Lourdes: Font of Faith, Hope, and Charity

This being the 150th anniversary of
the apparition in Lourdes of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Bernadette,
Paulist Press commissioned Elizabeth Ficocelli to do a book covering
Lourdes – Lourdes:
Font of Faith, Hope, and Charity. The author
found that while there was a wealth of books on
the
saint and Lourdes in other languages, that there were not that many in
English.

This book is not just another biography on
Saint Bernadette, but goes much farther. The first three chapters do an
excellent job of going over Bernadette Soubirous early life and the
history and circumstances of the time along with a nicely detailed
description of the apparition and the reaction by Bernadette and the
towns people.  You get easily drawn into the times and the
reactions both positive and negative that occurred. Also covered is her
life in the convent and just how accurate was the Virgin Mary telling
her “I cannot promise you happiness in this life, only in the next.”

A subsequent chapter covers the growing
coverage on Lourdes and some of the battled between various authors
documenting the events and the errors that cropped up. I found this
chapter highly ironic for those covering the life of the saint were
quite willing to expose the errors of other authors while never
correcting there own.

The next two major sections of the book
cover the start of the pilgrimages to Lourdes, Bernadette’s
canonization, miracles both physical and spiritual, and the reality of
Lourdes today.  One thing I really liked about the book was
that it was pitch perfect in its theological descriptions.  It
contained one of the best descriptions of canonization and sainthood
that I have read and even got the detail right that papal canonization
are in fact infallible. Throughout the book this same attention to
detail is quite evident.

Another aspect of the book I enjoyed was
the descriptions of Lourdes today and the large number of volunteers
that help make possible the throngs of pilgrims who visit possible in
the first place.  Since a large number of people who visit
Lourdes have physical disabilities a lot of care and attention is
needed and these volunteers certainly see there work as a sacred
responsibility and as a service to Christ himself.  These
chapters also cover some of the authenticated miracles in the history
of Lourdes along with an explanation of the extremely thorough process
for recognition and why only a relatively few number of miracles are
recognized.  Also covered are spiritual conversions at Lourdes
and while these would not be considered officially by the Church as
miracles, they are obvious examples of God’s grace.  While the
large majority who go to Lourdes will not experience a physical
healing, there are quite a number of spiritual healings that occur
there and of course sometimes there are both physical and spiritual
healings.  One interview of a person who was healed and his
healing recognized as one of the authenticated cures is quite
interesting in that he had pretty much given up hope and that his
brother was the one who brought him to Lourdes.  He now brings
pilgrims to Lourdes everywhere himself.

The is really quite an excellent book even
for those who are quite familiar with St. Bernadette’s biography and
even includes an excellent introduction by Fr. Benedict Groeschel, CFR
where he say he owes much to his recovery after the accident to Our
Lady of Lourdes.  Normally I am quite skeptical to books put
out by Paulist Press, but I have zero qualms over this one and highly
recommend it.