The immaculate conception...

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I

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.

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Chapter I

A sketch of the History and Topography of Lourdes.

"Happy is that people whose God is the Lord." Psalm cxi,. iii.

France is separated from Spain by a long and lofty range of mountains stretching westward from the Mediterranean to the shores of the Atlantic, and this is called the Pyrenean chain. These mountains give a name to three French provinces, or departments, as they are commonly called, namely, the department of the Oriental Pyrenees, whose capital is Perpignan ; the department of the Low Pyrenees, whose capital is Pau ; and the department of the High Pyrenees, whose capital is Tarbes. This last named department is situated about midway amidst the mountain chain ; and while its second city is Argeles, the third is Lourdes, which is distant about twenty kilometres by rail from Tarbes, fifteen from Argeles, and thirty-nine from Pan.

The position of Lourdes is lovely and picturesque. Its southern extremity lies at the foot of the first spurs of the great mountain range, at the junction of the seven valleys, called the valleys of Lavedan, which penetrate the mountains, and contain famous baths; and Lourdes is the key to these valleys. On the northern side^ it is hemmed in by hills of gentle acclivity; and these terminate the plains of Tarbes and of Toulouse: hence, it lies on the cross-roads that lead to the famous baths. Whether one journeys to Bareges, to Saint Sauveur, to Cauterets, to Bagneresde-Bigorre, or from Cauterets, or Pau to Louchou, he must always pass through Lourdes.

Lourdes is of very ancient origin. Founded, probably, by the ancient Spaniards, mention is made of it in the earliest histories of that country. It was known in the days of Charlamagne; and its name has been constantly recorded in the page of history from the days of that warrior king up to the epoch of the great French Revolution in 1789. An ancient castle, built like an eagle's nest upon a solitary cliff, at the foot of which, on the eastern side, the city reposes, adds to its celebrity. The houses, sufficiently neat, are built, almost without design, upon a variegated tract of country, and are grouped, as it were, in a disorderly manner along the base of the aforesaid cliff. These houses were formerly sufficient to accommodate a population of about five thousand, but the apparitions of the Virgin Immaculate have completely changed the appearance of the city, and converted it into an immense inn, by reason of the accommodation it had been called upon to afford the crowds of pilgrims, who flocked thither from every part of the world.

In order to meet these requirements new houses had to be built on different sites, and the old ones remodeled. And so the pilgrims can now find lodgings suitable to their tastes and means, as well as food and drink of every description, public and private dilligences, and objects of piety for sale, particularly along the way leading to the holy grotto. In a word, from having been a city of modest proportions, Lourdes has, of late, wonderfully increased its dimensions, and is now destined to rank, and that at no far distant period, among the most flourishing cities of France.

The Mons. Bishop of Tarbes, in whose diocese Lourdes is situated, in his Homily delivered in the newsanctuary on the 11th of February, 1873, very appropriately said : " Good city of Lourdes; city of Mary. The Immaculate Virgin has brought thee beneath the folds of her mantle, all temporal and eternal blessings. Thou has found here the richness of the earth, and the pure dews of heaven. Our Lady of Lourdes is the rich treasure of this locality. All thy houses are homes for the pilgrims, and the repositories of emblems of devotion. Tou, my beloved flock, should be very grateful to God and to the Virgin Mary."

In the midst of all this splendor which renders the city of Lourdes illustrious, God wishes that the simplicity of its primitive customs should not fade away, and decrees to keep, through His Immaculate Mother, Christian faith and piety alive in the hearts of the fellow citizens of Bernadette.

