"Soubirous." "Soubirous." "If you go early, maybe you'll find work." "Mm." "Bonjour, Monsieur Maisongrosse." "Ah, no work for you today." "How can I hire anybody when there isn't enough to keep me busy?" "People don't come to bakers anymore." "No, they go to pastry cooks because it's stylish." "Why don't you try the hospital?" "The man who was doing odd jobs moved to Tarbes yesterday." "Merci, monsieur." "Take that stuff clear out to the dump at Massabielle and burn every bit of it." "It's full of infection and disease." "Why did Christ found the Church?" "Christ founded the Church to teach, govern, sanctify, and save all men." "How long did Christ live on Earth?" "Christ lived on Earth about 33 years and led a most holy life in poverty." "That is correct, except that you omitted the last and most important word." ""In poverty and suffering."" "Never forget that, my child... for only through suffering can we hope to gain the Kingdom of God." "What is the Holy Trinity?" "I said, "What is the Holy Trinity?"" " Didn't you hear me?" " Yes, Sister, I heard you... but I know nothing about it." "Have you ever heard of it?" "Maybe I've heard of it." "You puzzle me, my child." "Are you pert, indifferent, or only stupid?" "I'm stupid, Sister." "I have a poor head for study." "You're also pert." "You're a grown girl, Bernadette... the oldest in the class." "Ignorance of the Holy Trinity is inexcusable." "Go to the foot of the class." "What is it, Marie?" "I just wanted to say that my sister Bernadette... was sick the day the class learned about the Holy Trinity." "She misses school a lot." " She's always ailing." " What ails her?" "They call it "atma" or some such name." " You trying to say asthma?" " Yes, Sister." "That's what Dr. Dozous calls it." "She can't breathe." "Sometimes she sounds just like this..." " Laughter wastes valuable time." "Return to your studies." "Antoinette, perhaps you can tell Bernadette what the Holy Trinity is." "The Holy Trinity is one God in three divine persons." "God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost." "Sister Marie Thérese, bonjour." "Bonjour, Father Peyramale." " Bonjour, children." " Bonjour, Your Reverence." "I was passing, so I thought I'd stop in, Sister... to see how many children you were preparing for First Communion." "Six." "We were just having a review of our catechism." "Well, you all know your catechism?" "Yes, Your Reverence." "To learn your catechism requires great diligence." "I believe such diligence should be rewarded." "I have some holy pictures." "Would you like one?" "Oh, yes, Your Reverence." "Very well." " Here you are." " Thank you, Your Reverence." " As you grow older..." " Thank you, Your Reverence." "You will realize that in learning your catechism... you have given yourselves not only a foundation of religious teachings... but also a doctrine to guide you as human beings throughout your lives." "I'm sorry, Father." "This girl is not deserving." "It would be unfair to the others." "The have studied their catechism." "She has not." "Well, that's too bad." "I'm sorry." "It should be an incentive to you then." "Study hard." "You found work?" "Twenty sous!" "From the baker?" "Where then?" "Don't ask me." " You didn't beg." " Worse." "Stinking filth from the hospital... had to be carted away and burned." "That's the kind of job they give to Soubirous." "This is where they let him live." "Soubirous, the miller... who made the finest flour in Escobe... lives in a jail... that's too cold and damp for prisoners." "Wasn't good enough for thieves and murderers... but for Soubirous and his family... sure, let them live here." "Let them freeze in the winter and roast in the summer." "Let them get sick and die." "Who cares?" "Come in, Jeanne." "Maman, Jeanne came along." "She's going to help me with my studies later." "All right." "There's always enough for one more." "Sit down, all of you." "Oh, please don't, madame." "I'm not a bit hungry." "I'll just watch the others." "Hail Father, Son and Holy Ghost." "The one that eats fastest gets the most." "Justin!" "Where did you learn that?" "You'll go to hell for saying such a thing." "All I said, "The one that eats the fastest gets the most." And it's true!" " Now you've said it again!" " I've seen pigs with better manners and cleaner faces." "Get up from that table and go wash yourselves!" "Both of you!" "Oh, a mass meeting here, hmm?" "How can anybody sleep with such racket?" " We're sorry, Papa." " It's cold in here." "Somebody fix a fire." " There's no wood." " So I'm to get the wood too?" "I work hard all day long." "All I ask is a little peace and warmth." "What do I get?" "Cold and chills." "Must I do everything around here?" "I'll go hunt for wood, Papa!" " May I go with Marie and help, maman?" " No." "You'll do no such thing." " You know how easily you catch cold." " I'll dress real warm." " Maman.!" "Maman.!" " Please?" " All right." "All right." "Only wrap up good!" " Maman.!" "Maman.!" " Can I go too?" "Oh, but please, maman." " No!" "You'll stay in this house and spend the rest of the day asking God for forgiveness." " Louise!" "Louise!" " What's wrong, Croisine?" "The baby!" "Convulsions again!" "I don't know what to do!" "Help me, Louise!" " Be calm, Croisine!" "Go back." "I'll be over in a minute." " Please, come now." " Maman, can I go with you and look?" " No!" "You stay here with your brother." "You can ask for a little forgiveness too!" "I want you girls back before dark." " Come on, Bernadette!" " Hurry up!" "The last one over the bridge is a goose!" "Hola, Bernadette." "Good day, Madame Nicolau." " Are your parents well?" " Yes." "Very well." "Thank