Fourteenth Apparition-LOURDES

Wednesday 3 March 1858

That morning there were around three thousand people present when Bernadette arrived at the Grotto at seven in the morning, accompanied by her mother. The child knelt and began her prayers as usual. But her face - although sweet - did not take on the radiance of other mornings. The Lady had not appeared.

One onlooker, Monsieur Clarens of Lourdes, wrote to the Prefect of Police at Tarbes two days later -

"The vision failed the little girl and this seemed to cause her deep distress. It is important to note this point, for it might not perhaps seem to favour the hypothesis of an hallucination".

The point of that statement was perfectly clear to many people present that day. Amongst them was the relative who allowed the Soubirous family to live rent-free in the Cachot, Andre Sajous.

Seeing the child's bitter sadness (she believed the Lady had not appeared because she had failed in her first visit to the priest the preceding day), he offered to go back to the Grotto with her. Her face lit up and she agreed. An hour and a half later (at nine in the morning) they were in front of the rock.

It was quieter there at that time, with only a few believers present. The remainder had departed once Bernadette had left earlier.

The Apparition took place in the same manner as before, with the Lady and her protégé joined in prayer.

After the Apparition, Bernadette went once more to see Abbe Peyramale. The Lady had asked once more about a Chapel. But this time the priest was a little less gruff in his approach, asking what was the purpose of the visit. The young girl replied that she had told the Lady about the priest's request of the previous day -

"She smiled when I told Her that you were asking Her to work a miracle. I told Her to make the rose bush, which She was standing near, bloom; She smiled once more. But She wants the Chapel".

Asking if Bernadette had money with which to build a chapel, the girl replied that she did not.

"No more have I! Ask the Lady to give you some!" responded the priest.

Later that day, more relatives of Bernadette arrived; the next day was the last day of the fifteen days and perhaps some great miracle would occur. Her cousin, Jeanne Marie Vedere, said to the child -

"I hear you did not see your Lady this morning", to which Bernadette replied -

"But I did see Her during the day!". Jeanne Marie asked her cousin why it had taken two visits to the Grotto before the Lady arrived; Bernadette said she had asked the Lady the same question and had received the following reply from Her lips -

"You did not see me this morning because there were some people there who wanted to see what you looked like in My presence - they were not worthy of this honour; they spent the night at the Grotto and they dishonoured it".

Thirteenth Apparition-LOURDES

Tuesday 2 March 1858

The thirteenth Apparition took place following the normal pattern, Bernadette arrived at the Grotto early in the morning, prayed the Rosary in the company of the Lady who remained silent except for the Glorias, then made her usual devotions and acts of penance.

After the vision, the child arose and appeared tremulous. She had been accompanied by both aunts - Basille and Lucile. Wondering what the Lady had said to make the child appear so anxious, Basille asked Bernadette what had happened. She replied -

"Oh I really am in great difficulty! The Lady has ordered me to tell the priest that She wishes a Chapel at Massabieille and I am nervous about having to go to the Presbytery. If only you knew how grateful I should be if you would accompany me!"

They left immediately to go and tell Abbe Peyramale of the Lady's request.

Upon arriving at the presbytery, the priest enquired -

"Well, what have you come to tell me? Has the Lady spoken to you?". Bernadettes anxiety increased.

"Yes, monsieur le cure. She has ordered me to tell you again that She wishes to have a chapel at Massabieille."

Peyramale - in his reply to the child - left her in no doubt what the priest thought of herself, of the Lady of the rock, of the messages being relayed to him, and (above all) at the inconvenience of the interruption she was causing to his normally quiet and routine life.

