Record journalist Mark Reidy travelled to Lourdes in March to report on the remarkable phenomenon that contibnues to draw millions.
It is impossible to envision what Lourdes would look like today had the Virgin Mary not appeared to a sick, simple and impoverished 14 year old in a cold, damp grotto on 11 February 1858. With over five million visitors a year, this picturesque village at the foot of the spectacular Pyrenee Mountains is now second in France only to Paris in the number of hotels – over 400 – that dominate its narrow and winding streets.
Arriving in Lourdes in March is probably a blessing. Many of the shops and hotels are boarded shut, not due to open until the tourist season begins to buzz again when the weather warms in late April.
However, the price of chilly night air is a small one to pay as one can not only savour the snow covered surroundings but, more significantly, embrace a peace that seems to permeate throughout the grotto and its surrounds.
As I sit in solitude in the warm spring sunshine opposite the apparition site, on the banks of the fast flowing Gave de Pau river, it is easy to be transported by the serenity to a time when the inhabitants of this town lived a much simpler existence.
Despite the architectural magnificence and aesthetic splendour of the two Basilicas that are built above the grotto, one can still close one’s eyes and visualise the moment when a young and naive Bernadette Soubirous, gathering firewood just outside her village, experiences a supernatural encounter that is to change her life and the village of Lourdes forever.
For centuries, Lourdes and its Fortress, which still stands today, was pivotal to many battles occurring in the region.
These include Charlemagne’s encounter with Muslims in the 8th century, the long war against the English in the 14th century and the Religious wars of the 16th century, which eventually saw Lourdes re-establish its Catholic faith in 1592 and then become part of the Kingdom of France in 1602.
By the time 1858 came around, Lourdes was a quiet town with a population of about 4,000, often used by mountaineers as a stop-over on their to way further south to the Pyrenees.
Today, of course, Lourdes is one of the most visited Catholic pilgrimage sites in the world.
Not surprisingly, with the number of visitors arriving in Lourdes growing every year (there were about 30,000 per year from 1864 –1872), a multi-million dollar industry has also evolved.
The Muslim owner of a local souvlaki shop provided me with his own demographic breakdown, “There are two types of people in Lourdes”, he announced, “Those here for business and those here for faith”.
It is inevitable that when large numbers of people gather in any place there will also be those who will seek to profit financially from the situation, but this co-existence of diverse motives does not seem to detract from the spiritual peace and grace that abound here.
This should not be surprising considering that during the peak season there are 15 Masses celebrated each day in the two Basilicas, as well as many others in the 22 surrounding churches and chapels, including the grotto itself.
There are also rows of confessional boxes in constant use, Eucharistic Adoration, processions, prayer vigils and a beautiful and moving Stations of the Cross.
Added to this is the continuous lighting of candles as visitors offer up prayers through the intercession of Mary under her title as the Immaculate Conception. Pilgrims also line up for hours to bathe in the spring water.
So, while it would be easy to take umbrage at the multitude of religious and, at times, tacky artefacts, trinkets and souvenirs on offer – from beautifully carved statues and rosary beads to glow-in-the-dark Mary figurines and lollies made with Lourdes water – one only has to witness the spiritual fruits to ascertain why the Catholic Church authenticated these apparitions in 1862.
And it is not only those visitors who personally make the journey who are affected by this holy site.
As I witnessed the bagfuls of goods purchased and the countless litres of spring water being bottled, I began to perceive the broader ramifications of this pilgrim destination.
With a 1978 study showing that people from well over 100 countries are represented here, the global influence for evangelisation should not be underestimated. It is not that the gifts purchased here, or even the spring water itself, contain any healing properties or power in themselves.
In fact, St Bernadette once said, “One must have faith and pray; the water will have no virtue without faith”. However, with the sharing of their experience and the renewed faith that many attest to, pilgrims are able to magnify the impact of their visit.
Little did Bernadette know that her silent encounter with “the beautiful lady” on that cold, damp morning 153 years ago would resound so loudly across the world.
