Thorns Among the Roses--Part 3

     A pilgrimage is both exhilarating and exhausting! You want to make sure you get to see all the holy sites but at times, it is difficult to process it all. Therefore, after leaving Loyola, I was pleased to have a long bus ride to ponder our visit to Fatima before we arrived in Lourdes later that day.  

     Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta had really captured my heart. Before the apparitions, they were very much like children we all know and love. They enjoyed playing, dancing, could be moody and demanding at times, and sweet and simple. They took shortcuts to duties they had to do, in order to get to the fun things in life. They lived in a very Catholic culture, festive feast day celebrations and holy day processions. Nighttime stories told to them of Our Lord, Our Lady and the saints were a regular part of their lives. With that all said, they would have never expected the heavenly events they would come to experience.

      In 1916, the Angel of Portugal appeared three times to the children to prepare them for the apparitions of Our Lady, which would occur one year later. He taught them specific prayers and asked that they pray and make sacrifices for those who offend God. He told the children that the most holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary had designs on them. They were to make prayers and sacrifices constantly to God and to accept the sufferings the Lord would send them.

     The visits from the angel affected a significant change on the children. They responded generously to making great sacrifices to God and looked for ways to suffer, as well as accepting sacrifices sent their way. 

     On May 13th, the apparitions of Our Lady began, and with that, their sufferings increased, and persecutions started. Our Lady asked that the children accept their sufferings as an act of reparation for the sins by which God is offended and to plead to God for the conversion of sinners. She promised them God’s grace would be their comfort.

     Throughout the apparitions, the children were faithful to their promise and grew in heroic generosity and love for Our Lord and Our Lady. They persevered through threats and punishment but did not relent in fulfilling Our Lady’s requests. She rewarded them on October 13, with a miracle which was witnessed by thousands and confirmed in time, by the Church.

     The three little shepherd children were dramatically transformed and changed into prayer warriors for the world. They witnessed hell and were forever changed; looking for ways to sacrifice to convert poor sinners. 

     Our Lady had told both Francisco and Jacinta that she would bring them soon to heaven. Lucia would spend time on earth making Mary’s Immaculate Heart known. Francisco died of pneumonia at age 11 and Jacinta was almost 10. She died alone in a hospital far from her home, at the request of Our Lady, as her last sacrifice for sinners. Lucia became a Carmelite nun and fulfilled the mission entrusted to her. She died a month short of 98 years old, in 2005.

     Francisco and Jacinta were canonized on May 13, 2017, on the 100th anniversary of the first apparition. Their feast day is February 20th. 

     Lucia was given the title, “Servant of God,” on February 13, 2017. Her life is under investigation to see if she continued to live a life of heroic virtue. If the decision is favorable, she would be declared “Venerable.” A miracle through her intercession is needed, confirming her presence in Heaven, before she would be declared a saint.

     The three little shepherd children did and are still doing so much for the Church and our world. Our world is forever changed because of them, and for that I grateful to God! 

     Francisco, Jacinta, and Lucia, please intercede for us so that we may die to ourselves and offer our sufferings and sacrifices for the salvation of souls. May we too become saints!

     My mind then turned to Lourdes, as we were getting closer to our next destination.

     Of all the titles and apparitions of Our Lady, Lourdes is my favorite! I’m not sure if it’s because of the movie, “The Song of Bernadette,” that I saw as a young girl, or because St. Bernadette did not have to share Our Lady with anyone, but my devotion to them is strong and deep.

     Bernadette was born in 1844, to a poor miller and his wife and was the oldest of nine children. Although she was full of virtue and good will, she was not very bright and had not yet received her first Communion at age 14. She suffered from asthma from an early age and missed school frequently. She and her family lived in a moldy and damp deserted prison; this only added to her ill health.

     Bernadette, her sister and a friend went to gather wood near the grotto of Massabielle, which was a dump at the time. Her sister and friend had already crossed the water by the grotto to collect wood, when Bernadette heard the sound of rushing wind. She was taking off her stockings and shoes when she looked around and saw nothing moving, except a rose in a niche in the grotto. From the niche came a bright light and a white figure. Bernadette described the Lady as a young girl of 16 or 17 who wore a white dress with a blue sash and yellow roses on her feet, holding a rosary on her right arm. The Lady blessed herself and they began to pray the rosary. 

     Bernadette said that her Lady had asked her to pray and make penance. She was asked to continue to come for a fortnight. Her parents, especially her mother, were ashamed of her behavior and forbid her to go. Townspeople were divided on their opinions, of whether she was mad, or a visionary seeing the Mother of God. On February 25, the Lady asked Bernadette to drink of the water of the spring and to eat of the herb that grew there. Bernadette saw no spring but dug in the ground and washed her face in the mud. The next day a spring appeared, and the water flowed. On March 2, the Lady ask that a chapel be built. Bernadette told her parish priest who asked for the Lady’s name. On March 25, when asked her name, Mary replied, “I am the Immaculate Conception.” Bernadette told her parish priest who thought she must be mistaken. She insisted that is what was said. It became clear that this was the Blessed Mother. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary had been declared only years before, of which Bernadette had no idea. Bernadette now knew that her Lady was from heaven.

     There were 18 visions in all: between February 11 and July 16, 1858. Healings began to occur from the miraculous spring water. The authenticity of the apparitions was confirmed by the Church in 1862. Bernadette left Lourdes to learn to read and write. She was taught by the Sisters of Charity in Nevers and eventually, entered the order where she lived the rest of her life. Her religious name was Sr. Bernard, taken after her godmother and St. Bernard.

     During the apparitions, Our Lady told Bernadette she would never be happy in this life, but in the next. Sr. Bernard suffered from tuberculosis of the lungs and bones and died at the age of 35 on April 16, 1879. Bernadette was canonized a saint on December 8, 1933, on the feast day of the Immaculate Conception.

     So many miraculous healings occurred in Lourdes, but Bernadette was not to be one of them. God’s ways are often so different than ours. My mind turned to my sister Sarah, whom I had carried in my heart throughout our pilgrimage. I had continued to thank God for extending her life thus far and will continue to ask for a healing. Like St. Bernadette, the healing is not always physical, but a healing always occurs. Often is an emotional or spiritual healing from our good God who looks at us with great love and knows exactly what is best for us. I will ask for it all!

     We had arrived at Lourdes. I was so very excited! Our plan was to go to our hotel, have dinner and then attend the rosary and candlelight procession. 

     The town of Lourdes was bustling with people; young, old, families with young children, nuns in full habit with their students, both girls and boys, in their school uniforms with berets. It was a very encouraging site for the future of our Church: Life…all around us!

     We were blessed to be able to walk from our hotel to the shrine. On our way, we saw a large crucifix which appeared to be dangling from the sky. It had an other-worldly appearance, almost like an apparition. We were not quite sure what to make of it but continued to the shrine area in wonder. There were thousands of people…everywhere you looked it was packed! We were all heading to the grounds in front of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception where the gathered pilgrims would pray the rosary, in procession by candlelight. It was absolutely stunning! Thousands and thousands of people, all gathered to petition the Mother of God to intercede to Her Son, for the desires of their hearts.

     As darkness descended, the Basilica lit up. It was beautiful! It reminded me of a Catholic Disneyland, where wishes could come true, if it was God’s will.

     A feeling of awe, wonder, peace and excitement, filled my heart, mind and soul, as we walked back to our hotel. It was the end of another long and wonderful day, and I was looked forward to experiencing more tomorrow!