I have said that God wishes to keep Christian faith and piety alive in the hearts of the inhabitants of Lourdes, because, in truth, they are a people of excellent character. Simple in manners, sweet of disposition, fervent in piety, and always engaged in works of a laborious character, which preclude all possibility of sinful indulgence, they are to our great cities a striking example of the beneficent influence which the Catholic religion, when practiced in its native simplicity, wields over the masses. Their honesty is notorious; the integrity of their customs, most singular; their knowledge, generally advanced; mutual love reigns supreme amongst them; and the support they give each other in time of need is particularly remarkable, for it can be seen at every step in the numerous male and female associations existing in their midst, all dedicated to some special Saint whose object is to guard their spiritual, much more than their temporal interests. Hence, it happens that the parish church is always crowded whenever a sermon is being preached, the Christian doctrine expounded, or any other holy function performed. And particularly noticeable is the deep devotion of the people to the Most Holy Virgin : suffice it to say, that every altar in their church is dedicated to her.

Amid the environs of Lourdes, here steep and wild like some site in the virgin forests of America, there tranquil and beautiful to look upon as the most lovely, verdant meadows, the valley of the Gave, which stretches along the western borders of the city, deserves special mention. This river, or rather mighty torrent, rises amid the Pyrenees, and being swollen along its course by many tributaries, flows in a southerly direction as far as Lourdes, where its waters foam and dash against the rock on which the castle stands, and then taking a rectangular sweep, hurries on to the city of Pau, where it blends with the waters of the Adour, which empties into the great ocean. This valley, viewed from the castle, presents a magnificent prospect. Before us — that is towards the west, is a garland of mountains ; on the left mountains also bound our view ; while on the right rises a picturesque little hill, along whose flank runs the road to Pan, and now, also, the railroad. The banks of the river are a scene of enchantment. All along smiling meadows, fringed with rows of alders, ash-trees, and poplars, invite our gaze. Here, also, may be seen a beautiful little island formed by the river flowing on the right, and by a canal on the left. Some eighteen years ago this canal worked a mill. The island, which is not wide, but is about one kilometre in length, is called the island of Chalet, and terminates below towards Pau, where the canal reunites with the Gave.

At the confluence of the canal and the river, a little to the left of the latter, rises a steep rock of huge proportions. It is of a greyish color, and is tapestried with; ivy and box, with heather and musk plants ; while from its wide fissures bud forth here and there wild brushwood, brambles, wild roses, and hazels. The base of the rock slightly resembles an amphitheatre, for its two extremites are planted on the ground, and in its centre it remains suspended in the form of a circular arch at a height of about four metres in its greater altitude, of about twelve in its cord formed from the ground, and of about as many more in depth. Thus beneath it there is, as it were, a grotto or cavern, which from below united with the gro.uncl, rises and prolongs itself like a pedlar's tent, or half an arch of a' misshapen oven. Above this grotto, at the right as one enters, opens a second cavity, excavated by the hand of nature to the depth of about two metres, shaped like a window or a niche of a church, presenting the figure of the letter O, but somewhat sharper, and communicating with the cavern beneath by an internal aperture, and with a third cavity half concealed by bushes, and facing the west, which serves to give light to the second niche. This last named niche, the most important for our history, has got a wild rose bush growing at its base, which, springing from a fissure in the rock, flings out here its long branches

Up to the year 1858 no place within the environs of Lourdes was so little known and unfrequented as the locality in which this rock stands. Situated on a common, it was scarcely ever visited, except by a shepherd, or some fisherman w^ho, happening to be near, had been overtaken by a storm. The rock was called Massabielle, which, in the dialect of the town, means Old Bock, and the cavern described above, was called the Grotto, or the Grotto of MassabieUe.

Adorable providence of God ! Admirable wisdom of Mary! Even here in this solitary niche, the Most August Queen of heaven vouchsafed to manifest herself eighteen times.

And now, devout reader, rest a little, and before going further make the following

MEDITATION.

I. Like the heavens, the earth, too, announces the glory of God, and of His Immaculate Mother, for whom the whole world was made, as St. Bernard writes. Wherefore, do the lofty Pyrenees and their low lying valleys, the rocks and the meadows, the grass and the flowers- the mighty rivers and the gentle rivulets, the plants that grow wild along the wayside, and those that receive the fostering care of the florist invite you, as you enter the environs of Lourdes, to honor, especially during the beautiful month of May, her, of whom the Scripture says : " She is exalted like a cedar on Lib anus, and like a cypress on Mount Zion ; her head is like

Carmel on which was shed the glory of Sharon, whose foundations are on the holy hills." Will you be deaf to so many invitations ? "Will you not res3lve to honor the dearest and most beautiful of creatures ?