you." " Are your parents well?" " Yes." "Very well." "Thank you." "And how is your son Monsieur Antoine?" "Splendid, thank you." "And, uh, Mademoiselle Bernadette?" "I'm well." "Thank you, monsieur." "Well, I'd better hurry on." "My sister will wonder about me." "May I use your bridge?" "As often as you like..." "and no toll charge." "Thank you, monsieur." "Here." "You better let me help you." "That bridge is not so dependable." "Thank you, monsieur." "You're very kind." " Good-bye." " Good-bye." "She's growing into a fine young woman, isn't she?" "Marie!" "Marie!" "Jeanne!" " Oh!" "Oh, for a moment I thought it was the devil himself." " You should have seen your face!" " You were nothing but eyes and mouth." " You'd have been scared too." " There's the wood over there." "Come on." "Follow me." " We'll wade across." " That's private property over there." " What if it is?" " If we take wood from there, we'll be stealing." "Wood is wood." "Don't be such a fraidy cat, Bernadette." " I'm not a fraidy cat." " Yes, you are too." "Come on, Marie." "Let's go." "Oh!" "It's cold!" "It's freezing!" "Hurry up!" " It's cold.!" "Hurry.!" " It's co-o-old.!" "Bernadette, don't you come in that water!" "Remember what maman told you!" " I won't catch cold." " Oh, won't you?" "You'll get a cough... then your asthma will keep me awake all night long." "Maybe I can jump across the rocks or something." "Yes, and tumble in." "And when you fall in and get your bottom wet, don't ask me to wring you out." "But if I dry my feet real well, I won't catch cold." "Oh, we don't need you anyway." "Come on, Marie." "Let's go." "You stay there till we get back." "But three can carry more than two can.!" "But what if she's not there?" "I can't carry this heavy bundle all the way back into town." "Bernadette.!" "Yoo-hoo.!" "See?" "I told you she'd sneak off." "No, no." "She wouldn't do that." "She's here somewhere." "There she is." "Bernadette!" "Bernadette, come on.!" "We've gotta go home.!" "Bernadette, come on, now.!" " What are you doing?" " Bernadette!" "Maybe she's dead." "Holy Mother!" "Maybe her asthma's killed her." "Oh, nonsense." "If she were dead, she'd be lying flat." " Whoever heard of a dead person kneeling?" " Then why doesn't she speak?" "She's trying to be funny." "I'll show her." "Bernadette.!" " What's the matter?" " What's the matter?" " That's what we're asking you!" " I thought your asthma had killed you!" "Don'tjust stand there." "Come on.!" "You know we've got to get home before dark." "I'm coming." "We're not gonna wade through that cold water again." "You go down that side of the river... and we'll meet you at the bridge." "What cheats you two are." "This water is as warm as dishwater." " Bernadette!" " You've got bats in your belfry!" " That water's freezing!" " Well, it isn't now." "Look, my toes are not even white." "What were you doing over there, kneeling in the rocks?" " Didn't you see anyone?" " Who?" "Was somebody with you in that cave?" "Ohh." "Somebody was." "And you were praying for forgiveness." " Jeanne." " Come on." "Tell us who it was." "Well, if I tell you... you must swear not to give me away." "If maman should hear of it, she might take a stick to me." " I swear." " I give you my word, but I won't swear." "Swearing like that is a mortal sin... and you don't want me to sin like that just before my First Communion, do you?" "Aw, come on." "Tell us." "Well..." "I saw a lady... and she was all in white." " A lady?" " And she wore a blue girdle... and had a golden rose on each foot." "I've never seen anything in my life so beautiful." "Oh, piffle." "What would a beautiful lady be doing in a filthy place like that?" "I don't know." "But she was there..." "truly, she was." "Tsk." "Come on." "Let's get away from here." "You take that bundle." "No." "I'll take this one." "It's bigger, and you must be tired." "The girls are not home yet?" "Huh?" "No." "Oh, uh, Madame Millet's coachman was here... said there wouldn't be anymore washing for you to do." "Tsk." "Where is the food going to come from?" "Don't ask me." "I've been laying here worrying about that all afternoon." "Bernadette!" "Where have you been?" " I've been worried to death." " But we got wood, maman." "Three bundles..." "enough for days." "There are other things to be done besides getting wood." "Sweeping and cleaning and water to be fetched." " I'll fetch the water, Maman." " I'm about at the end of my rope." "Bernadette!" "Bernadette!" "Don't run!" " See you at school tomorrow." "Maman, please take this." " Good night, Marie." "Tsk." "She has no business running like that." "She ran all the way home." "I couldn't even catch up to her." "She'll be coughing all night." "Bernadette's all excited... because she says she saw a lady at Massabielle... all dressed in white with golden roses on her feet." " What on earth are you talking about?" " That's what she told us." "Golden roses on her feet." "She said this lady was standing on a rock and smiled at her." "She had a rosary of pearls and a golden crucifix..." "Marie.!" "You told on me." "And you said you wouldn't." "Maman asked me." "What's this foolishness Marie tells me?" "It's true, maman." "In the cave at Massabielle, I saw a most beautiful lady." "A lady?" "What lady?" "I don't know." "Suddenly she was there... and then, suddenly, she disappeared." " Ahh." "Nonsense." " Oh, no, maman." "She was there." "Her face was so beautiful." "Just to look at her made me feel..." "Soubirous, you hear what she says?" "I heard... and I know why she says it too." "She's showing off." "Makes up a story to feel important." "It always starts the same way with fairy tales." "Golden