"It is high time for me to get out of the imbroglio in which the Lady and you seek to entangle me. Tell Her that with the priest of Lourdes She must speak clearly and concisely. She wants a chapel. What right has She to these honours which She claims? Who is She? Where does She come from? What has She done to deserve our homage? Don't let us beat about the bush - if your Lady is She whom you suggest, I will show Her a means of obtaining recognition and giving authority to Her messages. You tell me She stations Herself in a niche, above a wild rose bush. Well, ask Her from me to make the rose bush burst into flower suddenly in the presence of the assembled multitude. The morning when you come to tell me that this prodigy has occurred, I will believe your word and I will promise to go with you to Massabieille!".

The tone and volume of his reply terrified the poor child so much that she forget the second part of the message and left without having passed it on to the man shouting at her.

Afterwards, she realised her error. She asked her aunt to accompany her once more to the priests house, but met with a definite 'no'. She then asked both her parents - but they were more terrified of Peyramale than even Bernadette was. Later in the afternoon, the child spoke to one of her neighbour, a lady called Dominiquette Cazenave. She explained her predicament to this lady, who was more helpful than those she had already approached.

Madame Cazenave went to the presbytery in the late afternoon to arrange another meeting. She accomplished her task and the meeting was set for seven that evening.

At the appointed time, Bernadette and her neighbour found themselves in the priests company.

The child spoke -

"The Lady has ordered me to tell you that She wishes to have a chapel at Massabieille and now She adds 'I wish people to come here in procession'."

"My girl" replied Peyramale, "this is a fitting climax to all your stories! Either you are lying or the Lady who speaks to you is only the counterfeit of Her whom She pretends to be. Why does She want a procession? Doubtless to make unbelievers laugh and to turn religion into ridicule. The trap is not very cleverly laid! You can tell Her from me that She knows very little about the responsibilities and powers of the clergy of Lourdes. If She were really the One whom She pretends to be, She would know that I am not qualified to take the initiative in such a matter. It is to the Bishop of Tarbes, not to me, that She ought to have sent you!"

Bernadette spoke again. "But sir, the Lady did not tell me that She wanted a procession to come to the Grotto immediately - She only said, 'I wish people to come here in procession'. And if I understand Her rightly, She was speaking of the future and not of the present".

"We'll do better than that - we shall give you a torch and you shall have a procession all to yourself. You have many followers - you have no need of priests!" retorted Peyramale.

"But monsieur le cure, I never say anything to anyone. I don't ask them to come with me to the Grotto".

Peyramale was silent for a moment to collect his thoughts. A moment was all he needed.

"Ask the Lady Her name once more. When we know Her name, then She shall have a chapel - and I promise you, it won't be a little one either!"

Bernadette left the house. Now she smiled - despite her fear of the priest, she had carried out the task given to her by the Lady. She had given Abbe Peyramale the full message. Now it was up to him.

Twelfth Apparition-LOURDES

Monday 1 March 1858

From the beginning of the Apparitions in the Grotto of Massabieille, the popular press - and many individuals, most notably the 'free-thinkers'- had done all possible to put an end to these curious events; when this had failed and it was clear that they were powerless to stop what was happening, they resorted to the fall-back plan - to misrepresent, distort and discredit the occurrences.

This was clearly seen in the lies being told about Bernadette in the papers - she was described as mad, a neurotic, a cataleptic, an epileptic, a psychotic, a fraud, a devious little liar, a fool who was manipulated by others... the list was nearly endless.

Particular events at the Grotto were also played upon and misrepresented, taken out of context in an attempt to give them meanings which they did not possess. During the Twelfth Apparition such an event occurred. And as before, it was only after the event was explained by Bernadette herself that it made sense and cleared away the misrepresentations surrounding it.

Many people believed in the Apparitions, further, they were also certain of Who was appearing; they felt sure it was none other then the Blessed Virgin Mary, although Bernadette herself had never made this claim. Instead, the child had always spoken of 'the Lady' (un damizelo) who appeared, but who, so far, had declined to name Herself. But, believing that Bernadette was indeed in communication with the Queen of Heaven, the followers often made attempts of one sort or another to obtain souvenirs of the Apparitions and of Bernadette herself.

