will |kiss the ground for the conversion of sinners. " And she signed to her to advance on her kness. Bernadette, raising her head, after ha\ang [kissed the ground, looked for the Apparition ; Ishe saw her slowly drawing back and followed her, renewing her humiliating kisses of penance. She went in under the arch and remained some time motionless. At this moment, she saw the I Virgin so near her, she said, that by raising and extending her arm, she could have touched her feet. \ '"C i':.i m E W iiiti , . i 'r Hii i If ■'!) I- ■' U 34 Beruadette again knelt down, still kissing the ground, and returned to her contemplation before the niche. Subsequently, penance lor sinners was again asked of Bernadette. She went up and came down once, during each apparition, and always in silence ; that first time only she was heard as she went pronouncing the words :— Penance ! penance ! penance ! One day, she made several of these laborious ascent. She was asked the first day : — " But why did you walk on your knees and kiss the ground ? " The Vision commanded me to do it ; and it was as a penance for myself and others " " Why did you make us a sign to kiss the ground ? " ** The Vision seemed to say that you all should do penance for sinners, " The heart of Mary was revealed. It was sinners who she called by Bernadette's prayer and humiliation. It was sinners she also sought by the miracles which were to be performed, in hundreds, in that favored grotto. 8o XIII. 'enaiice ! APPARITION OF THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25TH — THE THIRD SECRET AND THE MIRACULOUS FOUNTAIN. It was the eighth day of the fortnight. Every spot in the vicinity was crowded with ardent eager people. When little Bernadette appeared, every one, the sceptics, as well as the believers, instinctively uncovered their heads. The kind, merciful, and most admirable Virgin Mary vouchsafed, that day like the others to keep her appointment in the grotto. She began the conversation on this occasion, by confiding to her dear Bernadette her third secret: " My daughter,'* said she to her, "I wish to confide to yoii, for yourself alone, a last secret ; like the other, you are not to reveal it to any one in the world. Bernadette heard, with joyful heart, the ineff- able melody of that voice so sweet, so motherly, so tender, which of old, at Nazareth, charmed the ears and heart 6f the child Jestls. '* And now," said the Blessed Virgin to her, after a moment's silence,, " drink and wash yourself at the Spring, and eat of th^ "^ass which is there." Bernadette looked round her in astonishment. There was no spring in the grotto ; there had never been one. A sandy and arid pile, strewn 1 -,i. 'i 36 M' El!;,, ', ■ii . ^ „ " ' > I I Ii' '^''i with fragments of rock, which then obstructed the interior of the qavern, and reached to the roof, a height of about seventy •five oubic feet. Without losing sight of the Apparition, Borna- dette was moving toward the Gave, a river near the grotto, when, by a glance and a ges- ture of the hand, the Virgin pointed out the place where she was to go. " Do not go there, " said she to her ; " I did not tell you to drink at the Q-ave ; go to th6 foun- tain, it is here. " And extending her hand, she pointed out to the child that same dry corner, to which, the evening belore, she had made her ascend on her knees. It was at the end of the grotto, on the left of the spectator. Bernadette went up, and when she was near the rock, she looked for the fountain. Not find- ing it and wishing to obey, she told her embar- rasment to the heavenly Lady by a glance In obedience to another sign, the child bent down and scraping the earth with her little hands, began to make a hollow in the ground. All at once the bottom of the little cavity became damp : coming from unknown depths, across the rocks and through the thick of the earth, a mysterious water appeared beneath the hfind of the child of Mary, and s<5on filled the little hollow which might contain about a glass full. Mingling with the earth, it was quite muddy, and poor Bernadette raised it to her lips three times, without having courage to 37 a river taste it. The radiant App^ition presided over this strange scene, and followed the child with an attentive glance. The latter at length over- came her repugnance ; she drank the muddy ^ater and batted her face with it. The spectators understood nothing of all this ; " Oh ! see ! " cried some of them ; " see how she daubs her face, poor child ! " Other said : *' She is losing her mind ; there is no sense in that ! " At this moment, with her wet fingers, Beruadette plucked and ate some blades of grass which grew there. Immediately the water of the rising spring overflowed the banks of the little pond hollowed by the child, and began to flow like a fine thread, which, during the hrist day, only moistened the sand. The wet mark which it traced on the soil slowly, insensible lengthened, in the direc- tion of the Grave. With her feeble hand, Bemadette had uncons- ciously opened the source of cures and of mira- cles. Il The Blessed Virgin rewarding her little workwoman with a smile, disappeared, all ra- diant, and the faithfuU, obedient Bernadette went home as usual. The astonished spectators wished to see the miraculous fountain, and to soak their handker- chiefs in it. Next day, the Blessed Virgin's fountain, visibly increasing, flowed already a finger's breadth. At the end of a few days, it A*. ^ i^ 88 o'ushed out of the es^'th, pure and limpid, about as broad as a child's arm. It then ceased to expand. The miraculous water of Lourdes has been analyzed by skilful chemists ; it is a pure, virgin water a natural water devoid of all mine- ral properties, XIV. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26TH — THE FIRST MIRACULOUS CURE. .a grea the ter first bv s •T nan had of a That day the Immaculate Virgin did not ap- pear to her dear child. Every one regiarded Bernadette with a respect and reverence which amounted to veneration ; when she passed, peo- ple said, in her hearing : " There is the Saint." Mary, the mother of humility and meekness, undoubtedly wished to fortify her ©hild against 0^ danger of vain-glory : she left her to pine in wishes, in tears, in prayers ; she would riot appear. Humbled and grieved, Bernadette was obliged to go home ; she cried all the way. In place of the usual Apparition, the CTOwd could see the spring, a living testimony of the omnipotence of the mysterious I^ady. The good pastor of Lourdes had asked for a sign, instead of the trifling one which he had felt bound to ask, the Blessed Virgin had given him a much 89 greater one, and not only to him, but to all, to the wicked as well as the good. On that Friday, the 26th, the miraculous wa- ter performed its first miracle : a miracle of the first order, proved, proclaimed in the first place by science, then by ecclesiastical authority. There was at Lourdes a poor quarry-man, named Bourriette, who, twenty year before this had had his eye erribly injured by the explosion of a mine. He came near dying, and in spite of the enlightened and assiduous care of Doctor Dozons, the same who examined Bernadette in her extasy, the poor ndner's sight had grown worse from year to year, so much so that at the period of which we speak, his right eye could not distinguisd a man from a tree. Known and beloved in the whole town, Bourriette was a man of faith, a true Christian. He was married and the father of a family. He had .heard of the marvellous things which were occuring at the grotto, and in particular of the spring which had gushed forth. " Gro and get me some of that water," said he to his daughter. " The Blessed Virgin, if it be her, has only to wish itj and' I shall be cured." Half an hour after, the child brought a little of the still muddy water. " Father," said she, " this is only muddy water." " Never mind," said the good Bourriette, beginning to pray. He rubs his lost eye with the water .... He U'ives a loud crv, a crv of iov and ffladuess. He aw I ■M\ •■i?' •IP I lli'f Wmi w ■ 40 begins to tremble with emotion. The darkness whjch, for twenty years, had deprived him of sigh, was dispelled ; there only remained a sort of slight dimness, like the mists of the morning. He continued praying, and bathing his eye ; the mist gradually disappeared, and he could clearly disting-uish objects. He was cured ! " I am cured ! " cried he, running up to Doc- tor Dozons, next day, on the street. " Impossible," said the doctor. " You have an organic affection which makes your disease incurable. The treatment which I made you loUow was only to easB your pain ; it could not restore your sight." " It is not you who has cured me," answered the quarry-man, still much agitated ; " it is the Blessed Virgin of the grotto." " That Bernadette has ecstasies which cannot be explained, is certain, " said the doctor, shrug- ging his shoulders; " I have verified that myself. But that the water which gushed forth from the grotto from some unknown cause, suddenly cure incurable diseases, is not possible. " So saying, he took out his memorandum book, and f wrote some words in it with a lead pencil. " Stay, " said he to Bourriette, putting his hand over his left eye ; " if you can read this, I will believe you. " The passers by had gathered round them. Bourriette immediately read with- out the slightest hesitation : " Bourriette has an incurable amanronSy and he will never be cured. ^^ ■'^i/\•^'^.