roses on her feet!" "Indeed.!" "No, Papa." "I really and truly saw the Lady." "Truly, I did." "Come in!" "It's for you, dear friend." "For saving my baby today." "Compared to a child's life, it's not much, but we want you to have it." "Oh, no." "No, I can't possibly." "It's the only way we have of repaying you." "Please." "Yes, Louise." "After all, if our friends are good enough to offer... then the least we can do is accept." " But you need the food as much as we do." " No, no." "My aunt came today with much more than this." "We are merely sharing our good fortune with you." "May God bless you both." " Why, this is food enough for days." " Sausages.!" "Just like the kind in the butcher's window!" " What a magnificent omelette those eggs will make." " Ah, Louis!" "Bonsoir, Charles." "Madame, monsieur." "Ah, Louis." "Good to see you." "What brings you here besides a cold rump?" " You heard about Doutreloux?" " The stableman for Cazenave?" "Uh-huh." "A horse kicked him and broke his leg." " The horse broke his leg?" " No, no." "Doutreloux broke his leg..." "three places." " Oh, mercy." "That is bad." " Oh, mercy, that is good." " Oh, shame on you!" " I mean it is bad for Doutreloux... but it's good for your husband." "Cazenave offers you the job." "That's why I'm here." "It pays two francs a day and your lunch." " Soubirous!" " Two francs a day!" " And the lunches are hot." " Papa, can I ride in the coach with you?" "Me first." "I'm older." "Why, you seem surprised." "After all, it was agreed between Cazenave and myself... that I should fill the first vacancy." "But stableman?" "Well, I suppose even a miller can't be too choosy these days." "You may tell Cazenave that I accept." "He knows it." "He wants you be there at 5:00 in the morning." " Tears, maman?" " Only because I am so happy." "I'm happy too." "We must celebrate." " You will all stay to dinner." " Oh, no, no, no." " Nonsense." "You will dine with us!" " But tonight?" "I hadn't planned." "So we change our plan." "We have food." "I have a position." " We accepted your eggs." "Now you must accept our omelette." "I will not hear another word!" "Children, help your mother.!" "A succulent omelette with sausages, maman." "Maman.!" "Maman.!" "Maman.!" "Well, what is it?" " Bernadette." " Speak." "Speak!" " She's dead or something." " What?" "She's all white and sick-looking." "Where is she?" "They're taking her to Madame Nicolau's." "Oh, please." "Please stay outside." "Outside, all of you." " Please leave her in peace." "She's very sick." " It's all right, maman." "She's opening her eyes." " Do you feel better now?" " Yes." "Thank you, madame." " I'll fix you some warm milk." " Thank you very much, but I don't need anything." "What was the matter?" "What happened?" "The Lady was there a long time... and she spoke to me." "She spoke to you?" "What did she say?" "She said..." ""Will you render me the grace of coming here each day for 15 days?"" "And then she added..." ""I cannot promise to make you happy in this world... only in the next."" "So after church we asked Bernadette to come with us... because we wanted to see if we could see the Lady." " Well, did you see her?" " No." "None of us saw her." "But Bernadette said she did." "Please." "Bernadette." " Are you all right?" " Yes, maman." "There's nothing to worry about." "Nothing to worry about?" "Scare me half to death, and you say there's nothing to worry about." "I left your father's dinner to burn." "I ran through the streets like a madwoman." "And what do I find?" "You sitting there like a..." "like a princess on a throne." " You good for n..." " Don't strike the child!" "She's an Angel of God." "Angel?" "She's the laughingstock of Lourdes." "Come, maman." "Maybe we can get home before Papa does." "No." "I won't budge from this place until you promise me never again to go to Massabielle." " Never!" " But, maman, I can't promise that." "The Lady has asked me to return every day for 15 days." "Promise your mother, Bernadette." "Such excitement's bad for you." "You're sure to be sick from it." "Very well." "I promise you, maman, never to go to Massabielle again... unless you, yourself, give me permission." "And that, I can promise you, you'll never get!" "I'm going to send you to your Aunt Bernarde in Bartres... where you'll forget this foolishness." "Now, home with you." "And you too!" "Thank you for your kindness, Madame Nicolau." "And thank you too, monsieur." "What do you think of it all, maman?" "Things like that bode no good." "Maman, as long as I live, I'll never see anything more beautiful... than the face of that girl as she lay there at Massabielle." "One ought not even touch a being like that." "Maman." "Maman." " Hmm?" "What is it?" " Bernadette's crying." "What's the matter, my love?" "Come to Mother." "We'll sit by the fire." "Oh, maman, the Lady was so beautiful." " Just to think of her makes me feel..." " There, there, there." "Girls of your age often see things that don't exist." "But it passes." "You must just put it out of your mind." "You're a big girl now." "Soon you'll be a woman." "You'll marry a man and you'll have children... just as I did." "Life goes fast... my child." "It's hard to believe how fast." "If she stays here, I fear for her health." "She speaks to no one." "She doesn't sleep." "She doesn't eat enough to keep a bird alive." "Bernarde, couldn't you take her to live with you?" "To walk down the the street and have everybody point you out as the father of that idiot..." " I'm a respectable miller!" " You are also the girl's father." "And you seem to overlook the fact that you are her mother." "The two people in the world who should