The Song of Bernadette is a 2006 book about St. Bernadette in the Catholic Church. The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to her in 1858 in Lourdes, France. The site of the vision is now a gigantic Catholic shrine. Thousands of people have been cured of their ailments by bathing in the spring struck by Bernadette. The Song of Bernadette is a biography of St. Bernadette. Among many other things, we learn how poor she was and how there were originally many skeptics about the springs, including the Catholic Church. Ultimately, the miracle of the Spring convinced the church of the veracity of the miracle. What would it take for you to believe in miracles?
The Life of Bernadette from The Song of Bernadette
The biography is written by Franz Werfel of the life of French peasant Bernadette Soubirous, also known as St. Bernadette, who saw the Blessed Virgin Mary and created the Catholic shire at Lourdes, France. Bernadette lived from 1844 until 1879 and is best known for experiencing apparitions of a “young lady” who asked for a chapel to be built at the nearby cave grotto. These apparitions occurred between 11 February and 16 July 1858.
As we learn in The Song of Bernadette, Bernadette was very poor and was forced to eat candle wax and sleep in the same room with the rest of her family. Her father, a miller, was an alcoholic. We also learn in the book that for several months, many authorities did not believe Bernadette, and this caused considerable torment for her. Only when the Emperor of France, Napoleon the Third, validated the miracle did the authorities relent and believe her. In 1862, the Catholic church officially declared what happened at Lourdes a miracle.
After the apparitions, Bernadette finished school and became a nun. She joined the Sisters of Charity of Nevers at their convent in Nevers, where she spent the last years of her life. Much time is spent in The Song of Bernadette on Bernadette’s time and relationships in the convent. There, she is said to have the power of healing. She died young, though for the time not exceptionally young. Her body is said by the Catholic Church to remain internally incorrupt.
Pope Pius XI beatified her (that means she needed one more miracle to become a saint) Bernadette Soubirous on 14 June 1925 and canonized *that means she became a saint) her on 8 December 1933. Her feast day, initially specified as 18 February, is now observed in most places on the date of her death, 16 April. That is the day Mary promised to make her happy, not in this life, but in the other.
The Lourdes Shrine
The town of Lourdes, where Bernadette grew up and had her visions, has become a major international pilgrimage site, attracting millions of visitors yearly. There is not much attention paid to this in The Song of Bernadette, which is good because the book, which is richly detailed, is already 594 pages long. Infrastructure has been significantly built around the cave where the apparitions occurred, forming the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes.
The Sanctuary has Lourdes’ water streaming inside the cave from a spring discovered by Bernadette during the apparitions. The water is said to have healing properties and attracts many sick pilgrims. The sick are said to be healed by bathing in the waters. Many believe in the healing power of the water at Lourdes and travel great distances to bathe in it.
Conclusion
The Song of Bernadette is a good book. It is richly detailed. It is said Catholics should learn about the lives of the saints. St. Bernadette is a good one to learn about. The most interesting thing about the book is how, for seemingly a long time, Bernadette was not believed. This seems odd, given how popular her shrine is today.