II. Consider that the true way of honoring the Immaculate Virgin Mary is to practice our holy religion faithfully and from our hearts, like the people of Lourdes, by frequenting church, and by being present at the sacred functions, especially the sermons, by receiving the Sacraments often and with devotion, and by having your name enrolled in some one of the many pious confraternities instituted in her honor, in order thereby to conquer human respect, to give good example to your neighbors, and strengthen the beneficent influence of religion among them.

III. Consider that as God is not found in the wind, or in the earthquake, or in the fire, so neither is Mary. (IH Kings, xix. 11). But she is found in the sighing of the gentle breeze, amid the solitude of the mountains, and in the depths of the lonely valleys — that is to say, she is found by those who withdraw from worldly pastimes, and meditate upon spiritual truths. Wherefore, if you wish to derive any benefit from her apparitions and holy inspirations, and to enjoy her beneficence, you must resolve to curb your passions, to keep your mind recollected, and guard the impulses of your heart and imagination. Like God, so too does Mary say of the soul : " I will lead her into the wilderness, and I will there speak to her heart." (Osee, ii. 14).

Act of Virtue. — Enrol yourself in the Society of the Madonna of Lourdes, and faithfully observe its regulations.

Ejaculation. — Help of Christians, pray for us !

CHAPTER II. The Hidden Pearl

'• Having found one pearl of great price." (Matt. xiii. 46).

Amongst the poor families of Lourdes there was one in the year 1858, consisting of the father, mother, and four children. The father, Francis Sonbirous, was a miller by profession. In times past he had rented a little mill ; but soon he was forced to depart from his contract, because in Lourdes that kind of business is usually done on credit, and being unable to procure it from lack of funds, he soon became poorer than he was at first). In hopes of better days he hired a plain little house, which he endeavored to maintain bj doing a day's work for anyone who might wish to employ him. But though poor in this world's goods, not owning even a little garden, he was rich in the possession of a good wife, whose name was Louisa Casterot, a woman of good Christian habits, and most tenderly devoted to the welfare of her family.

The two youngest of the children were boys; the third, called Mary, was about eleven years old, and the eldest about fourteen. The last mentioned child, having been born while the mother was sick, could not be reared at home, and was, therefore, sent out to be nursed in a virtuous family who dwelt in a neighboringvillage called Bartres, located higher up amid the Pyrenees. The nurse's pay which amounted to about five francs a month, was given sometimes in money, but generally in merchandise.

Meanwhile, the second daughter was born ; and two babies to care for would have prevented the mother from doing a day's work in the fields ; wherefore, she was necessitated to leave the elder with the nurse even after having been weaned. When she had attained that age at which she could be useful to her parents, they wished to take her home ; but the Bartres family interposed, saying that they loved the little girl as one of their own children, and, therefore, undertook the resposibility of supporting her gratuitously, and gave her the office of shepherdess. She remained at this employment until she was fourteen years old, the time at which her parents took her home. But let us tarry yet longer, and more to the purpose, with this little girl who is the principal human personage of our history.

In baptism the little girl had been called Maria Bernarda, but agreeably to family usage, this name was subsequently changed to Bemadette, a diminutive employed by the French, and expressive of fondness.

While Bernadette remained with her adopted parents amid the Pyrenees, she passed her days, as we have said, in tending the flocks. Dwelling amid the solitary hills, far removed from the pestiferous influence of the world, and under the protection of God and His angels, she amused herself innocently along the mountain slopes, building little play-houses with the stones that lay scattered all around, toying with the grass and the flowers, listening to the gentle murmurings of the rivulets, and with fondness caressing her little pet lamb.

" Amongst my lambs," she said, " there is one I love above all the rest."

"And which one is it?" a person asked.