Bernadette Soubirous was born in Lourdes on 7 January 1844, the oldest child to Francois and Louise and was followed by siblings, sister Toinette and her two brothers, Jean-Marie and Justin. (There were five other children born into the family, but only these four reached adulthood.)
Initially, they had lived in relative comfort but, in 1857, financial disaster struck and the family was forced to move to the miserable confines of a condemned former prison. Because of the difficulty in feeding everyone, Bernadette, who suffered with asthma and the after-effects of cholera, was moved to stay with another family in a nearby town where she became a domestic servant, usually minding sheep.
It was a difficult and lonely time for Bernadette and she was, at times, persecuted for her inability to understand her First Communion catechesis.
In January 1858, a forlorn Bernadette made the decision to return to her family and prepare as best she could to receive Holy Communion in June that year.
It was only three weeks after her return to Lourdes, while gathering firewood in front of the Grotto of Massabielle, a landmark often referred to by locals as the “pigsty”, that Bernadette experienced the first of 18 encounters with, what she initially described as, “a lady wearing a white dress with a blue sash”.
Initially, civic and Church leaders alike persecuted Bernadette. However, when she told the local priest that on her 16th appearance the lady had said, “I am the Immaculate Conception”, attitudes toward her began to change.
At the age of 22, eight years after Bernadette received her last vision on 16 July 1858, she entered St Gildard convent in Nevers in Central France. Her health was always tenuous and, at the age of 35, in 1879, after spending the last four months confined to her bed, Bernadette passed away. Her body was exhumed on three occasions and each time was found to be intact. Since July 1925, her incorrupt body has been on display in the chapel of the Sisters of Nevers.
Pope Pius XI declared her a Saint on 8 December 1933.
Once, when questioned why Mary had appeared to her, Bernadette had responded, “Don’t I realise that the Blessed Virgin chose me because I was the most ignorant? If she had found anyone more ignorant than myself, she would have chosen her.”
MIRACLES
By Mark Reidy
Claims of miraculous cures began from the moment Catherine Latapie’s arm was healed during the twelfth apparition on 1 March 1858, prompting calls for the Church to recognise these events as miracles. Consequently, an Episcopal Commission of Inquiry that was overseen by the Bishop of Tarbes carried out the earliest investigations of these cases.
However, while the inquiry involved clergy, it did not seek medical advice. Consequently, in 1859, a medical Professor was appointed and from this time doctors and other medical experts have been involved in the investigation of any claims of healing.
Investigative procedures were further formalised in 1905 when Pope Pius X decreed that claims of miraculous cures at Lourdes should “submit to a proper process”, in other words, to be rigorously examined by medical experts. At his instigation, the current Lourdes Medical Bureau (LMB) was formed.
Any doctors practising in or visiting Lourdes may apply to become members of the LMB as well as nurses, physiotherapists, pharmacists and members of other health professions. Members of any religious affiliation or none are welcomed and the first stage of investigation of any reported healing falls to any of these doctors who may be present in Lourdes at the time the apparent cure took place.
These investigations begin with the medical examination of the patient and viewing any case notes or test results that may be available, such as biopsies, X-rays, CT scans, or blood test results.
If LMB members determine that further investigation is warranted, the case is referred to the International Lourdes Medical Committee (abbreviated in French to CMIL), which is an international panel of approximately 20 experts in various medical disciplines and of varying religious beliefs.
This Committee meets annually and, for every case presented to it, will appoint one of its members to thoroughly investigate every detail, consulting with other colleagues as required.
The result of each investigation is then presented to the entire CMIL, leading members of the LMB and the Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes, to determine whether the claimed cure can be considered to be medically inexplicable. To establish this, certain criteria have to be met:
– The original diagnosis must be verified and confirmed beyond doubt
– The diagnosis must be regarded as “incurable” with current means (although ongoing treatments do not disqualify the cure)
– The cure must happen in association with a visit to Lourdes, typically while in Lourdes or in the vicinity of the shrine itself (although drinking or bathing in the water are not required)
– The cure must be immediate (rapid resolution of symptoms and signs of the illness)
– The cure must be complete (with no residual impairment or deficit)
– The cure must be permanent (with no recurrence).
