Recent Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin

IN FRANCE, ITALY AND GERMANY.

THE CONFIDENCE WITH WHICH THESE APPARITIONS SHOULD INSPIRE US.

The definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, has, in our age, brought to its climax, devotion to the Blessed Virgin. Divine Providence employed twenty-four years in preparing the world for this great event; we have seen in the preceding chapters, how much the apparition of 1830, contributed thereto, and how powerful the influence of the Miraculous Medal in propagating this devotion. Since this time a second period of twenty-four years has elapsed, during which devotion to the Immaculate Mary has shone as a radiant star in the firmament of the Church, spreading everywhere the light of truth and the warmth of true piety; and, by a gentle yet efficacious impulse, producing unanimity of mind and heart in the great Catholic family.

Since the definition, as well as before it, France continues to be the privileged country of Mary; nowhere else are miracles so numerous, or graces so abundant. Whence arises this glorious prerogative? So far as we are permitted to penetrate the secrets of God, it appears to us, to our understanding: France who has wrought so much evil by disseminating philosophical and revolutionary doctrines, is to repair the past by propagating truth, and Mary desires to prepare her for this mission. Everyone knows, moreover, that the French character possesses a force of expansion and a power of energy that render the French eminently qualified to maintain the interests of truth and justice. Then, again, is not France the eldest daughter of the Church, since she was baptized in the person of Clovis, the first of the Most Christian Kings; and in virtue of this title, is it not her duty to devote herself under the patronage of her Mother in heaven to the defence of her Mother on earth?

Be the motives of Mary's predilection for the French nation what they may, the fact is incontrovertible. Nevertheless, the Blessed Virgin has not forgotten other Catholic countries; they also have had their share in the singular favors she has so generously dispensed in our days.

OUR LADY OF LOURDES.—1858.

Four years after the definition of the Immaculate Conception, Mary vouchsafed to manifest herself anew to the world, and this time, as if in token of her gratitude, she took the glorious name the Church had just decreed her: "I am the Immaculate Conception." It was in France that the vision of the medal took place, preparatory to the act of December 8th, 1854; it was also in France, at Lourdes, in the diocese of Tarbes, at the base of the Pyrenees, that Mary came in person, to testify and proclaim that privilege which she prized above all others. In 1830, she choose a young, unlettered Sister for her confidant; in 1846, she addressed herself to two poor peasant children; in 1858, she also selects one in the humblest ranks of life as the depository of her merciful designs.

Bernadette Soubirous, born at Lourdes in 1844, of poor parents, was a young girl of weak and delicate health; she could neither read nor write; she knew no prayers but her Chaplet, and she could speak only the patois of the country. "On February 11th, 1858," says she, "my parents were in great perplexity for want of wood to cook the dinner. I put on my hood, and offered to go with my younger sister Marie and our friend, the little Jeanne Abadie, to pick up some dead branches." The three children repaired to the bank of the Gave, opposite the grotto of Masabielle; in which were collected the sand and branches of trees drifted there by the current. But to reach the grotto, it was necessary to wade through the shallow bed of the river. Marie and Jeanne took off their shoes without hesitation; Bernadette delayed and feared to cross, as she was suffering from a cold. Whilst thus deliberating, she was astonished by a rushing of wind, instantly repeated, though the trees near the river were motionless. One vine only was slightly agitated, an eglantine, which grew in the upper part of this natural grotto. This niche and the wild rose within reflected a most extraordinary brilliancy; a Lady of admirable beauty appeared in the niche, her feet resting on the eglantine, her arms gracefully bent, and her hands joined; with a sweet smile, she saluted the child. Bernadette's first emotion was one of fear; she instinctively grasped her chaplet, as if seeking defence in it, and she tried to raise her hand to make the sign of the cross, but her arm fell powerless and her terror increased. The Lady also had a Chaplet suspended from her left wrist; taking it in her right hand, she made a very distinct sign of the cross, and passed between her fingers the beads (white as drops of milk); but her lips did not move. She smiled upon the shepherdess, who, reassured from this moment, recovered the use of her arm, made the sign of the cross and recited the Chaplet. The little Bernadette remained on her knees nearly an hour, in ecstacy. At length, the Lady made her a sign to approach, but Bernadette did not move. Then the Lady, extending her hand, smiled, and, bowing as if bidding farewell, disappeared. Returned to herself, Bernadette thought of rejoining her companions, who, having seen nothing, were at a loss to understand her conduct. She entered the water, which she found, to her surprise, of a gentle warmth. On reaching home, she imparted the secret to her sister, and then to her mother, who did not credit it.