^^^':'■Vl:^^ . 41 The doctor stood astonished, bewildered. " I cannot deny it, " cried he ; it is a miracle, a real miracle, without disparagement to myself and to my brothers of the Faculty. I am amazed ; but the fact is evident ; it is beyond all that poor human science can do. " \ Louis Bourriette's cure was all the more remarkable that the miracle had left all the scars of the wound. The quarry-man, almost crazed with joy related the details to all who would listen. X' :',;»{ ' XV. APPARITIONS OF THE LAST DAYS OF THE FORTNIGHT. It was near the end of the sacred fortnight. The Blessed Virgin continued to appear every morning to her dear little Bernadette, and crowds came from twenty and thirty miles round. Everything went on in the most orderly man- ner. People drank at the fountain, sang hymns and prayed. In each of these apparitions, Bernadette re- newed the acts of penance and of obedience which w^e have related. At the Blessed Vir- gin's command, she drank at the fountain ; and sometimes she was seen to drink several times. Since the fourth apparition, Bernadette, on F m '%k m ttA:! 42 wfm> :' •ill i I m arriving every morning, lit a blessed taper and held it in her left hand, whilst the Blessed Vir- gin appeared, It was a lady of the town who first fent her one ; soon her aunts gave her each in turn their Sodality taper. Tiie devotion of candles is as old as the Chjirch. The lighted taper is a beantiful sym- bol: the white and virgin wax of which it is formed, signifies the most pure humanity of which the Saviour took in Mary's womb, and which, united to the divinity, is the light of the world. • The lighted taper also represents the Chris- tian, who, enlightened, inflamed w^ith the ardor of true faith and the love of Jesus Christ, should also, be consumed before the good Grod as a victim of penance and of love. On Tuesday, March 2d, Bernadette went once more to the pastor of Lourdes and renewed the request made by the Lady. "She wants," said the child, " a shrine to be built at fhe grotto and people to come there in procession." " I believe you," said he to Bernadette. "But what you ask in the name of the i\pparition does not depend on me. That depends on His Lord- ship, the Bishop, whom I have already informed of what is taking place. I will go and apprise him of what you ask. It is for him alone to act." Mr. Peyramale, in fact, went to Tarbes : he laid the facts before the venerable Bishop Lau- 43 rence, who resolved to exceed him, if possible, in prudence, to let the fruit ripen and to content himseif, for the time, by establishing a jiidicial investigation, at which all the facts, past, present, and future, would be examined with the most scrupulous impartiality, whilst awaiting an offi- cial decision. XVI MARVELLOUS CLOSE OF THE FORTNIGHT- SUSCITATION OF LITTLE JUSTIN. -RE- The last of the fii'teen days during which Berndette did the Queen of Heaven the favor of coming to the grotto, on the day which was to close this long series of wonders, was the subject of universal conjecture. It was Thursday, a market-day at Lourdes, All the morning, long before dawn, the road to the grotto was crowded ; by sunrise, more than twenty thousand persons were already waiting, and others were continually arriving According to custom, Bernadette heard Mass before starting. On the summit of the rock, a gendarme awaited her ; he walked before her, with sword drawn, to clear the way for her through the crowd. When the child prostrated herself, all the people by a unanimous impulse, fell on their knees. An unusual silence reigned amongst the multitude. 'A'i ■ MA. ."■■, ■' ■■-; ■'<< 1. ,-. -*1 H.y-1 44 ' ' Soon the estacy commenced, serene, radiant, as usual. The child went to drink at the foun- tain, and kneeling and touching the ground with her lips, she performed the usual penance for sinners. But nothing new had yet signalized this apparition of March 4th. Bernadette was commanded as on the prejeding days, to go and ask the priest to erect the shrine and to have processions. She begged the Apparition to t^-^ her her name : the radiant Lady did not answer this question. Then, by her salute to the vision, Bernadette announced that the Blessed Virgin was about to disappear ; she received her last farewell, her last smile ; saw for the last time the brightness of her aureola fttde and become lost, sighed .... It was finished. But the Immaculate Virgin did not wish that that memorable day should terminate without a brilliant manifestation of her goodness. A great miracle, a maternal miracle worthily marked the close of that fortnight of miracles. A little child of two years old was dying in a poor cottage at Lourdes. His name was Justin. His father, Jean Bouhohorts, was a day-labourer. He was in his agony ; his despairing father and mother were beside his cradle to see him die The child's eyes had become glassy ; his limbs stiff and motionless ; his breathing was no lon- ger perceptible. 45 radiant, le fouu- iid with uce for nalized te was to go and to )arition did not nadette 5 about ell, her rhtness d,.., sh that nthout 4- great fiarked ig in a rustin. •ourer. father ^ him limbs > lon- '- He is dead," said the lather. " If he is not dead," said a neighbor, " he is ooing to die, my poor friend. G-o and cry some where else ; I will wrap him up presently in this shroud." But the mother wept no more. A wild hope had taken possession of her. "He is not dead," she cries, "and the Holy Virgin of the grotto will cure him for me." "She is mad with grief," said the father, sor- rowfully. As for her, she seizes the already stiffening body of her child; she wraps it in her apron, and in spite of the efforts of her husband and har friends, she rushes out, running like a mad woman, praying aloud. " I am going to the Virgin,"' she cried, as she went out. It vffTs near five o'clock, and some hundreds oi' persons wore still around the grotto and the fountain. The poor mother throws herself on her knees before the grotto, and prays with all her heart, then, dragging herself on her knees to the little basin, she takes the naked body of her dead or dying child, and plunges it entirely into! the miraculous water. It was very cold, and the water was frozen. A cry of fright, and murmurs of indignation burst from those around her. " The woman is mad," was said on all side ; " she will kill her child." They seek to ptevent her. 8he remains motionless, holding her child under the water. U t ■m "♦"•ir. " Let me alone ! Let me alone ! " she answered in an eager and supplicating voice, " I want to do what I can, and the good Grod and the Holy Virgin will do the rest." Little Justin was quite livid ; he neither stirred nor gave any sign of liie. " The child is already dead," said the people. '' Let her do it ; it is a poor mother whom sorrow has crazed." For a quarter of an hour, the supposed mad woman held the body of her son in the icy wa- ter which would have killed him in less than live minutes, even had he been in perfect healt. Nothing could move her, neither cries, nor supplications, nor threats. The body of the child was frozen, motionless. Full of faith, however, the mother drew him out of the water, wrapped him in her apron, and brought him home, pray- ing-all the time to the Blessed Virgin. ^^^^ " You see he is dead,'' said the father. '• No," answered she ; " he is not dead. The Blessed Virgin will restore him to us ;" and she puts the child back into his cradle. A moment after, she bends over him : " He breathes ! " cries she. The father rushes forwaid ; his child was indeed breathing. His eyes were closed-; but it was no longer death, it was no longert the agony ; it was a sleep, peaceful sleep. The Blessed Virsrin then said from the height of heaven to that christian mother, what Jesus said of old to the humble and faithful woman of Ca- naan ; " Go in peace ; thy faith hath saved thee." 47 During the night, the breathing continued strong and regular, under the tender gaze of the mother, who did not sleep. The next day little Justin awoke ; his color was fresh and healthful, although he was still emaciated. His little eyes were full of life as he smiled on his happy mother. The good neighbor, who, the evening before had made little Justin shroud, could not believe her eyes. She looked, looked again, and thought she was dreaming. " It is he," she cried. *' It is really himself! Poor little Justin ! " They all fell on their knees. The mother joined her child's little hands, that he might also return thanks to the Mother of God. This miracle produced, in the town of Lour- des, and in all the surrounding country, a pro- digious effect. Three skillful physicians con- firmed the truth" of it. In their eyes, three cir- cumstances made the cure an actual miracle, a miracle of the first order. It was thus that the Blessed Virgin wished to crown " her lorthnight." I. ,.