Monday 1st March saw at least 1300 people at the Grotto - as Jacomet the police commissioner stated in a report he sent the next day. But this number was based solely on those counted by the gendarmes returning to the town after the Apparition; it did not include those who left in other directions and did not pass through Lourdes. That day, one of those present was a priest from nearby Omex; the priest, Abbe Dezirat, had been only recently ordained. He was the first cleric to visit Massabieille during the Apparitions. He described what happened after Bernadettes arrival at 7:00am in the company of both of her parents -

"From the moment she arrived, I watched her closely. Her face was calm, her look unassuming, her walk most natural, neither slow nor hurried. No sign of exaltation, not a trace of disease.

"The crowd on the road pressed close behind the child to get to the scene of the Apparition. Once there, I did as the rest. When we arrived in front of the Grotto, someone said - 'Let the priest through!'. These words, though spoken softly, were easily heard, for there was deep silence over everything. They made way for me and advancing a few paces I was quite close to Bernadette, a yard away, not more.

"Between the moment when I got near to the child and the moment when the vision began, there was scarcely time to recite a decade.

"By her posture and by the expression on her face, it was evident that her soul was enraputred. What profound peace! What serenity! What lofty contemplation! Her smile was beyond all description. The child's gaze, fixed on the Apparition, was no less captivating. Impossible to imagine anything so pure, so sweet, so loving.

"I had watched Bernadette with scrupulous care while she was making her way to the Grotto. What a difference between what she was then and what she was as I saw her at the moment of the Apparition. It was like the difference between matter and spirit... I felt I was on the threshold of Paradise."

Here, Monsieur Jean Baptiste Estrade, present throughout the Apparition, takes up the story - but it is also here that the misunderstanding of the day occurred.

"I witnessed that day a great display of religious enthusiasm. Bernadette had just returned from her place under the spur of the rock. Kneeling down again, she took her beads as usual from her pocket, but as soon as she lifted her eyes again to the privileged bush, her face became sad. She held up her beads with surprise as high as her little arm would allow there was a moments pause, then suddenly went the beads back into her pocket. Instantly, she displayed another pair which she waved and held up as high as the first. The look of anguish vanished from her face. She bowed, smiled once more and recommenced her prayer.

"With a spontaneous movement, everyone took out their Rosaries and waved them. Then they shouted 'Vive Marie' and went down on their knees and prayed with tears in their eyes. The opponents of religion spread the rumour that Bernadette had that day blessed the Rosaries".

One Paris newspaper printed the following article a few days later -

"That little actress, the millers daughter at Lourdes, collected round her again on the morning of the 1st of March, beneath the Massabieille rock, nearly two thousand five hundred boobies. It is impossible to describe the idiocy and moral degeneration of these persons. The visionary treats them like a troop of monkeys and makes them commit absurdities of every kind. This morning, the pythoness was not inclined to play the seer, and to make a little variety in the exercises, she thought the best thing was to play the priestess. Assuming a grand air of authority, she ordered the fools to present their Rosaries and then blessed them all."

Since the day following the discovery of the Spring, the crowd had often imitated Bernadettes actions at the Grotto, such as kissing the ground in penance; today was no different, although the crowd had misinterpreted what had happened.

If Bernadette had not blessed the Rosaries, then what had been the meaning of the strange event which had just occurred? Later that day a priest asked the child this same question; only after her explanation was the odd happening demystified.

Bernadette explained that while on her way to the Grotto earlier that morning, a lady named Pauline Sans (who was the Lourdes seamstress) had spoken to her; she had desired to have a memento of the Apparitions and so had asked the child if she would be kind enough to use her (Madame Sans') Rosary that morning while the Blessed Virgin was praying with her. Bernadette had agreed to this proposal.