be comforting and understanding... and you want to ship her off as if she were a sack of flour." " I'm thinking only..." " Only of yourself." "Bernadette is a simple, honest child." "She hasn't the cunning to invent anything like this." "She sees this lady." "Nobody else does." "Who are you to say that she is wrong and you are right?" "This lady may well be a heavenly creature." "Ahh." "Heavenly creatures don't appear in a filthy place like a city dump." "Christ was born in a stable." "This is a wild story Bernadette tells." "But since the Lady has asked her to go to the grotto for 15 days, she must go." " Oh, I won't allow her to go again." " You will go with her." "You can't hide your head in the sand... and act as if your daughter were up to some harmless mischief that doesn't concern you." "This is no joke." "Consider what this means to Bernadette." " But what will people say?" " Nothing... if you take your place by her side." "All the women of the family must stand by her." "I'll come." "And when I walk with her, let anyone dare to laugh." "The matter has been put before the council and approved." "So, therefore, fully convinced that your request is justified..." "I am forwarding your plan, as well as my recommendation..." " to the... to the Minister of the Interior." " Commissioner." "Signed Baron Massy, Prefect." "So you see, gentlemen, the ceaseless protestations of your mayor have borne fruit." "The highest authorities are contemplating bringing the railroad to Lourdes." " Splendid." " Magnificent." " Commissioner." "That Soubirous girl went to Massabielle again." " What is it?" " What should I do?" " I thought her mother had forbidden it?" "Well, today her mother went with her." "To think that such a thing could happen in the middle of the 19th century." " Oh, the girl's insane." " Or suffering from hallucinations." "Your Honor, may I suggest that you act without delay." "But, monsieur, for the mayor ever to acknowledge the existence of such a situation... would serve only to give it importance... an importance which the newspapers would not ignore." "It's clearly a matter for the imperial prosecutor." "No." "Unfortunately, the state has no charges to prefer." "It's up to the commissioner of police." "No one has broken any law." "It's the duty of the district officer." "Massabielle's in your district, isn't it?" " Yes, Commissioner." " Then take care of it." "L..." "I ran ahead to tell you I'm not alone today." "I hope you won't mind." "Maman, Aunt Bernarde and my sister are with me." "And some other people followed us." "I'm sorry, but maman wouldn't let me come by myself." "I desire that people should come here." "Where is she?" " Is she here?" " Oh, yes." "She's standing there in the niche." "She's greeting you now." "See?" "Clear out down there!" "All of you return to your homes immediately!" "Did you hear me?" "I said, "Clear out.!"" "This is hopeless." "It's more than one policeman can handle." "It's a scandal." "It cries to heaven." "Imagine these penny-a-liners having the audacity to print such a thing." "All France will be laughing at us." "And Lourdes was going to have a railroad connection." "I'd even gone so far as to have the plans drawn up for the depot." "Do you think they'll be granted to us now?" "Never." "Who's going to run a railroad... into a hole where spooks perform their medieval antics in dirty cabins?" "We are dealing with a whole lot more... than the mere babbling of a little swindler or an imbecile." "The entire future of this town is at stake!" "Something must be done to stop this nonsense immediately." " How?" " How?" "Well, that's up to you and the prosecutor." "As much as I'd like to put an end to this stupidity, I am helpless." "The child goes peacefully to the outskirts of the city." "There she kneels, says her rosary and goes home again." "Now, tell me, is there anything unlawful in that?" "Yes, on the ground that it's, uh... insulting to religious sensibilities." "Really?" "You can hardly call seeing the Blessed Virgin in a veritable cesspool... complimentary to the Holy Family." "But that's just the point." "She hasn't claimed to see the Blessed Virgin." " The crowd claims that." " She says she sees a lady... a beautiful lady." "And the visioning of a beautiful lady... can hardly be construed as a violation of the criminal code." "It better not be, or else the entire male population of France... will be spending most of its time behind bars." "This is hardly the moment for levity." "Yes, yes, yes." "What is it?" "What is it?" "Pardon me, sir, but Dr. Dozous is here to see you." " Ask the doctor to wait." " Just a moment." "Dr. Dozous might be very helpful to us." "Let's not overlook the vast possibilities offered by a diagnosis of insanity." "Yes." " Ask the doctor to come in." " Yes, sir." " Will you please come in, Doctor?" " Thank you." " Doctor." " Bonjour, monsieur." " Bonjour." " Ah, Doctor." "I'm, uh..." "I'm sorry to interrupt, gentlemen... but I've made several visits to Massabielle for the purpose of observation." "Today I examined the girl." "I thought you gentlemen might be interested in my report." " Yes." "Yes, of course." "Won't you sit down, Doctor?" " Splendid." "What did you find?" "Well, I arrived at the grotto simultaneously with the crowd." "Immediately, the Soubirous girl knelt in front of a niche in the side of the cliff... made a series of courteous, graceful, reverential gestures." " Did you see anything in this niche?" " No." " Did anybody else?" " N-No." "Well, then didn't the crowd laugh at her?" "No." "There was something about her that precluded laughter." "Her exaltation... was so genuine... that