«■.. I' I il i w «f.^3 XVII. BTDICULOUS EFFORTS OF THE POLICE TO " SUPPRES FANATICISM AND SUPERSTITION." :4-M The police and the government vied with each other in zeal asrainst the work of Grod, the .' 48 Blessed Virgin, and the new pilgrimage which had just been inaugurated by so many prodigies. To the miraculous cure of Louis Bouriette, to the 3^et more touching one of little Justin, many other sudden and evidently supernatural cures were, so to say, adeed every day. In the very tow^n of Lourdes, the eating - house keeper, Blaise Maumus, had been cured by the water of the spring, of an enormous wen which he had on his wrist. The widow Crozat, who had been for twenty years as deaf as a post, had suddenly recovered her hearing by making use of the miraculous water. Auguste Bordes, who had been for a long time lame from the effects of an accident, had his leg instantly straig'hten- ed and restored to its natural vigor. These people and many others belonged to the town ; every one knew them, and every one could point to the evidence of a miracle. The devil, the police, and the government, could not tolerate such a state of things. They had first, naturally enough, attacked the inno- cent child whom the Blessed Virgin had chosen as the means of establishing the pilgrimage. Thanks to the divine protection, and thanks also to the good pastor. Father Peyramale, Bernadette had escaped the storm. They could not reach the invisible power which was at work in the grotto and causing the " scandal. " They therefore resolved to seize on the grotto itself, the fountain, and the Rocks of Massa- 41» bielle ; and, being unable to catch the bird, they would at least break the cage. The devil chose, for that fine exploit, the prefect, with his oificers. In consequence of, and from the height of his infaillible aiithority, he excommunicated the grotto, and ordered the police magistrate to remove all the objects of piety that " supersti- tion " had placed there. This very evening, to protest against this impiety, the crowd Went, more numerous than ever, to the holy place, and soon the grotto was filled with flowers and lit up with a thousand tapers. These absurd and unjust measures of the police increased the ardor of the police increan- ed the ardor of the multitude who came every day to pray at the grotto. During the whole month ot May, numbers of pious people came there to celebrate the mont of Mary. But to the great disappointment of the police, there was |io disorder, not the slightest distiirbance. The prefectoral godernment then took a vio- lent, and as they thought, a decisive step. The approach to the grotto was forbiddeji, and there was a formal prohibition against draw- ing the water. On the summit of the rock where the chapel now stands, a stake was fixed bearing these words : " All persons are forbidden to trespass on this pi'operty, " The policemen and gendarmery kept guaid. G i f < > > •'m t^ii 50 The injunction was defied ; persons went hi by stoalth at the risk of being discovered. Against hell and against men, the cause of the apparitions was only defended by itself and by the peaceful belief of the people. The clergy did nothing against it ; but did not sustain it. By a prudence now inexplicable by the wit- nesses of the popular enthusiasm which carried away even the impious themselves, and thanks to a disposition of Providence which would not have even an appearance of liuman action in the work of the Immacculate Virgin, not a priest was among the crowd during the w^hole time of the apparitions. The pilgrimage of Lourdes was thus the exclusive work of the Blessed Virgin ; she her- self did all. ' The police were defeated ; the government and the prefect were defeated. A formal order, coming from the supreme autho- rity, permitted to the piety of the pilgrims, free access to the blessed grotto ; and since then, no attempt of human power has disturbed its peace and sweetness. XVIII. THE APPARITION OF MARCH 25TH— " I AM THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. ?» After the close of the fortnight, little Berna- dette went every day to the grotto. 8he said 51 her rosary there, like the other pilgrims ; long did her eyes remain lixed on the hollow of the- rock ; but the sweet Vision appeared no iiior(\ and her transfigurations had ceased. On the 25th of March, the feast of the Annun- ciation, Bernadette felt her self powerfrlly drawn towards to grotto, by a well-known attraction. She joyfully obeyed the interior call, and repai- red the Massabielle. The solemnity of the day, the general, though uncertain hope that the Vision would return, had attracted from all parts a considerable crowd. Bernadette was surprised to find it so. She began to pray, with her beads in her hand, and soon a sudden thrill and the transfiguration of her face announced that the Virgin had appeared. That was .a great day in the history of the apparitions. Bernadette had several times before asked the mysterious Lady to t'3ll her, her name. She had only been answered by smiles. In this new ecstasy, remembering that the priest had earnes- tly requested her, if she saw her again, to ask her name, she said : " O Lady, will you hare the goodness to tell me who you are, and what is your name ? " The Vision seemed to become still more radiant ; always smiling, she smiled still more btoignantly, tha.t was her answer. ** My Lady, " continued the child, " will you tell me who you are ? " Again a long and more #■ 52 divine smile on the mute lips of the royal Appa- rition. " O Lady, I entreat you to tell me your name : you must tell me who you are ? " From amidst the aureola, the virginal face smiled again on the child, the last, and doubtless the most ravishing smile. Then the Lady with- drew her gaze from Bernadette, unclasped her hands, slipped on her arm the rosary which had kept her fingers joined at her girdle, raised her hands and her radiant head ; whilst her hands were joined on her breast, her head thrown back, and, more radiant (han ever, her eyes piercing the glory of heaven, she said : " I AM THE Immaculate Conception. " Without another glance at the child and mthout another smile, without the accustomed farewell, she disappeared in the same attitude, leaving to Bernadette's soul that image and that name. Bernadette hastily, and with great joy, went to tell the pastor the name of the Lady, at length known. But she did not at all understand i;hese words : Immaculate Conception ; it was there, and the splendor of the apparition, that she had heard it for the first time in her life. And this unknown word did not make known to her who the lady was. She was afraid of forgetting it, and she repeated it all the way home : " I am the Immaculate Conception I am the Immaculate Conception. '* 0») The priest ixnderstood it ; the Christian people understood it ; they had not been mistaken. It was She, the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. XIX THE APPARITION OF EABTER MONDAY, APRIL OTH — THE MIRACLE OF THE LIGHTED TAPER. f Ten day after, on the 5th of April, Easter Monday, Bernadette, surrounded by a multitude of persons praying, was again favored by an apparition of the Immaculate Virgin This time, there was a spectacle which excited more astonishment than all the ibrmer wonders, and which showed the divine character of the vi- sions. The child, kneeling, held in one hand a lighted taper, which was resting on the ground. Absorbed in the contemplation of the Queen of Heaven, her little hands came together, and without heeding what she was doing, she raised them a little and let them rest gently on the top of the lighted taper. And then the iiauie passed through her fingers which were slightly parted, find reaching above them, swayed to and fro by a slight