"It is the little one," she replied — and she loved to caress this little lamb, and in playing with it while away the hours,

Dear little girl ! Like the poor lambkin she loved so much, she, too, was the weak little one among the girls. Although fourteen years old, she would pass for eleven, or twelve. Though not sickly, she was still subject to asthmatic attacks, which often gave her extreme trouble; but she bore her sufferings with patience and tranquil resignation. Was it the Grace of God that sustained her, or did her endurance spring from natural temperament? However it may be, it is certain, that having learned from her adoptive mother how to recite the Rosary, Bernadette was everywhere and every moment engaged in this devotion, whether by way of recommending herself to God, or through a native yearning of her innocent soul. She had learned nothing beside. She could neither read nor write ; but she well knew the Pater, Ave, Gloria Patri, and Credo, which the French always repeat when reciting the Rosary. But though she had acquired no book learning, she had learned what is more pleasing to God, namely, innocence, simplicity, and purity of conscience ; virtues which kept her soul white and spotless as when washed in the waters of Baptism. Up to this, as was natural, she had not been admitted to her first Communion ; and in order to prepare her for it the more easily in the city, her parents, notwithstanding their poverty, took her home about the end of January, 1858.

Her mother, finding her in such feeble health, attended to her more diligently than to the other children, as all good mothers do. And so, while all the other members of the family went around with feet unprotected, save by a simple wooden shoe, Bernadette was compelled by her mother to wear stockings, and was in every other way under her continual surveilance.

What poverty! What misery was in that family which often wanted the common necessaries of life !

And still, my dear reader, it was to this poor, weak little girl, that Mary Immaculate vouchsafed to appear on eighteen occasions. Enter into yourself, and with mind and heart raised to God, make the following

MEDITATION.

I. What a difference there is between the judgments of men and those of God ! Man judges of externals, but God penetrates the heart. To accomplish His designs, He selects the foolish ones to confound the wise, as St. Paul says : '' Quce stulta sunt mundi elegit Deus id confundat sapientes" (I. Cor. i. 27). Who, more ignorant than this poor little girl, who can neither read nor write, and who knows no language except her own mountain dialect. Still, we will see how she shall confound the wise ones of the world. And even as twelve unlettered fishermen made their voices echo through the universe, and converted it to Christianity, so does this illiterate girl cause the name of Mary to resound throughout Christendom. Are you one of those who think themselves wise and prudent, and capable of instructing everyone ? Still worse, are you one of those, who, without the necessary fund of knowledge, wish to discuss and even define questions of religion, and go so far as to instruct the Bishop and the Vicar of Christ ?

II. " God selects the weak ones of the world to confound the strong," continues St. Paul. Whom can you find weaker than this young, asthmatic girl ? And still, as you peruse the pages of this history, you will find her too strong to be conquered by threats and persecutions, and too reliant on tlie Divine aid not to come out victorious in the trials through which, in the inscrutable decrees of Providence, she had subsequently to pass. Do you flatter yourself to be possessed of fortitude, and do you rashly expose yourself to danger, and fall into sin ? Have you not seen, a thousand times, what enormous sins you have committed against faith, charity, and chastity, by reason of your pride and presumption ?

III. The base things of the toorld, things that are contemptible, and things that are of no account hath God chosen that He might bring to nought those who think themselves something. Who more ignoble, in the world's estimation, than Bernadette ? She is the daughter of a poor, laboring miller, who possesses nought of this world's goods ; and was engaged in tending the flocks on the mountains. What worlding, on seeing her pass along clad in a coarse, woolen dress, all patched, with wooden shoes on* her feet, and possessed of no natural charms to redeem the poorness of her raiment, would not have spurned her as a creature of no account ? Still, God selects her to bring to nought those who think themselves something, because sprung of noble ancestry, and possessed of worldly riches. And what do you believe yourself to be ? Are you not one of those who despise the poor ? Do you not think yourself something great, because you are finely clothed and blessed with affluence ?