As Bernadette was about to make the sign of the Cross, she took the Rosary from her pocket but was not able to lift her hand to her forehead. The Lady asked Bernadette where her own Rosary was - here, the child lifted the Rosary high in the air for the Lady to see. But the Lady saw only too well "You are wrong" She told Bernadette, "this Rosary is not yours".

Realizing she had Madame Sans' Rosary in her hand, she put it back into her pocket and retrieved her own Rosary of black wood beads on a knotted cord, bought previously by her mother. Again she lifted the beads.

"Use those", said the Lady sweetly, smiling at the child, and Bernadette was able to begin her prayers.

The priest who asked the child to explain said to Bernadette "Is it true that you blessed Rosaries at the Grotto today?".

Bernadette smiled. "Oh but Monsieur, women do not wear the stole!"

Eleventh Apparition-LOURDES

Sunday 28 February 1858

Bernadette arrived at the Grotto just before seven o'clock, together with her Aunt Lucille. In one hand she carried her ever-present Rosary, in the other, her blessed candle.

Monsieur Estrade estimated there to be approximately two thousand on-lookers at the Grotto that morning. The crowd was densely packed, so that during the vision, it proved difficult for Bernadette to move while performing her normal penances at the command of the Lady. Before she could move under the niche on her knees, the gendarmes present had to push back the crowd a little. This was by no means easy.

Several times the little one moved forward to the rock and back again, each time on her knees, each time kissing the ground at intervals. Her face and lips were mud-stained. But today no-one laughed at her.

The messages she received were of a personal nature and were not related to the assembled people. Her privacy in such instances was respected.

The large numbers present had caused the ground to become muddy and down-trodden. Only a few of the wild plants remained untrodden. Also, the constant coming and going had caused the water from the spring to run in several little streams towards the Gave. On this day, local workmen decided to dig a trough in which the water could collect.

After the vision, Bernadette and Lucille left the Grotto and went directly to Mass in the parish Church.


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Tenth Apparition-LOURDES

Saturday 27 February 1858

The Lourdes clergy were discussing the visions at Massabieille. Abbe Peyramale had always maintained a public silence on the subject. This morning, he gathered together his three curates to give them his opinion. The speech given to them by the Abbe Peyramale was related on several occasions to Monsieur Jean Baptiste Estrade, who retells it here -

"You have heard the reports which are going about respecting certain appearances which are supposed to have taken place in a Grotto near the Gave. I don't know how much is truth and how much is fancy in the current legend, but it is our duty as Priests to maintain the greatest reserve in matters of this nature. If the appearances are genuine and of a divine character, God will let us know it in his own time. If they are illusions or caused by the spirit of lies, God has no need of our intervention to reveal the falsehood.

"It would therefore be rash of us to show ourselves at present at the Grotto. If the visions are recognised as genuine later on, we shall certainly be accused of bringing about this recognition by our own machinations. If they are subsequently rejected as without foundation, we shall be ridiculed for what will be called our disappointment. So we must not take any unconsidered step or speak any rash word; the interests of religion and of our own dignity are concerned. The present circumstances demand of us the greatest circumspection."

Such was the outlook of the Lourdes Clergy at the time of the Apparitions.

On the morning of Saturday 27th February, Bernadette was once again at her beloved Grotto, undaunted by the non-appearance of the Lady the day before. After all, the Lady had simply asked Bernadette to come daily for fifteen days - She had not promised to appear on each of those days.

She was not disappointed today - the Lady was there in the niche. Throughout the vision the child held her blessed candle in her hand as she prayed and listened. On several occasions she bowed low, touching the earth, sometimes smiling and sometimes weeping. She also approached the foot of the rock, kissing the ground on the way. This had been done in deference to the command of the Lady - "Go, and kiss the ground in penance for sinners".

As the vision approached its end, the Lady seemed to be lost in Her thoughts for a few moments. Bernadette patiently waited. Finally, the Lady smiled on her once more, then gave her a new command -

"Go and tell the Priests to have a Chapel built here".