breeze. The people beside her were alarmed, and cried out : " She is burning ! She is burning ! *' The child was smilling, motionless, ser<»ne. " Let her alone, " said some to those who o4 would have removed the taper ; '* evidently she does not feel the fire. Let us see what will happen." A physician was observing the child. Amazed, he took out his watch. The Hame continued to burn ; the hands rested on it without the slightest quiver, for more than a quarter of an hour. All who were near enough to see Berna- dette saw the flame rising above her fingers. They said softly ; " A miracle ! a miracle ! " Never yet had there been such excitement at the grotto. At last her hands parted ; the doc- tor took and examined them ; they w^ere white and unhurt. After the ecstasy, when Bernadette had re- turned to ordinary life, one of the spectators brought the flame of the still lighted candle near the child's hand. — " Oh ! you are burning me," cried she, drawing back quickly. So manifest and so touching a miracle left a deep impression. It was the seventeenth ap- parition, and the fifteenth of those to which the Virgin had called the multitude as witnesses of those interviews whose mystery was so profound a secret and yet so admirably revealed. On that day, there were more than nine thousand persons around Bernadette. * The divine spectacle ended for the crowds on the 5th of April. Bernadette was to see her once moref but almost alone, and long after that day, to be strengthened and consoled. 55 ntly she lat will i^mazed, ntinued out the r of an Berna- fing*ers. 'aele ! " aent at le doc- white lad re- 'ctators candle urning le left ith ap- ch the sses of found . On asand owds e her r that XX. MIRACULOUS CURE OF YOUNG BUSQUET. Miracles were manifested by the operation of the water of the grotto, like flowers by the ac- tion of the Spring dew. They were already, so to say, innumer'^We. Here is one, chosen from amomg a huii I others, and the authen- city of which has jjon proclaimed by physi- cians and at the same time by the ecclesiastical authority. There was then at Nay, iii the Basses-Pyre- nees, a young lad of fifteen, named Henri Bus- quet, whose health had been destroyed and his blood vitiated, in consequence of typhoid fever, which, two years before had almost carried him off. An enormous abcess of a scrofulous nature, had formed on his neck, at the right side, and had insensibly reached the top of the chest and the lower part of the cheek. At the end of four months, as the result of an oparation which was judged necessary, a hideous gaping sore extended ov*^r all the part diseased. Besides, swelling of the glands had come near the ulcer. All treatment had been useless. The waters of Cauterets had done more harm than good. The poor child's condition grew worse every day. Henry was very pious. He heard of the Avonders of Lourdes and the miraculous spring. i 56 \ Being uuablt; to o-o there, he begged a good neighbor who was going to make the pilgrima- ge to bring him a little of the water. He was convinced that the Blessed Virgin would cure him ; the usual presentiment with those on whom the grace of a miracle is bestowed. On the evening of the 28th of April the so much desired water was brought him. He knelt down with his father, his mother, his brothers and sisters, all faithful, simple, trusting Chrfstians Henri lay down, that the lotions might be more conveniently applied. The doc- tor had recommended that no cold water should be allowed to touch the ulcer. The consequen- ce, he said, would be very serious. But to the pious child, the Blessed Virgin came before the doctor, and the water from the grotto was not " cold water. " And it cured him. The clergy still kept away from the grotto and aloof from all share in the movement. The orders of Mgr. Laurence were strictly observed throughout the diocese. Not only did Mgr. Laurence hesitate to pro- nounce judgment, but he could not even make up his mind to order an official inquiry. As a catholic bishop, penetrated with the eternal dignity of the church, he feared to compromised it by engaging prematurely to examine facts of 57 vvliieh hi^ himself har* no sufficient personal knowledge, and which after all, might have no better foundation than the dream of a little pea- sent and the illusions of poor fanatical souls. But at last everything seemed to indicate that the moment for interference had come ; when the religious authority should set about exa- mining and giving sentence. Men of distinction in the catholic world, such as Mgr. de Solines, Archbishop of Arch, the Bishops of Montpellier and of Soissons. Men of gTQid national reputation such as Mr. Veillot, — Eengnier, lately created Cardinal, Vene, Chief Engineer of Mines, and a great number of eminent catholics were at that time in the country. All had examined these extraordiiiavy facts which farm the subject of our history, nil had interrogated Bernadette: all were believers or strongly incline to believe. They tell of one of the most venerated bishop that he was unable to control the emotion awakened by the naif statement of the little seer. G-azing upon the open brow which had received the glance of the ineffable Virgin Mo- ther of God, the prelate could not restrain the the first movement of piety. The entire course of events, the testimony of such grave men and their evident conviction after examining, were facts which made a lively impression on ^e clear and sagacious mind of the Bishop of Tarbes. Mgr. Laurence thought I- 58 that the time had now come to speake, and he came forth from his silence ..... On Februa- ry 28th, he published a pastoral letter which was known immediately throughout the entire dio- cese and produced intense excitement ; for every one understood that the strange position which he had hitherto assumed was now about to have a solution. The order of His Lordship the Bishop of Tarbes, constituting a commission to report on the authenticity and nature of certain facts which have, for six months, been taking place on occasion of a real or pretended apparition of the Blessed Virgin, in a grotto situated west of the town of Lourdes. Ten days after the appointment of the said commission, a formidable attack was made by the irreligious press of Paris, of the provinces, and other countries, upon the events of Lourdes and the Bishop's ordinance. The Universe the Uniotiy and the greater part of the Catholic papers bravely met their universal attack. Powerful talents lent themselves to the service of the yet more powerful truth. In France and abroad public opinion had soon passed judgment, not indeed on the reali- ty of the supernatural events, but on the violent (Oppression to which all liberty of belief and right of examination were being subjected to 'in a comer of the ei^apire. Deputations called on t^e Emperor who immediately sent a brief dis- patcl resci and day crow the 59 patch to the Prefect of Tarbes, ordering him to rescind the decree closing the Grotto olLourdes and leave the people free. There was in that day great rejoicing at Lourdes, all the afternoon crowds were going and coming on the road to the grotto. Before the Massabielle rocks immense numbers of the faithful were kneeling. Canticles and lita- nies were sung : *' Virgo potens, ora pro nobis. '* The people drank of the fountain. Faith was free. God had triomphed. During seve- ral months, the episcopal commission visited the houses of those whom public notariety desi- gnated as object of the miraculous cure subjected to its examination. It established the truth of* many miracles. Nevertheless on account of that spirit of extreme prudence which we before remarked, Mgr. Laurence before giving the solemn episcopal verdict in this matter, deman- ded a still further guaranty of these miraculous cures, the proof of time. He allowed three years to pass. A second examination was then made. The miraculous cures still held good* No one appeared to retract former testimony o!r to contest any of the facts. After this over- whelming series of proofs and certainty, Mgr." Laurence at length pronounced the judment which all had been waiting. "...Having invoked the light of the Holy Ghost and the aseistance of the Blessed Virgin. We have declare. w (id " That the Immaculate Mary, the Mother oi' Grod, really did appear to Bernadette. " That this apparitions und these cure have every guarantee of truth and that the faithful have solid reason for belieAdng it to be certain. " Bertrand, Bishop of Tarbes. " ■ ■ ,,* -iiir ' In the name of the Church, Mgr. Laurence purchase from the town of Lourdes the Grrotto and surrounding lands. The Minister of Worship, Mr. Eauland autho- rized the erection of a church in perpetual memory of the apparition of the Blessed Yirgin -to Bernadette, in memory of the fountain and the numberless miracles which had attested the heavenly visions. While the vast temple dedicated to the Imma- culate Conception was slowly rising stone, upon stone, Our lady of Lourdes continued to shower blessings and grace upon her clients. At Paris and Bordeaux, in Brittany, Anjou, amid solitary and rural scenes and in the heart of popular cities, Our Lady of Lourdes was invoked and answe- red with anquestionable signes of her power and goodness. Before closing our ricital, lei us narrate some more of these miraculous cures which happened. other or re have faithful certain. 