the observer almost had the impression... that he saw what the child saw." "Then as we continued to gaze at her... her face turned as pale as white marble... and her skin grew so taut... that the structure of the skull appeared clearly marked at the temples." "Considering the possibility... that this was due to cerebral anemia, I took her pulse." "It was practically average." "Also, there was no affection of the nervous system... as in catalepsy or hysteria." "Even her eye reflexes were normal." "Did she speak to this thing in the niche?" "Standing close beside her..." "I heard twice in succession... a long, drawn-out..." ""Yes." "Yes, "" "wrung from her very depths." "Evidently, she'd been asked to convey a message... because shortly after she turned to the crowd and said..." ""Pray for all sinners."" "Anyone who talks to something that isn't there is feebleminded." "Another medical possibility which I took into consideration." "Wanting to test her mental abilities, I put this question to her:" ""Do you know what a sinner is?"" "Without hesitation, she answered, "Certainly, monsieur." "A sinner is one who loves evil."" "That's quite a good answer." "What pleased me was that she said "loves" and not "does."" "Well, after this, any diagnosis of feeblemindedness was out of the question." "Then she's a swindler." "There's not the slightest justification for such an assumption." "Then I must presume, Doctor, that you havejoined the ranks of the believers... in this, uh, vision." "I am a doctor." "I contribute to the Medical Courrier." "I'm a member of..." "several scientific societies." "I trust that is answer enough." "If I have correctly understood your report, Doctor, it is this:" "Science excludes fraud." "It excludes mental disease and a miraculous occurrence." "I venture then to ask science, what is left?" "Yes." "What is left?" "If the Church stops it, the people cannot blame us." "Precisely." "We can sit back and sympathize with both sides." "A very wise attitude for any government." " Is the dean at home?" " Yes, monsieur." " Ah." "Good morning, gentlemen." " Ah." "Good morning, Father." "Good morning." "Come in." " Take off your coats." " Thank you." "I presume the Soubirous girl is what brings you here." " Yes." " I want you to know... that the Church attributes no religious significance whatsoever... to the so-called visions of Massabielle." " Sit down." " I'm very glad to hear that, Father." " Then you will talk to this girl and you..." " No." "It does not concern me." "That is a matter for you city officials." "We had hoped you would cooperate with us." "That I am doing." "Sit down." "I have instructed the cantonal clergy not to set foot in the grotto... and to ignore the whole matter." "But Your Reverence has enormous power over the people here." "Wouldn't it be appropriate for you to raise your voice?" "I have no intention of adding further importance to this turmoil." "Then you force the state to invoke the law... which prohibits the Church from opening any new place of worship... without the formal consent of the minister of worship." "The Church has not opened any new place of worship." "The Church neither sponsors nor recognizes... these daily heathen gymnastics which take place at Massabielle." "But how can you stand by... and see your parishioners carry on these... these pagan ceremonies?" "I understand that they use a kitchen table as an altar." "And there they pray." "Yes, on a spot littered with filth, they pray to God." "Prayer, gentlemen, is good no matter where it is offered." "Yes, yes." "Well, shall we be going?" " Thank you, Father." " Sure." " Have a pleasant good morning, gentlemen." " Good morning, Father." "Good morning." "That sly old fox." "By agreeing with us... he's dumped the entire problem right back in our laps." "Unfortunately, the followers of the girl... are citizens of this community." "The thought of offending them is not very pleasant." " Especially with the election coming up." " Well, then why offend them?" "Why not refer the matter to higher authorities?" "A very good suggestion, monsieur." "I'll write to the prefect immediately." ""I consider it purely a local problem..." ""to be solved by local authorities..." ""and I do not wish to be involved in any way whatsoever." ""Settle it without delay." ""The method I leave entirely in the capable hands... of you and your associates."" "Signed, Baron Massy, Prefect." "There he sits, like a general... safely out of the range of fire... and orders a handful of men without any weapons... to wipe out an impregnable fortress." ""Our capable hands."" "They're only capable when there's a ticklish job to be done." "To think that one stupid girl could cause all this trouble!" "Only because there are millions of others just as stupid as she is." "What can you expect from a peasantry fed on religious dogmas... and nurtured on superstitious nonsense?" "I firmly believe that this girl and what she stands for is a menace to civilization." "The girl is dangerous, I admit, but..." "She's a religious fanatic... and every time religious fanaticism steps forward... mankind moves backward." "And that is why I will fight this vigorously... and I'll resort to any measures to defeat it." "I don't know much about higher politics... but I do know a lot about burglars and thieves and scamps of all kinds." "I know how to scare them and apply pressure." "I promise you that if you give me five minutes with this girl... she'll never go near the grotto again." "Try it, by all means!" "Try anything!" "I was thinking of somewhat the same procedure." "However, not quite so crude." "There's something about the title "Imperial Prosecutor"... that makes people quake." "Without so much as raising my voice..." " I am confiden..." " You can't handle people like this... with silk gloves and fancy words." "We shall see." "Send for two of your policemen." " Just the one." " Bernadette." "You stay here, Marie, and wait for maman to come home." "Don't worry her." "Just tell her I've gone to city hall with these gentlemen." "What are you arresting her for?" " Don't interfere with the law." " The law?" " That to the law!" "That for you too!" " Bah!" " Madame Davan!" "Madame Davan!" " Madame Davan!" "They're arresting Bernadette!" "Madame Probert!" "Madame Probert!" "Look what those pigs are doing!" " Do you know who I am?" " Oh, yes, monsieur." "You're the imperial prosecutor." "And that title means that I have been appointed by His Majesty the emperor." "He has vested in me the power to punish... anyone who perpetrates a fraud against this community." "Now do you understand my position?" "Oh, yes." "You're much the same as MonsieurJacomet." "A good deal more." "I am his superior officer." "He hunts down the criminals and swindlers." "I send them to prison." " Oh." " Now, bearing in mind my title... and realizing the extent of my authority..." "I ask you never again to go to Massabielle." "Oh, but I must, monsieur." "The Lady has asked me." "Now there you go again with this "lady."" "Bernadette, you'll admit you are very ignorant... the worst pupil in the whole school?" "That is true, monsieur." "I'm very stupid." "Then you should take heed when intelligent people assure you... that this lady is only a childish bit of imagination, an absurd dream." "The first time I saw the Lady, I thought it was a dream too." "There now." "Now that wasn't so stupid." "Once you can mistake a dream for something real... but not six times." "Isn't it strange that until your first visit to Massabielle, your family was destitute?" "Now your mother is employed by a wealthy family, and your father has a steady job." "And your followers have showered your household with clothing and foodstuffs.!" "If the court were to decide that your lady represents a profitable business scheme... it would go very hard with you." "I have not accepted one thing, monsieur, because I knew the Lady would not like it." "Look, my child, I am trying to help you." "He's using the wrong technique." "He'll get nowhere." "I am not asking you to retract anything." "I merely want you to promise me that you will accept my counsel." " If I can, monsieur, I will." " Good." "Now." "Put your hand in mine... and promise me that you will not go to the grotto again." "That I cannot promise, monsieur." "Let me remind you that I am the imperial prosecutor." "I know, monsieur." "You told me that before." "Now listen, carefully, Bernadette." "In the next room is Jacomet." "He is cruel and mean." "Furthermore, he believes that everyone should be treated like a criminal." "If you refuse me, I will be forced to turn you over to him." "I can promise you it will be horrible." "He will have you cringing and crying in no time." "But I can spare you all this if you will only be reasonable." "Well, what is your answer?" "It is the same, monsieur." "I must keep my promise to the Lady." "Very well!" "I'm finished with you." "If you're intent upon your own destruction, go." "Yes, monsieur." "What's your name?" "But you know my name, monsieur." " What's your name!" " Soubirous, Bernadette." "Before I go further..." "I want you to know I will write down everything you say." "Such a paper is known as a deposition." "It will be sent to the imperial prefect at Tarbes." "Besides, we also have Monsieur Estrade for a witness." "You be very careful what you say." "Now, about this lady you claim to see." "Do you know who she is?" "No, monsieur, I don't." "What does she wear?" "A white veil with a blue girdle." "And there's a rose on each foot." "Hmm." "She stands quite still like a statue in church?" "Oh, no!" "She's ever so natural." "She moves about and talks to me." "She greets the people, and even laughs." "Hmm." "Do your parents believe this story of yours?" "No, monsieur." "I don't think they do." "And yet you expect me to believe when your own parents don't?" "If your lady were real, wouldn't other people see her too?" "I don't see why they can't." "She's there." "Now pay attention." "I'm going to read your answers back to you... so you can confirm their correctness." ""Bernadette Soubirous declares the Lady wears a blue veil and white girdle."" "No, a white veil and a blue girdle." "You're contradicting yourself!" "You said a white girdle!" "You must've made a mistake in writing it down, monsieur." ""Bernadette Soubirous declares the Lady resembles... the statue of the Blessed Virgin in the parish church."" "No, that's not true." "The Lady has nothing to do with the Blessed Virgin in the Church." "That's enough." "Nothing but a complete confession can save you now." "Tell me the names of all persons who are in league with you." "And don't try to lie, because I know every one of them." "I don't understand what you're saying, monsieur." "I'll tell you." "Certain persons have put you up to circulating this disgusting story." "They've trained you, stupid as you are, to reel off by rote exactly what they taught you." "Now tell me..." "Who are these people?" "But you said a moment ago, monsieur, you knew them." "The police are outside, waiting my orders to take you to jail." "But if you promise before this witness that you will never set foot in Massabielle again..." "No." "I must keep my promise to the Lady." "You want me to call the police?" "If the police take me, I can't help