CMIL is not entitled to pronounce a cure “miraculous. The bureau may only pronounce that a cure is “medically inexplicable”. A full investigation takes a minimum of five years (in order to ensure the cure is permanent), and may take as long as ten or 12 years. It is recognised that, in rare cases, even advanced malignant disease or severe infection may spontaneously resolve.
The CMIL board votes on each case presented. A two-thirds majority is required for CMIL to pronounce a cure “inexplicable”. If the CMIL decides a cure is medically inexplicable, the case is then referred to the Bishop of the diocese where the cured person lives. It is he who, in consultation with his own experts and with the Vatican, makes the decision about whether a cure is “miraculous”. He may, for whatever reason, refute the claim.
About 7,000 sufferers have claimed to be cured at Lourdes since the official keeping of records began in 1883, but most of these do not even pass the initial stage of investigation by the LMB. In fact, each year only three to five cases are thoroughly examined and the Church has declared 68 of them to be miraculous, the most recent in March 2011.
By CNS and Record staff
While there is no doubt that thousands of remarkable and inexplicable healings have been reported from Lourdes since the middle of the 19th century, only a few are are officially recognised by Church authorities. Nevertheless, healings continue to be recognised even in the modern era. In 1999, Church authorities declared that a “sudden and complete’’ healing of a paralysed man occurred at the Marian shrine at Lourdes 12 years earlier.
Bishop Claude Dagens of Angouleme announced the Catholic Church’s official recognition of the healing in a statement at the shrine in February that year.
“In the name of the Church, I hereby recognise publicly the genuine character of the healing of which Mr Jean-Pierre Bely was the beneficiary at Lourdes on Friday, 9 October 1987. This healing, which was sudden and complete, is a personal gift of God for this man and an effective sign of God who is Saviour, and which was accomplished through the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes,’’ said Bishop Dagens at the time. Bely, who lived in the Diocese of Angouleme, was not present at the press conference.
However, remarks he made in an earlier interview were available.
“At Lourdes,’’ he said, “I had the distinct impression of complete forgiveness, filled with gentleness. It is as if God winked at me,’’ he said. Bely, then 63, lived in a small house in La Couronne, a village of 2,000 inhabitants on the outskirts of Angouleme. In 1984, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. By 1987 he was completely paralysed. In the interview, he said he came to Lourdes “bedridden and on a stretcher.’’ He took part in the traditional October Rosary Pilgrimage at Lourdes, part of which was the Sacrament of Reconciliation and then, on the final morning of the pilgrimage, the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick.
He felt what he described as “a sensation of coldness,’’ then “a gentle warmth’’ that seemed to fill his whole body.
“Later, I took my first steps, just like a baby who is learning to walk,’’ he added.
He said he chose not to make a fuss “for the sake of all the other sick people who were there.’’ He stayed in his wheelchair and waited until he was reunited in the privacy of his family with his wife and two children before revealing what had happened.
Bely, a former nurse, said he felt duty-bound to submit his case to the Lourdes Medical Office.
“I couldn’t keep this sign all to myself,’’ he said, adding that the physical healing was accompanied by “an interior healing,’’ which he attributed to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The official examination of Bely’s case took 11 years.
Approximately 2,000 cases per year are reported to the Medical Office at Lourdes. Most cases are dismissed fairly quickly but, of the 6,500 that medical experts have pursued, some 2,500 were finally declared as “extraordinary’’ by the medical team.
From heart disease to serving meals
By Cindy Wooden
Anna Santaniello said that after volunteers lowered her into the chilly waters at the French Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in 1952 she was cured of a heart disease. Santaniello, 93, recounted her story to Vatican Radio in December 2005, a month after her local Bishop announced that hers was the 67th officially recognised miraculous cure at Lourdes.
Members of the International Medical Committee of Lourdes had agreed in 1964 that there was no natural or medical explanation for her recovery from mitral disease, which affects the heart.
But for 40 years nothing happened. Then the Lourdes medical officer, Dr Patrick Theillier, brought up Santaniello’s case in 2004.