7''. ■ arbes. " lureince G-rotto lautho- rpetual Virgin ill and ted the Imma- ?j upon shower t Paris olitary f* cities, Miswe- power ' Bome )ened. XXI SUDDEN CURE OF A PROTESTANT FREE- THINKER. I will first relate a charming little miracle, impressed with a certain originality, and which was related to me by one of the pious missiona- ries of Lourdes, who was an eye-witness of it. It was performed on a Protestant free-thinker, who was so far from thinking of asking for it that he was not only amazed but vexed at it. He was an artist, Mr. Max M , who was tolerably well known in one of the principal watering places of the Pyrenees. He there directed with real talent, the orchestra of a grand casino-concert, during the summer season. He had been much troubled for some time on account of a tumo which grew on his right hand and for which neither medicine nor sur- gery could do anything. In 1866, this tumor, vainly compressed by a leaden plate, was almost as large as an egg ; it already prevented the poor musician from closing his hand and from freely using his bow. His wife was a Catholic ; what kind of one, I do not know ; but at all events, she was neit- her a Protestant nor a free-thinker. A pious friend having induced this lady to accompany her to the grotto of Lourdes, Mr. Max M— ^ — consented to be one of the partv, which he. .♦■■, m wf i t 62 beyond doubt, considered as a curious excur- sion and not a pilgrimage. When they reached the grotto, he had not even the good taste to uncover his head nor to throw away his cigar. Standing, with his hat on, smoking among a crowd of pilgrims piously kneeling, he coolly and disdainfully observed the grotto. His wife's friend approached him : '* Mr. Max,'' said she to him, ** the Blessed Virgin may cure you. Come with me and drink the miraculous water. " At first the musician resisted and shrugged his shoulders ; hut the pious lady insisted. " What harm will it do you ? " said she. " Do it for me. Drink some of the water ; it is fresh and excellent. " "At least," thought the free-thinker, " if it does me no good, it can do me no harm ; " and he approached the fountain sneering a little; The lady offered him a glass of water which he drank at one draught The tumor had disappeared. " Ah, my God ! " cried he, grow- ing pale and quickly approaching his wife, who was kneeling in prayer. " My dear, " said he, much agitated, " I am cured. " " Let me alone ! " answered she, a little crossly. " It is not right for you alw^ays to mock thus at my convictions." " But I am not mocking. Wait ; look : my tumor is no longer there. " The poor woman could not believe her eyes. The leaden plate lay on his hand, of w'^hich wJ 03 the skin, the veins and the ilesh had suddedly returned to their normal state. With her friend, she threw herself on her knees, bathed in tears. As for him, as pale as death, he knew not what to do. He had instinctively uncovered his head, thrown away his cigar and could not help saying, and repeating aloud : " I am cured for good. The Virgin has cured me " The missionary Father, who was there, asked him to leave as ex voio^ the plate of lead with the bandages which had compressed the tumor, to be hung in the grotto. He consented ; and to this day, that modest ex voto is to be seen at the grotto. Mr. Max M went away cured, but not converted.'^jet us hope that he will some day draw the logical consequences from his cure so evidently miraculous, and that the Immaculate Virgin of Lourdes will sooner or later relieve him of the enormous tumor of heresy which has hetherto prevented his eyes from being opened to the heavenly light of the Gospel and of the Church, Miracles do not always make conversions : witness those that Our Lord performed before the Scribes and Pharisees — but when they do not convert, they condemn beyond forgiveness. It may be said of miracles what is said of the Eucharist : " Vita bonis, mors malis'' To the good, it is life ; to the wicked, death. To believe, even after a miracle, one must be sincere and humble. Vj(, 1^1 iff XXII. LITTLE PIERTIE ESTOURNET'S EYES. In 1864 Madame Estournet, of Tarbes, had a little boy named Pierre, whom she was nursing and whose eyes began to grow sore. Thinking that it was only one of those temporary ailments to which all young children are subject, she was not at all anxious. One day, when she was carrying the child in her arms, a physician, who was a friend of the family, stopped to see little Pierre. " His eyes are a little sore, " said she. " Oh ! he is a splendid child ! But w^hat is this soreness of the eyes ? " said the doctor, in an anxious way, as he examined tlie pupils of the eye. *' You unfortunate woman ; this child is getting blind. " The poor mother was terrified. "You are not serious in telling me that ? Is it true ? " For answer, the physician showed her Pierre's eyes. The inside was hideous : a ball of red flesh, swimming in a sort of matter. Madnme Estournet was heartbroken. A feeling of strong faith came to sustain her. She thought of the water of the grotto. She however took her son to another doctor. "The case is serious, very serious," said the latter ; " you have much reason to fear that the child may become blind ; it may be too late. Whv did von w flit so lona- ? " d( SI 65 I ■■■':' 8. a had ursing- inking Iments le was e was n, who e little d she. hat is or, ill )ils aC i child u are Tie?*' ierre's f red djiine troiig rfthe )etor. I the t the late. ^\ 1" Oh ! my Q-od ! I did not svispect this ! " said the poor weeping mother. A prescription was written. Every day theia was to be put on the eye a drop of very power- ful liquid, which woujd consume the diseased flesh. * Madame Estournet, was endowed with a rare decision of character and a very lively faith. She at once resolved what to do. She turned towards the Blessed Virgin and said to her : ** No remedies ! You, O Mary, will cure my child by the watej Irom the grotto." And she threw tne doctor's prescription into the fire. She again examined the poor child's eyep ; they seemed worse than she had yet seen them. . Beside herself, she fell on her knees befnv a statue of the Virgin, and said, many times aloud : " Cure him for me ! Oh ! cure him for ire ! " Then trembling she pours on little Pierre's eyes some drops of the miraculous water. The eye-lid scarcely moves. A sort of despair seizes upon the mother. " Oh ! it is not possible, said she ; no, no, he will not be cured ; I do not desprve a miracle. " A little while after, unable to restrain her impatience, she takes her child from the cradle, and washes his eyes again with the water from the grotto ; then takes him in her arms to see if he will look. Her father-in-law and a woman of the hou^ii were there. She calls Pierre and caresses him to make him look at her. The m If 'I V 66 child feebly uncloses, and, with his eyes scarcely ;3pened, he turns his head towards where she was calling him. " Oh ! he wall be blind. " said the mother, in a tone of distress. *' No ! no, see, Madame, " said the neighbor, " he is looking at you.^ The agitated mother could not perceive it. But her confidence in Mary overcame her fears ; she began to hope (4 again. Three days passed in anguish and in prayer. " O Our Lady of Lourdes ! O Virgin of the grotto, cure my child ! " ^ These words were unceasingly on her lips and in her he^-rt ; she repeats them thousands of times Every day she poUrs some drops of the water from the grotto on the child's eyes, without using any remedy. On the third day, she has just wiped the little one's eyelids and wa8 look- ing anxiously at them, when the child opened his eyes, fixed them gently on his mother, smiled, looked again ; his eyes were clear arnd bright. " I became crazed wifh joy, " said she to the missionary to whom she related the fact. " I fell on my knees before the Virgin. Then, what did I do ? I do not very well know. What I do know is, that I threw myself on the Virgin's neck, and covered her with kisses. Ah ! she restored my child to me ! " The doctor came. Madame Estournet showed him her little Pierre, saying : " I am content ; I think he is cured. But examine them well, and see how they seem to you ? " assi 67 re she )lind. " ghbor, nother ace in tope ►rayer. 