However, the child being tormented by an earnest desire to behold the apparition again, her parents granted permission for her return to the grotto with several companions; the same manifestation took place and the same ecstacy. On Thursday, February 18th, she again repaired to the grotto; the apparition was visible for the third time, and the Lady requested Bernadette to come there daily for a fortnight. Bernadette promised. "And I," replied the Lady, "promise to render you happy not in this world, but the next."

On the succeeding days, the young girl went to the grotto, accompanied by her parents and an ever increasing crowd. None of them saw or heard anything. The transfiguration of the countenance of Bernadette announced the presence of a supernatural being, who urged the child to pray for sinners.

On the sixth day of the fortnight, the august Lady revealed to Bernadette three secrets, forbidding her to communicate them to any one. She taught her a prayer, and charged her with a message. "You will go," said she, "and tell the priest that a chapel must be built here, and that the people must come here in procession."

Bernadette communicated this order to the curÉ, but he hesitated to believe the child, and told her to ask the Lady for a sign which might confirm her words, for example, to make the wild rose which winter has divested of its leaves, break forth into blossom, then the month of February.

The Blessed Virgin did not judge proper to grant the miracle, but she tried Bernadette's obedience, by commanding her to kiss the ground on several occasions, and to climb the rock on her knees, praying meantime for sinners. One day she enjoined upon her to go and drink at the fountain of the grotto, to wash therein, and to eat of a certain herb which grew in that place. Bernadette saw no fountain, and no one had ever heard of one in the grotto, yet on a sign from the Lady, the docile child dug the earth with her fingers, and discovered a muddy water which, notwithstanding her repugnance, she used as commanded.

At the end of several days, the little thread of muddy water had become a limpid and abundant spring, and what was still more marvelous, it wrought innumerable prodigies. On February 26th, by the use of this water, a man who had gone blind twenty years previous, by the explosion of a mine, recovered his sight, and on the last day of the fortnight, a child dying, or as was supposed, dead, regained life and health in the waters of this fountain.

We will not dwell here upon the persecutions directed against Bernadette by the magistrates, or upon the vexations besetting the pilgrims who flocked hither from all parts of the world. Every one has read these details in the work of M. Lasserre, who so ably depicts the dignity and firmness displayed in the affair by the parish priest, M. Peyramale.

The apparition of March 25th, has a special significance. Bernadette, on several occasions, inquired the Lady's name. At this question, the vision, on the day mentioned, unclasped her hands, the chaplet of golden chain and alabaster grains sliding on to her arm. She opened her arms and directed them towards the earth, as if to indicate that her virginal hands were filled with benedictions for the human race; then raising them towards the celestial country, whence descended on this day the divine messenger of the Annunciation, she clasped them with fervor, and looking towards heaven with an indescribable expression of gratitude, she pronounced these words: "I am the Immaculate Conception." Having said this, she disappeared, and the child found herself and the multitude in presence of a bare rock.

The Immaculate Virgin appeared to Bernadette twice again; on Easter Monday, April 5th, and July 16th, the Feast of our Lady of Mount Carmel.

The following 28th of July, the Bishop of Tarbes named a commission of inquiry, composed of ecclesiastics, physicians and learned men. July 18th, 1862, he published a decree concerning the events that had taken place at Lourdes; it was couched in the following words:

"We judge that the Immaculate Mother of God did really appear to Bernadette Soubirous, Feb. 11th, 1858, and on succeeding days to the number of eighteen times in the grotto of Masabielle, near the city of Lourdes; that this apparition bears all the characteristics of truth, and that the faithful may rely upon its reality."