Archbishop Gerardo Pierro of Salerno agreed to reopen the investigation. After asking for her old records and a new cardiology report, the Archbishop informed the Lourdes shrine in September that he agreed her healing was miraculous.
The official Lourdes website said: “Anna Santaniello developed severe heart disease following acute rheumatic arthritis. She presented with severe and persistent dyspnea (breathlessness), or Bouillaud’s disease, which made it difficult for her to speak and impossible for her to walk, with severe asthma attacks, cyanosis of her face and lips, and bilateral lower limb edema.”
Family, friends and even Santaniello’s priest told her she was too sick to make the long train journey to Lourdes.
“I told them all: ‘I want to go. If I must die, I want to die seeing Our Lady,’” she told Vatican Radio.
She could barely breathe and the Lourdes volunteers did not want to take her from the residence for the sick down to the grotto, she said.
“I prayed with a loud voice so she would hear me, ‘Blessed Virgin, you must help me,’” she said.
“I saw a shadow, a shadow in the sky that whispered in my ear, ‘Do not listen to them, keep going, keep going.’
“Everyone was praying for me, men and women. They had me kiss the statue of Our Lady that they had there on a small altar,” she said.
She entered the icy waters of the baths, “but after a few minutes I felt a great warmth, precisely around my heart. I felt calm. I got up and the volunteers wanted to put me back on the stretcher.
“I told them, ‘Go help the others because I can do it on my own,’” she said.
“I got out and went into the square and started serving lunch to the sick,” Santaniello said. “At 4 in the afternoon they have a procession with the Blessed Sacrament and I joined in, singing.”
She told Vatican Radio, “I am very grateful to Our Lady because I lost a brother and sister to the same disease; he was 29 and she was 33.”
Apparitions
By Mark Reidy
Mary appeared 18 times to St Bernadette from 11 February to 16 July 1858, speaking to her in the local dialect. The following is Bernadette’s description of her mysterious and beautiful visitor:
“She has the appearance of a young girl of 16 or 17. She is dressed in a white robe, girdled at the waist with a blue ribbon, which flows down all along her robe. She wears upon her head a veil that is also white; this veil gives just a glimpse of her hair then falls down at the back below her waist. Her feet are bare but covered by the last folds of her robe, except at the point where a yellow rose shines upon each of them. She holds on her right arm a Rosary of white beads with a chain of gold shining like the two roses on her feet.”
Apparition 1
Thursday, 11 February 1858
Accompanied by her sister and a friend, Bernadette goes to the Grotto of Massabielle, just outside Lourdes on the banks of the Gave de Pau River to collect firewood. Removing her socks in order to cross the stream, she hears a noise like a gust of wind and looks up to see, standing in an elevated hollow, a small young woman dressed in white. Shocked, Bernadette hesitantly makes the Sign of the Cross and recites the Rosary with the Lady. The vision moves her lips, but says no words. When the prayer finishes, the Lady suddenly vanishes.
Apparition 2
Sunday, 14 February
Upon hearing the story, Bernadette’s parents have forbidden her return to the Grotto.However, on this day she feels an inner force drawing her back. At her insistence, her mother allows her to return. Bernadette begins praying the Rosary and after the first decade the Lady appears. When Bernadette blesses herself with holy water, the Lady smiles. Again, the Lady does not speak and when the Rosary ends, she disappears.
Apparition 3
Thursday, 18 February
For the first time, the Lady speaks. Bernadette holds out pen and paper and asks her to write her name. She replies, “It is not necessary” and adds, “I do not promise to make you happy in this world, but in the other. Would you be kind enough to come here for 15 days?”
Apparition 4
Friday, 19 February
Accompanied by her mother and aunt, Bernadette arrives at the Grotto with a lit, blessed candle. This is the origin of carrying candles and lighting them in front of the Grotto.
Apparition 5
Saturday, 20 February
A group of 30 people arrive with Bernadette. The Lady teaches her a personal prayer.