Leaving her state of ecstasy, the child moved toward the spring - there she drank some of the water. Leaving the Grotto, Bernadette informed her Aunt Bernarde of what the Lady had said.

ABBE PEYRAMALE

"Though he is so good, I am more frightened of him than of a policeman!" said Bernadette to Monsieur Estrade. But despite her fear, the child headed straight for the presbytery immediately on leaving the Grotto. The Priest was praying the Divine Office in the garden as Bernadette approached. The following conversation was related by Monsieur Estrade.

The Priest knew the name of the child involved in the apparitions at the Grotto, but he did not recognise the child standing before him. In Catechism class he had only caught a glimpse of her. He asked her name.

On being told her name, he replied - "Oh, it's you, is it?"

His reception was cold and austere, his appearance rugged and stern. The child was terrified of him. Appearances, however, are often deceptive; such was the case with this Priest, who in reality (after the initial contact) was warm and welcoming, a loyal supporter of those in need of any kind, a true shepherd of his flock.

Later, this is how Bernadette would find him.

Leaving the garden, Peyramale went into the house. Bernadette followed, stopping on the threshold. Peyramale asked what it was she wanted.

With her exquisite charm and simplicity, the girl replied -

"The Lady of the Grotto has ordered me to tell the Priests that She wishes a Chapel to be built at Massabieille and that is why I have come."

The Priest remained unmoved. "Who is this Lady of whom you speak?"

"She is a very beautiful Lady who appeared to me on the Massabieille rock."

Still Abbe Peyramale gave away nothing of his feelings.

"But who is She? Is She from Lourdes? Do you know Her?"

Bernadette replied that she did not.

"And yet you undertake to carry messages like the one you have just given me, from a person who you do not know?" he enquired coldly.

"Oh but Monsieur, the Lady who sends me is not like other ladies."

Asked to explain, she continued -

"I mean that She is as beautiful as they are in Heaven, I would think".

By now, the Priest was finding it difficult to control his emotion, touched by the obvious sincerity of the girl standing before him.

He asked if Bernadette had never enquired of the Lady Her name.

"Yes, but when I ask Her She bows Her head slightly, smiles and gives me no answer."

Peyramale asked if the Lady was, then, dumb.

"No, because She talks to me every day. If She were dumb, She would not have been able to tell me to come to you."

Peyramale asked Bernadette to describe the events which had taken place so far. He pointed to a chair and she sat. He sat opposite her and listened.

Within a few minutes, the Priest lost all his doubts, although he declined to make the child aware of this fact.

"You imagine that a Lady who has no name, who takes up Her abode on a rock and has bare feet, deserves to be taken seriously? My child, there is one thing I do fear - and that is that you are the victim of an illusion".

Bernadette hung her head but did not reply. Then the Priest spoke once more.

"Tell the Lady who has sent you that the parish priest of Lourdes is not in the habit of dealing with people whom he does not know. Say that before anything else, he demands to know Her name and that - moreover - She must prove that this name belongs to Her. If this Lady has the right to a Chapel She will understand the meaning of my words to you; if She does not understand, tell Her that She need not trouble to send me any more messages."

Bernadette rose, curtsied and left.

Ninth Apparition-LOURDES

Thursday 25 February 1858

The events of this day caused the on-lookers to re-assess what they believed about Bernadette and her visions. At the time, what was happening was unclear - only later did the true nature of that day's apparition become clearer. Afterward, the day would never be forgotten.

The narration of the scene is given by Mademoiselle Elfrida Lacrampe, whose parents owned the Hotel des Pyrenees at that time, and who had the joy of being present as the marvellous events occurred. This morning, the vision began even before dawn.

"It was not yet light; we had a lantern to light us. Bernadette did not keep us waiting long", she recounts. Bernadette approached in the company of her aunt, walking rapidly toward her destination; as she came nearer, she called to the crowd, "Let me pass, let me pass!".