Mary had petitioned that a chapel be built upon the spot. The first stone was laid in the month of October, 1862, the piety of pilgrims furnishing the necessary funds for the erection of the edifice, and on the 21st of May, 1868, the Holy Mass was celebrated there for the first time, in the crypt which was to bear the new sanctuary. The connection existing between the apparitions of 1858 and 1830 is indicated by two painted windows in the sanctuary, one of which represents Bernadette's vision, the other that of Sister Catherine.

The pilgrimage to Lourdes has assumed vast proportions; thanks to the railroads, the pilgrims each year number hundreds of thousands, coming from every quarter of the globe, and countless miracles recompense the faith of those who seek in this sanctuary the merciful power of the Immaculate Mary.

The grotto of Lourdes, reproduced in a thousand places, has become one of the most popular objects of devotion.

As to Bernadette, the interest and veneration attached to her have not in the least affected her candor and simplicity. She has retired to the convent of Sisters Hospitallers of Nevers, and nothing distinguishes her from the most humble of her companions.

OUR LADY OF PONTMAIN (DIOCESE OF LAVAL).—1871.

"France, having been invaded by the Prussians, was conquered; Paris was besieged and suffered the horrors of famine, aggravated by the rigors of an extremely cold winter. It was at this period the Blessed Virgin vouchsafed to appear, bringing words of hope and consolation to the people of her predilection. The place favored with this apparition was the little town of Pontmain, situated about four leagues from FougÈres, on the confines of the dioceses of Laval and Rennes. It was Monday, January 17th, 1871, about six o'clock in the evening; EugÈne Barbedette, a child aged twelve years, looking from the door of the barn where he was occupied with his father and younger brother, Joseph, aged ten years, perceived in the air, a little above and behind the house of the family of Guidecoq, which was opposite him, a tall and beautiful Lady, who smiled upon him. He called his brother, his father, and a woman of the village who was talking to him at the moment. But his brother was the only one except himself who saw the vision, and both gave exactly the same description of this wonderful being. The Lady was clothed in a wide-sleeved blue robe, embroidered with golden stars. Her dress descended to the shoes, which were also blue, fastened with a clasp of gold-colored ribbon. She wore a black veil, covering a portion of her forehead and falling behind her shoulders to the girdle. Upon her head was a golden circle like a diadem, and with no ornament but a red line passing through the middle. Her face was delicate, very white, and of incomparable beauty.

"In a little while, quite a crowd had collected around the barn-door; Madame Barbedette, the Sisters in charge of the parish school, the venerable curÉ, and more than sixty other persons, but of all these, only two shared the happiness of the Barbedette children. These two were also children, boarders at the convent. Frances Richer, aged eleven years, and Jane Mary LebossÉ, aged nine and a half. The other spectators were witnesses only of the joy and happiness of the four privileged ones, but all were convinced that it was truly the Blessed Virgin who had appeared.

"The Blessed Virgin's attitude was at first, that seen in the Miraculous Medal. After the parish priest arrived, a circle of blue was formed around the apparition, and a small red cross like that worn by pilgrims, appeared on the Blessed Virgin's heart. All began to pray. Suddenly the vision was enlarged, and outside the blue circle, appeared a long white strip or band, on which the children saw letters successively traced and forming those words: 'But pray, my children. God will, in a short time hear you. My Son allows himself to be touched by your supplications.' Then, raising her hands, as if in unison with the singing of the canticle, 'Mother of hope,' there appeared in them a red crucifix at the top of which was the inscription: Jesus Christ.

"This prodigy was visible for three hours. After juridical information, Mgr. Wicart, Bishop of Laval, confirmed by a solemn judgment, the reality of the apparition.

"On the 17th of January, 1872, the first anniversary of the event, a beautiful statue representing the apparition, was solemnly set up, in presence of more than eight thousand pilgrims, and a magnificent church is now in course of erection on the spot.