Apparition 6
Sunday, 21 February
The Lady appears to Bernadette very early in the morning. About 100 people are present. Afterwards, Police Commissioner Jacomet questions her. He wanted Bernadette to tell him what she saw. Bernadette would only speak of Aquero (“that thing” in local dialect).
On Monday, 22 February, Bernadette attends the Grotto but is saddened that the Lady does not appear.
Apparition 7
Tuesday, 23 February
Surrounded by 150 persons, Bernadette arrives at the Grotto. The Apparition reveals to her a secret “only for her alone”.
Apparition 8
Wednesday, 24 February
The message of the Lady: “Penance! Penance! Penance! Pray to God for sinners. Kiss the ground as an act of penance for sinners!” There are about 300 in attendance.
Apparition 9
Thursday, 25 February
The crowd is growing and includes local officials who watch in amazement as Bernadette crawls on all fours, digs in the dirt and eats the grass growing there. Bernadette later explains, “She told me to go, drink of the spring and wash there … I only found a little muddy water. At the fourth attempt (digging with her hands), I was able to drink. She also asked me to eat the bitter herbs that were found near the spring, and then the vision left and went away.” When those in crowd asked her why, she replied; “It is for sinners.”
On Friday, 26 February, 600 people gather, but there is no apparition.
Apparition 10
Saturday, 27 February
Present are 800 people. The Lady appears but is silent. Bernadette again drinks water from the spring that is now flowing and kisses the earth.
Apparition 11
Sunday, 28 February
Over 1,000 people are present at the ecstasy. Bernadette prays, kisses the ground and moves on her knees as a sign of penance. She is then taken to the house of the local Judge who threatens to place her in prison.
Apparition 12
Monday, 1 March
Over 1,500 people assemble at midnight. One of these is Catherine Latapie, a friend from Lourdes. She plunges her dislocated arm into the water of the spring and is instantly healed.
Apparition 13
Tuesday, 2 March
The crowd continues to grow. The Lady tells Bernadette to “Go, tell the priests to come here in procession and to build a chapel here.” Bernadette repeats this to Fr Peyramale, the parish priest of Lourdes. He wants to know the Lady’s name and requests that she make the wild rose bush at the Grotto flower in the middle of winter.
Apparition 14
Wednesday, 3 March
At 7 o’clock in the morning, in the presence of 3,000 people, Bernadette arrives at the Grotto but the vision does not appear. After school, she feels drawn and returns. She sees the Lady and again asks for her name. The Lady smiles but does not speak. Later, the parish priest tells Bernadette again: “If the Lady really wishes that a chapel be built, then she must tell us her name and make the rose bush bloom at the Grotto.”
Apparition 15
Thursday, 4 March
Over 7,000 people gather but the Lady is silent. For 20 days Bernadette does not go to the Grotto.
Apparition 16
Thursday, 25 March
Bernadette again asks for the Lady’s name and this time she receives an answer. “She lifted up her eyes to heaven, joined her hands as though in prayer and said to me: ‘Que soy era Immaculada Concepcio’ (I am the Immaculate Conception).” The young visionary leaves, running all the way, repeating continuously the words she did not understand. The parish priest was convinced Bernadette was ignorant of the fact that this theological expression was assigned to the Blessed Virgin by Pope Pius IX four years earlier.
Apparition 17
Wednesday, 7 April
During this Apparition, Bernadette, seemingly in a trancelike state, holds a candle close to her hand. The flame licks along her hand without burning it. A medical doctor, Dr Douzous, examines the hand but can find no burns.
Apparition 18
Thursday, 16 July
Bernadette feels an urge to go to the Grotto but a barrier erected by local authorities blocks her way. She stands at a distance from the Grotto and later says, “I felt that I was in front of the Grotto at the same distance as before. I saw the Blessed Virgin, and she was more beautiful than ever!” It was to be Bernadette’s last apparition.
Approval
After a four year investigation, the Bishop of the Diocese of Tarbes declares on 18 January 1962: “We judge that Mary Immaculate, Mother of God, really appeared to Bernadette Soubirous on 11 February 1858, and on subsequent days, 18 times in all.
“The faithful are justified in believing this to be certain.”