3f the were ; she water thout le has look- )ened ailed, ht. the ^hen, aow. 1 the Ah! wed t;I and « " He is cured, " said the doctor, after a mo- ment of attentive observation ; " the remedy was happily applied, was it not ? " "But tell me, is he really cured ? do you assure me of it ? " "Yes." " Well then, doctor, it was not your prescrip- tion that cured him. I must confess that I put it in the fire. " " Miserable woman ! " " when you were writing it, I already thought : * I will not use it ; I have a better remedy, ' Do you know, doctor, what has cured my little Pierre ? the water from the grotto, arid it alone." The doctor's answer was not related to mo. To-day, in 1871, little Pierre Eetournet is seven or eight years old, is full of life and has magnificent ey3S. XXII. MARVELOUS CUBE GF A YOUTH OF FIFTEEN WHO WAS DUMB AND PARALYZED. On Saturday, the 18th of July, 1868, aboixt six o'clock in the evening, a touching spectacle excited public sympathy at Lourdes, Two strangers were carrying a chair through the streets, each holding it with one hand. On the chair a boy of fifteen was seated, resting his arms round the neck of the bearers. One of m 68 these men was his father. The boy could scarcely sit up, his head " shook, his parali- zed limps swung helplessly as he was carried along. Where were they going ? Every one at Lourdes guessed. " They are going to the grotto, " people said. Poor child ! poor father. They were going to that grotto where des- pairing misery is wont to hasten ; whither the Blessed Virgin attracts, because she loves to manifest there the power of her mercy. This boy, Jean Pucheou, was originally from Grouze, in Lagor, district of Orthez, (Basse Pyre- nees). He had always been of a quiet, gentle, amiable disposition. For nearly two years past his health had been failing. He had felt a strange and unconquerable aversion to his ordinary food. He grew visibly thinner, and his weakness became extreme. On Easter Sunday, the 12th of April, 1868, before Vespers, Jean, who was standing at the time, fell down in a faint. His mother took him in her arms and laid him on the bed. From that time the poor boy w^as little more than a corpse. His withered limbs refused to carry him ; his head shook without his having any power to control it ; his arms alone retained their power ; according to his father's expres- sion, all his limbs were " disjointed." He had to be carried as when he was in the creadle. In this sad state he became a heavy burden to 60 Jould arali- rried one the ther. des- the 36 to from ^yre- utle, past ang*e nary ness 868, the fcook rom m a irry any ried res- htad He. to his parents, whose only means of support was their daily toil. Either his father or mother had to keep continual watch over him. He could not stay in bed all day, and he was placed on a little straw^ chair, but it w^as impossible for him to hold himself up. He was bent double, and some one had to sit beside him to support him. One day the sick boy's face assumed a strange expression. His mouth opened ; he seemed as if trying to speak ; there came from his throat only a hard husky breath. His tongue was suddenly gathered up in his mouth. Poor child ! already paralized, he became dumb. His parcel ts w ere heart-broken . He was their eldest son ; he had always been most kind and affectionate. These worthy people had neither land, nor house, nor trade ; the lather was sim- ply a farm laborer ; his wife had never learned anything but house-work. The younger boy, now of im age to support himsell* and assist the family, was soon to be hired out as a servant. The future looked very gloomy. How^ever, he had not lost his reason. Jean could communica- te with his par€ nts by signs and by deep breaths, by which hf» attracted their attention. But his dumbness afflicted his parents very much, made the care of him still more difficult, and rendered heavier a charge already so burdenso- me. The sick boy often suffered from acute pains in his stomach. When they became very great, he felt them go up through his body even m I m k 11 • i ■;)■■] ^'4 70 ■ \ 10 his head. The pain in his head made him forget everything else. It was then pitiful to see him. His loud and painful breathing, the only complaint possible for him to make, grieved the hearts of his parents. Not knowing what to do to relieve his pain, he struck his forehead with his clenched fists. If the attack lasted long he would put his hand on his breast with signs of distress, and pohit toward his bed. They would immediately take him and lay him on it. He would remain motionless, with closed eyes, breathing huskily, his mouth half opien, for ten or twelve minutes ; then, coming to himself, he would point to the armchair, where they would place him once more. This happen- ed once or twice every day. From the manner of the physician who visited him, the parents were persuaded that he knew nothing about this strange and terrible disease, and that he had not the slightest hope of saving the boy. The mother had prepared the shroud for his burial which every one thought was near. This species of agony lasted for more than two months. Towards the end of June the boy often called them by his loud breathing and began to make very animated gestures which puzzled his pa- rents. He made a sign for someting far off, which they could not guess then, he made movements with is arms as if sprinkling water, showed the action of drinking, joined his hands griev The! what On one " Per des. " He I unde smil^ loud Loui mys< turei spea Itm ofL coui he : wat li 71 as if praying fervently, and, with extraordinary vivacity, he pointed to his legs, imitating . the movement of walking, then moved his lips as if in speaking. During this pantomime, he show- ed an inexplicable joy." His parents, who inter- preted his wants and his thoughts every day, were bewildered by these impotent manifestation ofideas miknown to them. When, alter having attentively followed his movements, they said to him : " I do not understand," the boy was grieved and seemed completely discouraged. The father and mother often asked themselves what it could be that the dear child wanted. One day, after a renewal of this painful scene one of them suddenly thought of saying to him : " Perhaps you want to go to Our Lady of Lour- des. " An intense joy brightened the boy's face. He had at last succeeded in making himself understood. He nodded his h^ad several times, smiled, and gave vent to his joy by breathing loud and hard. *• What do you want to do at Lourdes ? " He answered by signs : " Wash myself, drink and pray. " " Why ? " His ges- tures replied : " I will be able to walk, and to speak ..If I do not go I shall noW>e cured." It must be observed that the name of Our Lady of Lourdes was well known in these religious countries, and that before the child's sickness he had heard of the o^ures performed by the water from the grotto. Ever since he had been understood, poor Jean 72 repeated his wish to make a pilgrimage, every day and several times a day. The thought oc- cured to them to ask him this question : " "Who told you to go to Lourdes to be cuiied ? " The boy writhout hesitation pointed to heaven. *' Was it the Blessed Virgin who told you ? " He made a sign of assent* Since his illness no one had spoken to him of Our Lady of Lourdes. It was an entirely supernatural inspiration ; the more remarkable that the boy had but moderate intelligence. . ,, They promised to take him to Lourdes, without any very fixed intention of doing so. Faith had not yet come into the souls of his parents. But the boy insisted more and more every day ; his looks of entreaty became more touching, and sometime his gestures were eager and even impatient. His father then reliected on a hope whifch he considered childish. He »aid to himself ; The child has^ always been good ; he has kept himself innocent ; the Blessed Virgin will hear him. And the journey to Lourdes was decided upon in his heart He mentioned the day to his son, who testified the greatest 4oy, and confidence in his cure, and alter that very moment said by signs : '? We will go and I shall be cured !>.