Mademoiselle Lacrampe continues -

"At this moment, when nearly all the sightseers had arrived, there were, I think, about four hundred people in front of the Grotto and under the rocks near the Gave. Approaching her place, Bernadette raised her dress a little so as not to muddy it, then knelt down. I was standing on the right, up against the rock, almost beneath the niche where the Apparition used to come.

"The child had not recited a decade of her beads when all of a sudden she set off on her knees and began to clamber in this way up the slope that led to the interior of the Grotto. She passed in front of me, a short distance away. On reaching the entrance to the vault, she gently - and without pausing - pushed aside the branches that hung down from the rock. From there she went on towards the back of the Grotto. The crowd was pressing close behind her.

"When she reached the back of the Grotto, Bernadette turned about and came back, still on her knees, down the same slope. I witnessed there a tour de force and I ought to have marvelled more at the ease and dignity of this child's movements in such a posture and on deeply sloping ground that was very uneven and strewn with stones which jutted out sharply here and there. At the time I saw nothing in Bernadettes movements, apart from the tour de force, but a ridiculous wriggle, for it seemed to me purposeless."

Mademoiselle Lacrampe lost sight of the child at this moment, being surrounded by the pressing crowd. But Aunt Bernarde was more fortunate,

"Everyone was astonished. Finding nothing, the child turned off towards the river" she stated.

But despite seeing the events occurring before them, those close by were unable to explain them. Only Bernadette could supply this. And she was soon required to do so.

It is important to state here that until that moment, there had been NO water in the Grotto other than a little stagnant water, probably collected rainwater. Just at this moment, Bernadette went towards the wild rose bush, pushed it aside and kissed the rock, then fell once more into ecstasy. She got up and seemed embarrassed - she walked toward the River Gave, then stopped and looked back, like one who has been called, and went in a different direction, into the opening at the base of the rock, on the left hand side. Looking once more towards the niche, she appeared puzzled. She then began to dig with her hands. Muddy water surfaced, which she scooped up and three times threw away. She drank the fourth scoop. Later, in the convent, she joked to the Sisters that three times she threw the water away before drinking - and that this was why Our Blessed Lady made her ask three times for Her Name, before revealing Her identity!!

When the on-lookers saw her mud-covered face they thought she was insane and laughed at her. Unaware of all this, Bernadette continued in her ecstasy until 7:00am, long after the sight-seers had departed.

Leaving the Grotto, a neighbour asked Bernadette to explain what had occurred. She replied:

" Whilst I was in prayer, the Lady said to me in a serious but friendly voice - 'Go, drink and wash in the fountain'. As I did not know where this fountain was, and as I did not think the matter important, I went towards the Gave. The Lady called me back and signed to me with Her finger to go under the Grotto to the left; I obeyed but I did not see any water. Not knowing where to get it from, I scratched the earth and the water came. I let it get a little clear of the mud then I drank and washed."

Seeing what was happening - but not understanding - the crowd wondered if Bernadette was mad after all. Why had she smeared her angelic little face with muddy water? What could it mean? Horrified, they watched in silence. Their distress was increased as they watched the child eat some wild herbs growing at the foot of the rock.

Unknown to the crowd, the Lady had pointed once more to the floor of the Grotto and told her little one - "Go, eat of the herbs you will find there". She then made her impressive Sign of the Cross once more, before coming away from the vault, kneeling once more and watching as the vision faded.

Quickly, Aunt Bernarde took hold of the child and ushered her away from the Grotto, fearful of the crowd who were calling out to the child that she was insane. No one had bothered to examine the hole where the child had been digging; all were too concerned only with their reputations - after all, it would be embarrassing to have to admit to being fooled by this imbecile girl.

Later that afternoon, on the spot where Bernadette had knelt digging, the trickle had become a ribbon of water which was hollowing out its own channel in the topsoil.

