Prophets, Pilgrims, and Profits by Campbell Jefferys

Hosting more than five million visitors a year, Lourdes in southern France has been the most frequented centre of pilgirmage in Europe for over 140 years. Curiosity or calling? It doesn’t matter as long as they come.

This is how the story goes: In 1858, 14 year-old Bernadette Soubirous had 18 visions of the Virgin Mary in the Grotto of Massabielle near the River Gave. The Madonna of Lourdes was dressed in white, her hands joined, with a rosary hanging from her arm. She was surrounded by bright light and smiled at the young girl.

The Madonna spoke to Bernadette in the local Bigourdan dialect, revealing messages which were to be passed on: ‘Pray for the conversion of sinners...penitence, penitence, penitence...(and) go and tell the priests to build a chapel here, so that people may come in procession.’

To support her requsets, the Madonna made a spring well up in the grotto and told Bernadette to drink from it and wash herself. Miraculously, she became clean and was no longer thirsty. Soon, others came to drink and wash from the spring, seeking comfort, salvation and a cure-all. Rumours spread quickly about the healing qualities of the water. One man cooled his fevered brow there, while another washed the dirt from his eyes and claimed he could see better than before.

Now, your average skeptic would think the Madonna of Lourdes, and perhaps Bernadette, had a vested interest in several of the town’s hotels and souvineer stores, knowing full well the day would come when £20 could easily be pulled from the pockets of the faithful in exchange for a ceramic Jesus made in Taiwan. Of course, your average skeptic has little reason to go to Lourdes during the pilgrimage season (I wonder if there is a pilgrimage pre-season), and stays clear and is skeptical from afar.

It was on the 25th of March, 1858, that the apparition revealed her name, saying ‘I am the Immaculate Conception.’ By this time, it was reported that almost 7,000 people had gathered near the grotto to witness Bernadette having her vision. Of course, only her faith was the strongest, so she was the only one to see the apparition, though others claimed to feel a holy presence.

The spring water was deemed a cure all. Those who were ill became well after washing there or drinking from it, and unbelievers were converted, lending truth to the old idiom about strange small towns, ‘There’s something in the water.’ From the grotto beamed the message of Monseigner Lawrence, Bishop of Tarbes, signed on the 18th of January, 1862, that the place was open for business....I mean, pilgrimage.

Suffice is to say, the town of Lourdes has benefitted greatly from the influx of pilgrims. The classic styled Basilica was completed in 1872 and the Rosary in 1889. It’s an impressive structure; almost a church on a church wedged to the side of a mountain by the River Gave. Signs everywhere warn you to ‘Beware of pickpockets.’ Almost like, ‘Pray to God, but tie your camel.’

The statistics keep the skeptics at bay. Almost 5,000 reported cases of healing, 65 of which have been declared miraculous by the ecclesiastic authorities in Vatican City. Keep in mind, it takes almost 12 years of research to declare a healing a miracle. The last was in 1986, when a Mr. Bely was cured of multiple sclerosis. A staunch catholic, he arrived in Lourdes in a bedridden state, but had an ‘experience’ in the night after receiving the Sacrement for the Sick. It took more than his usual 10 hail Marys for him to go back to sleep. In the morning, he was cured.

The power of faith is strong in Lourdes, and that should not be forgotten. The pilgrimages, which have been happening since 1858, distinguish themselves by the character of their gathering: the blind, the sick, the militaries, the gypsies, the oldtimers, etc. Belgium, Italy, Holland, and even the USA have national pilgrimages. The draw to Lourdes is strong. The one good thing about faith is how it brings people together under the banner of fraternity.

But even with this wonderful cross cultural brotherhood, one can’t escape the almost carnival atmosphere of the streets. Practically every shop is given over to the sale of religious kitsch: Bernadette in every shape and size adorning barometers, candleholders and key rings, and enough ceramic Marys and Jesuses to fill the Basilica. This kind of tacky merchandising and exploitation casts a heavy shadow on the Cité Religiéuse, removing much of its sacrilige and piety.

The city is most enjoyable in the quieter winter months. The pilgrimage season, which begins with Holy Week (sounds like a pep rally – ‘Give me a G!’) just before Easter and runs through October, crams the city with people, some who come by calling and others from curiosity. They line up for hours to pray at the grotto, drink the water, light candles and take photographs. Few will go home empty handed, sporting at the very least a Bernadette cigarette lighter or a beret that says ‘cured’.

The city is beautifully located in the heart of the Pyrenees, with jagged peaks visible from almost any part of town. The old centre is a delight to walk around; the streets are narrow and winding, the way they should be in mountian villages. However, most of the towns attractions and museums revolve around Bernadette and her legacy; the Musée Bernadette, Cinema Bernadette, and even the Wax Museum, which portrays the life of Bernadette and tells the story of Christ (including an impressive wax replica of Da Vinci’s ‘Last Supper’). In the old Chateau Fort, the Musée Pyreneen exhibits objects of daily life from the time of the visions.

But the true heart of Lourdes lies in the Cité Religiéuse. The insides of the Basilica and Rosary are stunning, while the grotto, with a statue of the Virgin Mary in creamy white and baby blue and nestled in the cave, is the main drawcard. Impressive are the daily sacrement and evening candle processions during the pilgrimage season.

Whether people believe in the apparition or not is in a lot of ways irrelevant. They are not here to believe in the vision but to gain strength and comfort from collective belief, because faith is stronger than any miraculous spring. The strength comes from the pilgrimages, where people are bonded together by positive forces, and that alone makes Lourdes a wonderful place. If the ceramic Jesuses are pushed aside, you’ll find a city basking in the glow of fraternity, and it’s almost enough to stop the snickers of even the most fervent skeptics. My beret says ‘saved’.

The Message of Lourdes: Meeting, sharing, hope Where great things come together The human and the spiritual The Christian and the universal Where people can overcome their legitimate differences in brotherly communion