*,....." But when the appointed day arrived, the father said it was impossible to go. The poor boy, vexed and disappointed, fell off' his chair. He was thus disappointed several times, and the same accident alwavs occurred At July not c pilgi- all 78 g'e, every ught oc- : "Who ?" The I. "Was He made one had It was he more noderate Lourdes, oi»g so. s of his ^d more ae more re eager eliected sh. He ^8 been Blessed mey to .rt He iied the re, and -,S* We 5> »■ • tit » • • • • ed, the tie poor s chair. es, and At leii'gtk' the journey was ffxed for Saturday, July 18, and a carrii^e was hired. Jean eould not contain himself for joy on learning that his pilgritamage was cettaiuw He eould not sleep all Fiiday night. Seyeial tiimes he woke his father by hislouid breathing, and he coud hardly ' bo kept in bedtilliiaorning. Whenhe was sett- led on his little chair inL the caritiage^ his joy wa« excessive. , ' •/? 'iw a. .-■■'. Amh ■'■■■■■. Thecarriag^ was approa6bing LoUrdes, when, not a voice, but an articulate breath said t " Papa I'Papa !...>.. ia^Ii TM father looked at J^inv'^ t^PapA," repeated? the child, " I am going to be cured !>i.w....v"i. And be J^ut his tongue out between his lips. The Ciuithertjrc^mbled and felti himseif filled with hiopei He . tanked Gtod tovf this iirst .&yor. The fchild had no more pbwer of miotionthiiii the ewning- heft^re y his thfoati gavci iirb isound,^ but his li^^artlhiii^g was articulate; hemioired his tongue, and he 'appea- red delighted. From that moment he ptayed, pronounoin^ his wordsf atd! clafspmig his h^ilids lerventlyi ^^roaii tii^ tK> linve he interrupted hiimseJf v^o sayv dlwdys > in ther sameislanjiet-r ^f Papa^'IaiU|^i]igrtot^^pur€ld.^^vv^^<^^^ Virgin w gouigiitQ cure me . *44,,, * . I MhaU wa4k ; I shall talki. '^ t /£ach word/iiicreased tile ^ father's co^fidenbeii il'iitfl'T/ifm'^? sr;it oiiTr-'- • ■?ft#!i MiAi^^-leiigth they arrived 4it» Lourdes. The poor little cripple was carried in his chair by his father and ^iven I iM^oiy] persons saw^ •" 74 the sorrowful sight. The chair once plaiced before the grotto, the two men knelt down, and all three prayed fervently. The child mur- mured Our Father and Hail Mary, The poor father's heart cried out to the merciful Virgin. "* The boy was carried on his chair into one of the little rooms belonging to the miraculous fountain. The two men undressed him, and his father took him in his arms, more » helpless than a new born child, infirm and bending ev^ry way. He plunged him into the wator^and held him sitting up. The child prayed^ the t father prayed full of anxiety and of hope. Whilst he pra- yed, he poured water on Jean's head. > A/fow mi- nutes after, a*word Came forth cleat and distinct : ** Papa ! " At this Toice> which he; had not heard for two months, thevpooir fitthertwas overpowered with joy.' At first' he could* only utter a stifled cry : *♦ O my QtiA } >*^! « Pupajf said the voice, ^' you can takerme out ;f J- vim cured." :,.:,- '•[ :}^hvmi^^%4r^-' 'The child had felt life returning io his Mokbs ; they became firm ; he tried them on the botixwi T>f tne basin ; the rest of his body attiie sarn^ time girew strong ; he spoke uneo^oniousljr^j by instinct. He arose, carried up by tlie waters; JbJe stood on his feeti Two great tears feUirom the father's eyes into that water which had enilirely restored his son. Jean sat on then edge of (the basin.-^^^' '•' rr>- ",.' ...;.;.. ;'>v r,:t.- ■r/-, ** My heart w»8 full, ** said his fathefl;^^ tears t''^ placed wii,aiid d mur- le poor n. one of aculous m, and lelpless §revtery id held tftllier hepra- pstiaot: tie; had ftrtiNias d only Papmf bottom I same Ijr^j by on the rffthe teffips 75 prerented me from Beeing my son.^* He took him by the hand, and the child for the first time in three months was there before him standing by himself, speaking and smiling. The boy dressed and put on his shoes himself. The driver, who had gone out a short time beforeyuow came in : " My Qtod ! " cried he ; '' oh, this is a miracle ! '' fv^They all went to kneel before the holy grotto ; and soon the boy, without any assistance, climb- ed the rock^ and reached the house of the MisMonaries. . ^ When the Missionary who collected these tmidiing^ details said to the father : '' You are very^< forttmaite, *' the latter could only answer by ttft dnarticulate sound ; his speech and his sig^t w«re if07 a moment lost in tears. Emotion choked hia voice at every instant as he related the* illness and cure of his son. He could not express > his gratttude towards Her who had saved him from mourning and misery. '3llm child seemed as if just awakened from a tnmfaieddeep. He returned to the village on foot 'Without any help. The motion of his legs, whidi were extremely thin, was slow and unsteady. Next day, at half-past five o'clock, he agai^ made the journey from the town to the^i»tto#. He weni to Confession and Com- muniom ^ He was happj^ and smiling. Seeing a workman bring to the Missionary a h^idsame don^^n f<^r m^ building of the ti, I 76 chapel, Jean's fatiier looked with holt envy at the pieces of gold which glittered on the table: " Ah, " said he, " they are happy who cangire ! I would also like to give something to the Blessed Virgin. r..;.;..bnt I, a poor laborer, ha^'-e nothing. " . i' ? . As on the evening before, Jean return^ to Lourdes without any assistance. The pi'lgrims got into their damage; and. at feleren o'clock^at night, they arrived at the door of their hotiB^. At the sound of the ^arriag^, the mother, who was waiting impatiently, lit a candle and come to receive the travelers. Jea»n got out with but little help. iPhe mother on comingout ick^at louse. wl»> caeme hhnt fokmA tidinp; faint, >oteed in/ft y tioiw they Cfeitr; %M t> -Of 77 I -About two mouths after, Jeau returned to the l^rotto. He had already made long journeys, and had begvku to work a little. His gayety, his good, health, his happiness delighted his lather, 'i?.4"i'**^.'« -ii;. -v. :-un-/^-h^:,.'Oi ,v.. » ...'Ji;»- > Jean lores the Blessed Virgin very much, and likes to pray to her. He sometimes leaves his me^ls and disappears. His father seeks him^ and is edified to find him in a corner, kn^ling in prayer, The gentle and powerful hand w^ich cured the body had left its imprint on that innocent soul. » rr ^ - ? i »^ . ffl iliet us not be astonished at seeing these mira- culous iarors granted almosHSxoltisively to the humble o£thts world, to childTien, aaa to the pdor^rk is the equitable order -of a kind Provi* dence. The rich have dootoTvand'apothJecaries ; tfaey cani go to GautiairtBts,; Bareges, Leuehon, Eaux-Bonnes, ahd to idl thesw«£tering places; the podr* and t the hujtnbie have only the good (jk>d and the Blessed Yirgin^and miracles. As lor mothers and young ivir^ins, it is easily con* oeilred iwhy the Blessed ITirgin loves to treat tfaeia? as- privil^^ed on^s, even when they are rioh^T'f ^?^'- .'! «ij77 K. ,. - .-« '■■Hi ifr. ':■'.. Hi JtEMi^RKABIiE CURE O^" A PRIEST AT THE SAKCWArY^ OF liO0RDfeS, ail AlTijpST^ 1^ ^^^beiabbe 'de Mu^y,' priest of &e. diocese of Autiin^ and of a distinguished family, had been i I TS ill for twenty years. During the la«t eleven years he had only been able to celebrate mass twice, and that with much difEculty. He has just been miraculously cured at the; sanctuary of Lourdes. The following is an acconni given by a young priest who was a fortunate witness of the miracle : We started from Oouekes^les- Mines on the evening of the 6th of Augusts At this period the weakness of M. de Mtisy was such that he could not walk a step; at > the station we had to employ tw6 men tov^arry him from the waiting room to thecarriagei. Wie arrived at Lourdes on Friday evening, tiic SIh of August. An apparianent had been taken ior us on the first floor, and thither we earned oov invalid. The next day we went to^ the crypt; and a wheeled chair enable the Abb6 de mxmy to approach the holy table, and he had thtit happiness everjr day. When the crowd was too great, the priest quitted the altar and admi* niatered holy communion to the invalid in his place. After Mass, he descended to the giottd in a carriage, and then he was wheeled itt his chair to the piscine^ or baUi. During sii da^pa he bathed in the miraculous water, and fo(r days numerous pilgrims saw him prating the same hour before the grotto, eonsolmg chis suffering companions. More than one shed immi on seeing one so young, and all were aoon united to him by sympathy as the^ afoeady were by prayer. Two days after ow ai^n^al Bferen mass le has otaary giv^n witness e8*IeEh fst At J waa At 'the <5arry u Wm El 8th Aibr Mitty L thait I mw admi* in hjfi grotto ii his days »8l imum 79 the Abb6 Peytamftle, the venerable Oar6 of Lourdes, came to see our dear invalid ; his worda^ full of faith, seemed to us a pledge of an approaehinff cure. *' If, '' said he, " the Blessed Virgin will only come to our assistance, you will soon be cured. " From that moment the Abb6 de Musy Had found a powerful friend aiid advocate with Mary* On Wednesday, the Idiii (tf August, we had a second visit from the Gur6; On condng in he exclaimed : *^ Has not the Blessed Yirgin yet cured you ?" Again he promised his prayers and left us full of hope. Tlmrsday, lite 14th inst., the Baronne de la lUie^ wife 1 of the aub-prefect of Saint-Malo, aiiicr having gone through greit sufferings for twelve years, which terminated in paralvsis was isuddenly cured on touching for the nrst timie tbe soil of the grotto ! Mary did not even giiieiher time to plunge into the pigcine (bnth.) Onei heard < it whispered through the crowds "4 Now it is the Abb^s turn;' All looked tor the event with such ftdth and certainty that Hm brother guarding reserved a candk for this intentkm lor the morrow; The Bsiroiiess just vortovedi ta health prayed for the invalid ; he himablf'aaidrta me in the evening : "1 think &at { shail^ cux^d.