A twenty-year debate followed about the origin of this spring, until finally the Abbe Richard, a famous hydro-geologist at the time, declared after a long and careful study, that the spring was miraculous in its discovery and in its effects, although not in its existence.

Later studies concluded that the rock itself is the source of the water, perfectly pure other than minimal deposits of salts, and that it contains NO therapeutic ingredients.

On 6 May 1858, a chemist by the name of Latour issued a statement on the water -

"The water .. is very limpid, inodorous and without any strong taste; .. it contains the following ingredients - chlorides of soda, lime and magnesia, bicarbonates of lime and magnesia, silicates of lime and aluminium, oxide of iron, sulphate of soda, phosphate, organic matter.."

He speculated that at some point a 'curative element' would be found in the water, but this never happened. A further analysis, by Monsieur Filhol, of the Toulouse Faculty of Sciences (in August 1858) declared -

"The extraordinary results which I am informed have been obtained by the use of this water cannot, at least in the present condition of scientific knowledge, be explained by the nature of the salts whose existence is revealed by analysis".

Analyses since that date have reached similar conclusions. And yet still the water from this spring flows - in itself not miraculous, not therapeutic. But countless miracles have resulted from its use since that happy day.

Friday 26 February 1858 - A Second Time, THE LADY DOES NOT APPEAR

On the following morning, Friday 26th February 1858, Bernadette went to the Grotto as usual. Doctor Dozous, who watched the child that morning, said that she knelt and prayed her Rosary for "a long time" that morning, but at the end of her prayers she was sad and distressed. The Lady had not appeared.

By that day, however, Bernadette was once more in favour with the crowd at Massabieille - their insults and laughter were forgotten, washed away by the flowing waters of the spring which Bernadette had said was there, having been told so by her Lady.

Eighth Apparition-LOURDES

Wednesday 24 February 1858

By now the newspapers were taking notice of the events at the Grotto. The local paper, the Lavedan, took a particular interest; unfortunately, its reports were neither accurate nor favourable. It promised to keep its readers informed of the "craze" concerning the "cataleptic" girl who had claimed to see "the Mother of the Angels".

Events at the Grotto were about to take a new turn. Until this point, the visions had appeared to be more or less personal in nature; the prayer taught by the Lady and the three secrets She had revealed all concerned Bernadette alone. Now, however, the universal nature of the Apparitions was about to become apparent.

There were "four hundred to five hundred" people at the Grotto that day, as reported to the Lieutenant of Police by Constable Callet of the local gendarmarie.

Immediately upon her arrival, Bernadette commenced her Rosary as she always did. Before a decade had been completed, the ecstasy began; the child leaned forward and her face was lit with a heavenly smile and once more she began to reflect the grace of She whom she beheld. She smiled and - without lowering her eyes - made a number of graceful bows.

After several minutes, the ecstasy was interrupted; Bernadette turned to face the crowd and, referring to the long trailing rose bush, asked, "Who has touched the briar?". The bush had been shaken by a young girl who was trying to get as close as possible to the visionary. The Lady had moved from the niche high in the rock, but had not disappeared; She had descended into the larger hollow at the base of the Grotto. Bernadette heard herself called and the ecstasy resumed, the child kneeling at the opening of the larger vault, within which the Vision was standing.

Again Bernadette listened to the words of the beautiful Lady. The child's face appeared sad and her arms fell to her side. There were tears upon her cheeks. She turned once more to face the crowd and three times she repeated, "Penitence...penitence...penitence!". This was heard distinctly by those standing close to her, who quickly spread the words they had heard. Bernadette had given her first public message.

The seer returned once more to her former place and the vision continued, while the entire crowd remained silent - struck by the sincerity on the face of the child.

One person, however, had not lost the power of speech; the Lourdes quarter-master pushed his way toward the girl, and when he had reached her he asked - "What are you doing, you little actress?".

Bernadette was not even aware of his presence, much less intimidated by it. His only response was his own - "And to think that such follies can take place in the nineteenth century!".