"The Holy See has authorized the clergy of the diocese of Laval to recite the Office and celebrate the Mass of the Immaculate Conception, every year, on the 17th of January; and by Papal brief, an archconfraternity, under the title of Our Lady of Hope, has been instituted in the parish of Pontmain."[36]

We could enumerate many other apparitions of the Blessed Virgin in France, but, not having been approved, by ecclesiastical authority, we dare not give them as authentic. We shall mention only the apparitions with which Miss Estelle Faguette was favored with at Pellevoisin, in the diocese of Bourges. The instantaneous cure of this lady, afflicted by a malady judged incurable, may be regarded as evidence of the truth of the account. Moreover, the Archbishop of Bourges appears to have considered it reliable, as he has authorized the erection of a chapel in memory of the event. On the 14th of February, 1876, the Blessed Virgin appeared to Miss Faguette, and the vision was repeated fifteen times in the space of ten months. Mary's attitude was similar to that represented on the Miraculous Medal, except that the rays proceeding from her hands were replaced by drops of dew, symbols of grace. A scapular of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was on her breast.

Mary expressed her love for France, but complained of her admonitions being disregarded. She recommended fervent prayer, by the fulfillment of which duty we may confidently rely upon God's mercy.

"What have I not done for France?" said she. "How many warnings have I not given! Yet, this unhappy land refuses to listen. I can no longer restrain my Son's wrath. France will suffer. Have courage and confidence. I come especially for the conversion of sinners. You must pray; I set you the example. My Son's heart has so great love for my heart that He cannot refuse my petitions. You must all pray, and have confidence!" Showing the scapular, she said: "I love this devotion."

Who has not heard of the wonderful manifestations of the Blessed Virgin in Italy of late years? How many thousands of persons, moved by piety or curiosity, have visited the Madonnas of Rimini, of San Ginesio, of Vicovaro, of Prosessi, etc., and have witnessed the movement of the eyes, the change of color, and other miraculous signs certainly attributable to none but a supernatural power. It does not appear, however, that Mary has, in this country, presented herself in person, though here she receives the most sincere and abundant tributes of affection. Doubtless, she considers any stimulus to the faith of its people unnecessary. And besides, may we not say that she has fixed her abode in Italy, since her own house, the house of Nazareth, wherein the mystery of the Incarnation was accomplished, and where dwelt the Holy Family, has been transported thither by the hands of angels?

Whilst the Prussian government is persecuting the Church, the Blessed Virgin vouchsafed to appear in the two most Catholic provinces of her kingdom, and in two opposite frontiers, near the banks of the Rhine and in the Grand Duchy of Posen. Does she not seem to say to the good people of these localities, that they must have confidence and that God will conquer their enemies? We must remark that on both of these occasions, Mary announces herself as the Virgin conceived without sin.

We give an abridged account of these two apparitions, which we have every reason to consider supernatural. The second vision had been formally approved by the Bishop of Ermeland.

On the 3rd of July, 1876, at Marpingen, an inconsiderable village of the district of TrÈves (Rhenish Prussia), the Blessed Virgin appeared to three little girls, in a pine forest about the hour of the evening. The three children were each about eight years of age, and belonged to families of poor, honest farmers residing in the village. They perceived a bright light, and in the midst of it a beautiful Lady seated, holding a child in her right arm. The Lady and child were clad in white, the Lady crowned with red roses, and in her clasped hands, a little cross.

The vision was renewed several times. To the childrens' questions as to her name, she answered; "I am she who was conceived without sin;" and when asked what she desired, the reply was: "That you pray with fervor, and that you commit no sin." Several sick persons were cured by touching the place which the children pointed out as that occupied by the Blessed Virgin. These facts are incontestable; but they have not yet been examined by ecclesiastical authority.[37]

In the village of Grietzwald, in Varmia, one of the ancient provinces of Poland annexed to Prussia, four young girls, poor and of great innocence, were favored on various occasions for two months, beginning June 27th, 1877, with apparitions of the Blessed Virgin, who appeared sometimes alone, sometimes carrying the Child Jesus, holding in his hands a globe surmounted by a cross. Both Mother and Child were clothed in white.

To the children's question: "Who are you?" the apparition answered, on one occasion: "I am the Blessed Virgin Mary, conceived without sin;" and another time, "I am the Immaculate Conception."

