In the year 2001 I remember going to see the relics of St Thérèse of Lisieux which were on an eleven-week tour of Ireland. Now in 2024, we have the privilege of the presence of another saint amongst us, Bernadette of Lourdes. Bernadette Soubirous, the young peasant girl and shepherdess who witnessed apparitions of Our Lady between 11 February and 16 June 1858.
The International Marian Shrine at Lourdes has always had a special place in the hearts of Irish people. Countless Irish pilgrims have made the journey to the shrine for the last 166 years since the visions began. Some go back again and again and I have heard quite a few say there is just ‘something’ about the place which compels them to return.
While there have been more than 7,000 miraculous recoveries attributed to the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes at the French shrine, only 70 cases have been officially recognized by the Catholic Church. A miraculous recovery must generally be a complete, spontaneous, and immediate healing from a documented medical condition.
First
The miraculous healing of Catherine Latapie was the first documented miracle after the apparition at Lourdes. In 1856, Catherine had fallen from a tree, leaving her right hand mostly paralyzed. At the time of the apparitions, she was at the end of her third pregnancy.
On March 1st, 1858, Catherine stirred in her sleep and awoke with a feeling that she was being called to go to the Grotto -during the continuing apparitions – to heal her hand. It was 3 in the morning, but she got up, woke her young children, and set off for Lourdes. Arriving at dawn, she met with Bernadette and then washed her hands in the healing spring water. In the presence of over 1,5000 people, her hand miraculously regained its function.
Catherine did not delay for on that day she was due to give birth to her fourth baby. This child, Jean-Baptiste grew up to become an ordained priest in 1882. In 1862, her case was officially documented as a miracle.
Latest
The last miracle, the 70th one happened in 2018. This event involved a French nun, Sr Bernadette Moriau, who went on a pilgrimage to Lourdes in 2008. She had been suffering from spinal complications which had rendered her wheelchair-bound and fully disabled since 1980. She also said she had been taking morphine to control the pain. When she visited Lourdes, she had not asked for a miracle.
However, after attending a blessing for the sick at the shrine, something began to change. After returning to her home convent near Beauvais and praying in the chapel she said, “I felt a [surge of] well-being throughout my whole body, a relaxation, warmth…I returned to my room and there a voice told me to take off my braces… I could move.” She no longer required her braces, wheelchair, or pain medications. A few days later she took a 5-kilometre hike.
Sr Moriau’s case was brought to the attention of the International Medical Committee of Lourdes, who extensively researched her recovery. They eventually found that Sr Moriau’s healing could not be scientifically explained. The nun’s sudden, instantaneous, complete, and durable change alerted the Church to the possibility of a miracle. The miracle was officially declared by Bishop Jacques Benoit-Gonin of Beauvais, France on 11th February 2018 the World Day of the Sick and the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes. During Mass at the shrine’s basilica, Bishop Nicolas Brouwet of Lourdes announced the miracle.
A Chance to Connect
The actress Dame Maggie Smith’s last film before her death last month was called The Miracle Club. The story centers on a group of women in 1967 Dublin who go on a pilgrimage to Lourdes. One of the lines I remember came from the local priest who at one point, when challenged on the issue of faith says, “You don’t come to Lourdes for miracles. You come for the strength to go on.”
Many people of course will not be able to travel to Lourdes, so the visit of the relics is all the more important because it offers them a unique chance to connect with the saint. The relics’ visit is part of a larger international tour, and for many is a profoundly emotional and spiritual experience, providing comfort and inspiration.
Here in the St Martin Apostolate, we are celebrating St Bernadette in a very special way. From Monday, 7th October, to Friday, 25th October, we will be hosting a remarkable exhibition featuring a life-size replica of the saint, complete with a first-class relic. The body rests within a crystal casket, measures 4’ 2” in height as did Bernadette, in a replica of the habit that she wore. It is an exact imitation of the saint as she can be seen in her final resting place in Nevers. All are welcome. Come and pray, light a candle, and sit in silence for a while in the lovely, tranquil surroundings of our salon upstairs at 42, Parnell Square, Dublin between the hours of 11 am and 4 pm on the dates shown above.
Written by Marie–Therese Cryan