it." "And that's not all." "I'll have your mother and father thrown into jail too." "The rest of your family will starve." "Come in!" "What the devil do you want?" "My child." "That's all I want." "My child." "Listen, Soubirous, this business at the grotto has got to stop." "I won't stand it any longer." "So help me God, Commissioner, that's all I want too." "It's destroying my family." "The girl's a minor." "You're responsible for her." "Forbid her to go out except to school." "Lock her up at home if you have to... because if you don't, I'll lock up the whole bunch of you." "Now, get out!" "God help you if I have to summon you again." "Well, monsieur, what do you think of it?" "I think you were extremely fortunate... in having the father break in just when he did." "The fact that the authorities have prevented her going from Massabielle... has served to make her seem more important in the eyes of her schoolmates." " That is most unfortunate." " The children gather and whisper about nothing else." "I'd hoped, with your permission, to talk to them and..." "No." "The Bishop ofTarbes has forbidden us even to recognize the situation." "And he's right in doing so." "Do you remember that girl in Avignon?" "Rose Tamessiet?" "She claimed to have seen the Most Blessed Virgin also." "The Vicar General of that diocese was patient and understanding." "Consequently, the people mistook his attitude for approbation." "Then later, when the child was exposed as a fraud... the Church was looked upon as her partner in crime." "Immediately, atheism flared up, and the anticlerical forces triumphed." "That is not going to happen here." "What I had in mind, Father, could hardly be construed as approbation." "I had planned to make an example of this child in front of the class." " Ridicule?" " Yes, Father." "You have my permission to try it." "Good day, Sister." "Good day, Father." "Thank you." "She can't go on like this." "Night after night." "My poor little one." "What have they done to you?" "Speak to me." "If I can't go see her anymore, I shall die." "You shall see her." "I don't care what Sister Vauzous says." "You'll go again to Massabielle, and no one will prevent you." "If they lock me up, well, let 'em." "But you shall see her." "I hope Baron Massy subscribes to this paper." "Sounds a little different from the last editorial, doesn't it?" "Listen to this." ""The officials at Lourdes... are to be highly commended for stamping out these disgusting spectacles."" " But I have a feeling they will return to criticism again tomorrow." " What makes you think that?" "Because I am a man of greater vision than you, Monsieur Le Mayor." "Especially when I sit in this particular chair." "I told them, if they did this again..." "I'd put every one of them in jail." "Careful, Commissioner." "If you do that, I'll have to release them in ten minutes." " Then we would look foolish, wouldn't we?" " There must be some law to stop them." " Commissioner..." " I know." "They're going to Massabielle." "You don't have to tell me." "I've got eyes." "I can see." " No, they're not going to Massabielle." " They're not?" "They've already been." "They were there at 5:00 this morning." "They're on their way now to the dean." "The dean?" "Yes." "The girl said the Lady gave her a message for him." "Well, it seems the gods have finally sided with us." "Gentlemen, maybe now the Church will be forced to take a stand whether it wants to or not." " Excuse me, Your Reverence." " What do you want?" "Who are you?" " Bernadette Soubirous." " Oh." "So you're the urchin every idiot in France is talking about." "Do your courtiers and servants always follow you?" "If any of that crowd dare to enter my garden, I'll have them arrested." "Well, speak." "What do you want of me?" " The Lady told me..." " What lady?" "The Lady in Massabielle." " Don't know her." " She's a beautiful lady who always comes to me." " Is she from Lourdes?" " No, Your Reverence." " Have you asked her name?" " Yes, but she gives no answer." " Perhaps the lady is deaf and dumb." " Oh, no, she speaks to me." "What does she say?" "Just now the Lady said, "Please go to the priests... and tell them a chapel is to be built here."" "Priests?" "What does that mean?" "It appears your lady is a confirmed heathen." "The very cannibals have priests." "We Catholics have religious, each bearing a specific title." "But the Lady did say priests." "Well, you've come to the wrong place anyhow." " Have you any money with which to build a chapel?" " No, I have no money at all." "Then you go back and tell your lady if she wants a chapel, she'll have to provide the money." " Yes, Your Reverence." " And you can also tell her, the Dean of Lourdes... doesn't consider it very fitting for a lady to climb barefoot on rocks... and to send gibbering adolescents with messages." "And what's more, once and for all, he demands she leave him in peace." " Do you understand?" " Yes, Your Reverence." "I'll tell her..." "Just one moment." " Do you see this broom?" " Yes, Your Reverence." "Then listen carefully." "If you dare to annoy me ever again..." "I'll take this broom, and with my own hands, I'll..." "Come in." "I forgot something, Your Reverence." "The Lady also said, "Let processions come hither."" "Processions, eh?" "And do you think tomorrow would be soon enough for your lady?" "Oh, yes, I'm sure she would be delighted!" " Now that I've given you the messages, I'll..." " One moment." "I'll decide when you're to go." "Close the door." "I want you to convey a message to your lady for me." "Yes, Your Reverence." "You find her quite extraordinary, don't you?" "Oh, yes, Your Reverence!" "Good." "We