^^ It maf^ciasily be unilers«> toad that^ the night of thjS-H^ith was^one of anid^ty- and islee|>le8sness. I^rly in the mor^ utBj^ on the blessed day of t&e Asaumption we arrived, aii the cl'ypt, where only invalids are I 80 admitted on fast-days to hear holy Mae^ ; the Abb6 de Musy requested that I might be allo- wed to say my Mass at the altar of the Blessed Virgiiii We scai'cely hoped to obtain this fe-vor ; however it was granted tons. On returning to the sacristy 1 saw the Abb « Sire, a devoted servant of Mary Immaculate ; I offered to neme his Mass. I must not omit to say thai the intention of M. Sire was, on that day, in 'Oifeiv ing the holy sacrifice, to place the merit of it at the disposal of the Blessed Virgin^ in order? thfit she might apply it as seemed most adrantagaous and for her greater glory. It was the second Mass that the Abb6 d^ Musy had he^rd after having reideived holy communion ; I feli very much agitated. At the elevation, I pereeivedi, to itiy great astonishment, that the invalid was kneeling ; instinctively I looked at my watehv^it seemed to me th^ the mirsK^le was bSegajiiiiag : it was e%hti lovelock. A quarter of ah houf eldp8iedi,(and ibe Abb6 de Mui^y was-stiil kn#el^ ing. Occasionally J turned round, icAtisn^to see him fall from fatigue. Aftelr the Masa^ I approached him ; I could;not believe my eyes; the few people^ present seemed: to ehier iatk> my feeMngig. At nine o'clock I hesitate, and bring forwarrd the wheeled^'chairf the Abh6 de M^sy tises^ unas8iste4^ wi^hease^ again kneels, ?aiid then agaiB rises to speak to a piaralyzedlady : ^^Madame^ tiie Blessed/ Targiu his ibeard my prayer! she has cured me.. Have confidence, I sha ture' unde crypt so; could were who^ astofi the tt at fih we re groi<^< ttsth^ keefjy shut! froitti wteyi^ walW mirac Magn set 'ifeV foi<^'6i preis^i uaihi^ All^"^ are^l blesse He t< priest 8S ; the be alio- Blessed sluvor; turning ie voted to b&iXje biat the n^ oifeiv ; of it at l«r thfit tageous seooild ?d aftdf It v«ry lid was n houf I kneel^ vting^ to ifafiS/ I y eyes; nU> my dbnng m Is, ?aiid iflady : ird my idence. ^f^ I shall ptay for you.'**' He thto topl^ Ms depar- ture' atid 1 foUbwed Wm,' oarryipg the chaijr-| under iny arm: As soon , as we had left ^^e crypt I leisfced hiiii if he x^ere cured. "I believe so ; - * theisfe feW words alonii were uttered. . Who could express the ffeelings with 'vv^hich they,i were uttered land listenefto? The coachmani^i who was no longer wanted,' went ^way full ot , astoisigfhmeht. We theii descended on foot to. ^ the miraculous source, taking the longest y/ay;' at fitst it was imposi^ible for us to speak : then . we reeiied sotoe Hail Matys till we got tP tW gr<^oi The brother guardian, iji ie^rs, brou^jht us th^ dtodlfe whicfh hfe jpreseutime^^^^ him kee^ fp#^ttie occasioh ; ne' opened th«; gate, and. shtit4# after tis; it wasiecessary to be /protected froinf ihfe fcroi^d ; the peojple re(ib^ni^^d tHe p^^est wl^-fo¥ six days they had seen in0i|«pabie of ,. walk^^ a; in%16 sfe^ ! ; T^i^y^ ejcclainqied, "^o] miracle ? a miracle ! irid burst forth with the ' Magitificdt. The cl^o^^d isiminensej^ndinerea- set ifeV^ry iiistalit. After ten Hail Marys repited f bi<^ ftiiih^ts, ' 4 ^eat litimbef of pictures ar(^ preS^l^ed to'the AbB6 de Musy, wiio signs hi^f ,t naihi^oA thrift tvithout any effert-r^he, who for < *^ - rt^vif y^^rs d^ulfl hot make i:\se - pf hi^ eyes ! . , , All^'-w^ih to' s^ hiin w^lk : i^ wfdijs, a^il all . are^^We to'fe^ hnii; owing to his^^h^^ He ^ blessei^ tli^ ietow^ ( kll^^iihttib |^ He ¥^Utes Ms * thers. Again they want to see hiin walk. After a few minutes* rest he ascends to the chapel, ea^ir ly mounting the rapid wooden staircase which conducts thither. Abo^t two o'clock he returns to his room. At Vespers, in the evening, M. Peyr ramale related to his parishioners tiMs cure, and proclaimed it as one of the gratesit and most striking of the miracles which had been seen at Lourdes. After Vespers, the Abb6 de Mnay paid his first visit, and went to thank the Clur§. I cannot describe to you the inexp^ressible joy of this holy priest at seeing his dear invalid isio perfectly cured. The next day, Satoqrday,. in spite of many interruptipns and continued visits, we had to prepare ibr the ceremonies of the Mass, which had been partly forgotten after &3 ywtB le last Jk! I leased iJiank ought ^ssio- rowd, ii one ^aee : ss his or th^ syhaa x;cited 16 Fa* After il«ea/sfi<> which etorns [. Feyp 'e^a&d most I seen Clur6. le joy lid jSo ay^ in visits, >f the after eleven years interruption. In the afternoon, a stranger was announced, he entered, and ap- proaching M. de Musy, said : " I come to thank yott ; your miracle has converted me. For forty y^ars I have not frequented the sacra- m^iitji^. On coming to lipurdes, I promissed my sistcjr to be converted if I could only see one miracle ; I was before the railling when you related yours, the recital of which convinced me ; I h4ve been to confession, and I beg the favor of partaking of holy commmunion at your Mass. " The Abbe de Musy only answered him by an exhbrace, assuring hinr that this miracle gaire him ^ much Joy as his own. , The next mOYuhig M. de Peyramale came to fetch M. de Mttfiiy, as he wished to asaist at his first Mass ; it Was siddE at the alfar where the miracle took pidcre ; th^' crypt was overflowing with the faithf 1, who all wished to receive holy commu- nioh tfcfiXi the hand) pr the miraculously cured I*r5M. Tiiii^ first person who had that hi^^i- nL08 vr^ ^iie convert of the IStii, and the second the lady Who was ouTedonr, the 14th. After their^^ wtrndetful diays of eaccitemen,^ tlie Abb^ dk Jtufe]^ >^turne4 to his &i<4^^^ He hfts said M^ eV^ry morning; he w^klks with^t fatigiote ; he caA Write or" rpad for jDoany hours. The cut^ is p^rf^ct' and compleie, ^ lied,) The A^Bi ANTOiNi, priest of title lUocese of Autim, 11 i) i rt't fU. 8* PRAtERi -f i- Thou revealest thyself again fo thy^servaiafjs, G Mary ; thou showest thyself to us lii all the holiness, thou hadst froiid the first, an^ thou Mo- dest us invoke thee under the title orthe lig- maculate Ooneeptiota. Oh, whait joy it effort? us to honour thee in the most glorious of th.y privileges ! Y«s, queen of heaven, tho)i a^t truly spotless, and the sun in all his sptendour is but darkness compared to thee* Be thou bles- sed on earth as thou art in heaven for f^yex. Poor wayfarers on earth we shall one day quench our thrfst at the never failing fountain of thy love. There thou awaitest us ; there w^e shs^ recruit our exausted strength ; there too we stall be privileged to receive thy sweet words and, maternal smiles. ij It is under the name'pr0ftr Li^y of Lpiird^^ that we here inyoke tHee^ O jg^riier6u^;Jtelp jc^ Ghristians. Oh, what feelings of delight ttiis sweet name awakens in my bresMst f Yes j fondly hope that thou wilt ehlighten the patfc I tread, I hope that thy maternal smiles ^ill cheer me on the way, I hope that thpu. wilt obtain for me pardon for the past, a holy life now, and perseverance for the time to come, I hope that thou will ever be iiiy joy, xwiy sup- port, my consolation and my i^trength. Look upon me here prostrate before thee, in the name vautis, Jl the u e f tEy L blea- Poor lench f thy shjifl shall and es Jf' ^' wilt life pme. sup- jook aiiie 85 of my whole family. I pray thee also for the deliverance of our Holy Father the Pope from his bondage, and for the triunph of good over evil. Lady of Lourdes establish thy reign in every heart, spread abroad that light which dazzled the first witnesses of the apparition ; that guided by thee, sweet Mother, all may at last reach in safety their everlasting home. Amen. Mary Immaculate, pray for us. i f little ..?.... 43 aticism ...... 47 aculato 50 racle of .| • • ♦ t.,66 •.». .. ol ; ^ilU-Hfd ■ • 64 lb an^ ...... 67 les, on •*.... if :;,!:•: 84 ' ■ %. :■- ')# -i