In the first apparition, our Lady's countenance was sad, and she even shed tears; afterwards, it betokened joy. She asked that a chapel be erected and a statue of the Immaculate Conception placed therein. At each apparition she blessed the crowd, which was always numerous; she blessed also a spring, which has since then furnished an abundant supply of water, effecting miraculous cures. She recommended the recitation of the Rosary, and exhorted all to fervent prayer, and confidence in the midst of the trials which were to come.[38]

These recent apparitions of the Blessed Virgin have founded new pilgrimages, the faithful flocking to the favored spots in honor of the Mother of God, and ask for the graces which she bestows with a truly royal liberality. At the same time her ancient sanctuaries, far from being neglected, have only become more endeared to piety, many having been reconstructed with magnificence, or at least most handsomely embellished; it suffices to mention FourviÈres, Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde, Rocamadour, Boulogne-sur-mer, Liesse and Buglose.

The coronation of the most celebrated statues of the Blessed Virgin, in the name and by the munificence of Pius IX, was the occasion of imposing solemnities, and also a means of infusing into the devotion of the people greater vigor and fervor.

The exercises of the Month of Mary have extended to the most humble villages, and there is scarcely a parish without its confraternity in honor of the Blessed Virgin.

Science, eloquence, poetry, music, sculpture, painting and architecture have rivalled one another in celebrating the glory of the Virgin Mother.

What may we deduce from this wonderful increase of devotion to the Immaculate Mary?

The impression naturally produced is that of confidence. A society which pays such homage to Mary, cannot perish. If, as St Bernard says, it is unheard of that any one has been forsaken who had recourse to her intercession, how were it possible that the fervent prayers of an entire people should fail to touch her heart? No, the future is not without hope; the mediation of Mary will save us.

The venerable Grignion of Montfort, in his Treatise on true devotion to the Blessed Virgin has written these lines: "It is by the Blessed Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ came into the world; it is also by her, that he is to reign in the world. If then, as is certain, the reign of Jesus Christ will come, so likewise is it certain that this reign will be a necessary consequence of the knowledge and reign of the Blessed Virgin. Mary, by the operation of the Holy Ghost, produced that most stupendous of all creations, a Man-God, and she will produce by the power of this same Holy Spirit, the greatest prodigies in these latter times. It is through Mary the salvation of the world began, it is through Mary the salvation of the world is to be consummated. Mary will display still greater mercy, power and grace in these days. Mercy, to bring back poor sinners; power, against the enemies of God; grace, to sustain and animate the valiant soldiers and faithful servants of Jesus Christ, combating for His interests. Ah! when will arrive the day that establishes Mary mistress and sovereign of hearts, to subject them to the empire of Jesus?... Then will great and wonderful things be accomplished.... When will this joyful epoch come, this Age of Mary, in which souls absorbed in the abyss of the interior of Mary, will become living copies of the sublime, original, loving and glorifying Jesus Christ?"

Father de Montfort adds, in addressing our Saviour: Ut adveniat regnum tuum, adveniat regnum MariÆ! May the reign of Mary come that they reign, O Jesus, may come!

Is not this the Age of Mary? Was there ever in the Church, a period in which Mary was, if we may thus express it, so lavish of favors as in these, our days? Was there ever a period in which she has appeared so frequently and familiarly, in which she has given to the world, admonitions so grave and maternal; in which she has worked so many miracles; and poured out graces so abundantly? The reader of this volume will answer unhesitatingly, that no period of history offers anything comparable to what we have witnessed in our own days.

It is true, that the day of triumph announced by the venerated Montfort, appears far distant; one might say that the kingdom of God on earth is more compromised than ever. The wicked make unexampled efforts to demolish the social edifice; they are numerous, powerful, and possessed of incalculable resources. But for the Church, when all seems lost, then is her triumph at hand. God sometimes permits the malice of men to exceed all bounds, that His power may be the more manifest when the moment of their defeat arrives.

All the united efforts of the Church's enemies in the course of ages, all their errors, hatred and violence directed against her, the Spouse of Christ, are now concentrated in what is termed the Revolution—that is, anti-Christianity reduced to a system and propagated throughout the world, it is Satan usurping the place of Jesus Christ.

But He who has conquered the world, and put to flight the prince of the world, will not permit Himself to be dethroned. He will reign, and even now, before our eyes, is His kingdom being prepared, by the mediation of the Immaculate Mary, of whom the promise was made that she should crush the serpent's head, and to whom alone belongs the privilege of destroying all heresies arising upon earth.

THE END.

FOOTNOTES