Learn of St. Paul one grand truth, the foundation of all sanctity and perfection, namely, " that we should not be proud of what we possess, but should refer all the glory thereof to God." Learn, too, to attach importance to the judgment of God, not to the opinions of men,

Practice. — Seriously examine your conscience as to how you have sinned in thought, word, and deed, by pride, vain glory, and self-love.

Ejaculation. — Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

CHAPTEE ill.

The Dove in tlie Cliffs of the Rock.

"My dove in the clifts of the rock, in the hollow places of the wall. show rae thy face; let thy voice sound in my ears; for thy voice is sweet, and thy face comely." Cant, ii, 14.

The 11th of February, 1858, was a cold, bleak day in the vicinity of Lourdes. The sky was thickly curtained with clouds, which, undisturbed by the winds, let fall from time to time some drops of rain mixed with snow. It was the last Thursday of the Carnival, commonly called giovedi grasso, a day which foolish worldings usually spend in pagan pastimes and sensual enjoyments. The parish clock had already struck eleven, and while the rich and happy ones all around were preparing sumptuous dinners, the poor Soubirous family did not have firewood wherewith to cook their scanty meal.

'• Go along the banks of the Gave, or across the common, in search of wood," said the mother to her second daughter, Mary. In Lourdes, as in other towns, the poor have the right to gather dry wood on the commons.

Mary put on her wooden shoes, while Bemadette, the elder sister, jealously eyed these preparations. At last, she said to her mother — " Mamma, let me also go. I will carry home my little bundle of firewood."

" No, no ;" quickly answered the mother. " You have got a cough, and the journey may make you worse."

At that moment a neighbor's little girl of about fourteen years old, named Jane Abbadie, entered the Soubirous cottage, she, too, being about to start in quest of firewood. And now the three little girls pressed the mother so urgently that she was forced to yield. Bei - nadette had by this time wrapped up her head in a kerchief, as is customary among the peasantry of the south of France. But this not being, in the mother's estimation, a sufficient covering, she said : " Bernadette, you had better put on your capulet, too." This capulet is a sort of graceful hood used only by those who dwell among the Pyrenees. It is made of thick, coarse cloth of a white, and betimes, of a red color. When the weather is cold, or windy, this hood is put on the head, and its lengthy folds are then let fall over the shoulders and back which they protect like a mantelette ; if the weather be warm, it is folded up in a sort of quadrangular shape, and is carried on the head. Bernadette's capulet was w T hite.

The three little girls set out together, and having crossed the bridge of the Gave, proceeded to the island of Chalet. Mary and Jane being more robust stepped out briskly, gathering here and there dry branches with which they soon filled their aprons, while the weak and delicate Bernadette followed slowly in the rear, without having found any.

Sweet little girl ! Clothed as she was in a black, threadbare garment, which had been the recipient of many a patch; her face and head wrapped in her white eapidet, which fell in folds over her shoulders, and her feet covered with coarse, wooden shoes, she possessed a simple, innocent grace that charmed the heart more than the eye of the beholder. She was small for her age,* and her child-like countenance, though bronzed from exposure to the sun, had still never lost its native delicacy of expression. Her hair, black and fine, scarcely revealed itself from beneath her head-dress. Her eyebrows were gracefully curved, and her eyes, which were of a brown color—a hue, which in her, rendered them more charming than if they had been blue, shone with a deep, calm beauty, whose limpid brightness no bad passion had ever dimmed. Hers was that eye of which the Gospel speaks : (i If thy eye be single iky tvhole body shall be lightsome." (Matt. vi. 22). Her mouth, wonderfully expressive, betokened within a habitual kindness of disposition, and compassion for the sufferings of humanity. Her face, so sweet and intelligent, charmed the beholder : in a word, the tout ensemble of her attractions possessed a spirituality that penetrated the inmost recesses of the soul. One might ask, what was this attractiveness so sublime, and powerfully active in winning the attention of the beholder, which shone out in this ignorant, ragged Utile girl. It was the majesty of innocence — the grandest and rarest virtue to be met with in this world.

Bernadette tarried behind her sister and the other girl, looking for dry wood in vain. Happy girl ! Even as Saul, while in search of the missing horses, found the

* Though she is now about thirty two years old, she is as low of stature as a child. "It seems,*' says Count Lafond, "that God has thought fit to employ the smallest possible bit of clay in the formation of this angelic body," (Lourdes, p. 120).

sceptre of Juda ; as the poor and faithful Ruth, while looking for the ears of corn dropped by the reapers, wins the favor of the rich Boaz, and becomes the grandmother of the royal Prophet ; so does this weak, asthmatic little girl, while engaged in looking for wood, meet the Mother of life.

The three little wood-gatherers journeyed on cheerily, and at length arrived at the western extremity of the island of Chalet, right in front of the Rock of Massabielle, from which the canal, on this occasion, can scarcely be said to have separated them, for it happened to be dammed up in order that the mill might undergo some necessary repairs. From this point of view were to be seen many dry branches which the wind had blown off the various shrubs that grew above the rock, and which, owing to the dry state of the canal, could be easily gathered. Happy at this discovery, Mary and Jane, diligent and active as Martha of whom mention is made in the Gospel, hurriedly took off their clogs, and crossed the canal.

"The water is very cold," exclaimed both, resuming their wooden shoes soon as they had arrived on the opposite bank. They did not wonder at the coldness of the water, for it was the month of February, and the rivulet itself w r as an outpouring of the neighboring Gave whose waters descend from the snow-clad summits of the 'Pyrenees.

Bernadette's two companions, with all the simplicity of girlhood, engage in edifying anecdote. Bernadette severely reprimanded them for having raised their dresses so high while crossing the canal, and forced them to let them fall lower so as not to offend maiden modesty. She also censured a word let slip by Jane, which to her seemed unfit to be uttered by the lips of a girl. God, who reveals Himself to the clean of heart, willed that this little girl should give a strong proof of her delicate purity and courageous charity, at a moment when the Queen of Virgins was about to reveal herself before her innocent eyes.

Bernadette, on hearing her companions complain of the coldness of the water, was much troubled ; the more so because, differently from them, she wore stockings. So when they had crossed over she said to them :

" Throw two or three large stones into the stream so that I may pass over with dry feet." But they were already occupied in gathering wood ; and Jane, a little piqued, perhaps, by the reproof she had just received, replied : " Oh ! do as we have done. Cross over hi your bare feet." And they paid no further attention to her. Bernadette calmly resigned herself to the embarrassment of her situation, and seating herself on one of the large stones that lay scattered along the bank, took off her shoes and stockings.

It w r as about noon. Soon all the village bells would ring out the Angelus. And lo ! whilst the earth echoes the Angelic Salutation in honor of the Virgin, she deigns to descend into the midst of her children.

Whilst Bernadette was stooped down engaged in divesting herself of her shoes and stockings, she felt a strong gust of wind blow around her. In amazement she raises her head and looks around believing it to be the harbinger of a hurricane ; but, to her great surprise, everything was unmoved: even the pliant boughs of the poplars, that fringe the Gave, were unconscious of its influence. Not knowing w T hat to think she resumes the work of loosing her shoes. But lo ! the same mighty, awe-inspiring gust of wind resounds above her, and dies amid the rocks of Massabielle. Now, even more surprised than before, she arises and turns her eyes towards the Grotto. The wild rose-bush that tapestried the base of the niche with its long branches, now stripped of their leaves, moved slightly to the breeze. But soon the niche is lit up with a celestial brightness, in the midst of which appears a lady of incomparable beauty. She wore a snow-white robe confined by a sky-blue girdle, knotted in front, and extending in doubles to her feet. On her head w r as a veil of spotless white, which fell loosely over her shoulders, and extended the whole length of her person. From beneath her snow-white robe her feet were visible as they rested on the branches of the rose-bush, which yielded not to her gentle pressure. On each foot bloomed a golden rose. A rosary strung in gold, whose stones were pure as dew-drops, depended from her hands joined with heavenly fervor. She was silent ; but later her words, and the miracles it is our office to record, proved that she was the Immaculate Virgin, the most august Mother of God.