shall find how extraordinary she is." "I have heard that there is a wild rosebush growing in the grotto." "Is that true?" "Oh, yes." "Right under the niche where the Lady always stands." "Splendid." "I want you to tell the lady this." "The Dean of Lourdes would like her to perform a little miracle." "He would like her to make the wild rosebush bloom... now, this last week in February." " Do you understand?" " Yes, Your Reverence." "Then repeat what I said." "The Dean of Lourdes would like the Lady to perform a little miracle." "To make the wild rosebush bloom... now, this last week in February." "Is that correct?" "Yes." "I'll tell the Lady." "Good day, Your Reverence." "Squad, halt!" "Well, gentlemen, I'm off to see the miracle." "Bring me back a dozen roses, will you please?" "I rather think I'll bring you back 100 dozen disillusioned people." "The dean set no definite time." "Why do you assume that today's the day?" "We don't." "Her followers did that." " It should be on Thursday, they said." " Why Thursday?" "Because someone who had nothing better to do figured out... that she first saw the Lady on a Thursday, the Lady returned to her on a Thursday... so naturally the buds shall burst on a Thursday." "Buds or no buds, you will never destroy that girl's faith." "Can you say the same of the crowd?" " Wouldn't we be surprised if the bush did bloom today!" "Don't underestimate the Dean of Lourdes." "Who is the best authority on roses in this district?" "Peyramale." "The weather too for that matter." "You mean you think the dean..." "I merely think it is singularly strange that Peyramale, of all people... picks a rose bush, of all things, to demonstrate a miracle." "Why didn't he ask the Lady to make the rock into a white horse... or change the river water into wine?" "Anything yet?" " No." " Then nothing will happen." " Shh!" " Quiet." "Keep still." "It's no use, I tell you." "The bush will not bloom." "Shh, will you keep quiet?" " All right." "But you will see." "Life is not like that." "I don't see something." "Do you?" "#Santa Maria #" "#Mater dei #" "Go to the spring, drink of the water and wash there." "No, not the river." "Not the river?" "The spring yonder." " Eat of the plants." " Eat of the plants." " What's she doing now?" " Shh." "Drink of the spring, and wash there." "The spring?" "Drink of the water, and wash myself?" "What is she looking for?" "She uses her nose like a pig." "Yes!" "And she roots up the ground." " Come, darling." " No, I must wash myself in the spring." "There's no spring here, Bernadette." "There is!" "There is!" "The Lady said so." " Citizens!" " Shh." "At last you've seen with your own eyes what we officials have known all along." "That this story of the Blessed Virgin was born in a sick and warped mind." "You've been duped by an idiot." "I beg of you." "Go back to your homes and never return here again." "Fall in.!" "Don't be sad, Antoine." "I told you not to hope too much." "I knew it would not bloom." "You must learn to expect nothing from God." "And when you get nothing, you will not be disappointed." "Keep still." "Go away and let me alone." "From the time we are knee-high, they tell us the Blessed Virgin is loving and good." "Was she good to that girl just now?" "Was she good to me?" "Me, Bouriette, the finest stone-carver in Lourdes!" "I'll never forget that day." "I was carving a statue for the Church." "A chip of marble flew off my chisel and hit me in the eye." "And as quick as that, I was no longer a stonecutter." "And that's how the Blessed Virgin repaid me..." "by throwing a stone in my eye." "Ever since, it's been like looking through a bowl of milk." "Bouriette." "Bouriette!" " What is it, Antoine?" " Come here.!" "Look!" "Bernadette told them there was a spring, and they called her insane." "Look at it, Bouriette!" "Look at it!" " Tell the others." "Hurry!" " Bouhouhorts!" "La Grange!" "Bouhouhorts!" "La Grange!" "Come back!" "Look!" "#Santa Maria #" "#Mater dei ##" "Dr. Dozous!" "Where is the doctor?" "Dr. Dozous." "Dr. Dozous, my eye." "I can see!" "I put mud on them from the grotto, and now I can see." "It's a miracle." " Don't be in such a hurry with your miracles." " It's a miracle." "Tomorrow at 2:00, Madame Blanche." "Come here." " Sit down." " Yes, sir." "Fix your eye on the ceiling and look straight ahead." " All I did was put mud on them from the grotto." " Be quiet." " Then I said a prayer." "Now I can see." " Quiet." " It's a miracle, Doctor." "It's a miracle!" " Be still." "There's no improvement in this eye, Bouriette." "Four scars on the cornea." " Same as it was six months ago." " But I can see!" "It's like sheet lightning." "Excuse me." "Doctor, everything is bright." "What you've done is pressed against the eyeball so hard... you've irritated the optic nerve." "For a time, things will seem bright, but that'll pass." " Take a look at that chart." " Yes." " Can you read it with your left eye?" " No, Doctor, I can't." " How 'bout the right?" " No, no, I can't." " How 'bout both eyes?" " No good, Doctor." " There you are." " But, Doctor, I never knew how to read." "But I can see!" "I can see you, Doctor!" "I can see everything!" "It's a miracle." " Come back tomorrow when you're calmer, Bouriette." " All right, but it's a miracle!" "It's a miracle!" "It's a miracle!" "I understand it all now." "Ever since that piece of marble flew in my eye... she's been trying to find a way to make it up to me." "And at last she did." " Mortar." " You can see better now, Bouriette?" "I see everything!" " There's no hope." " No." "No." "Charles, get Louise Soubirous." "She has always saved him before." " She's not at home." "I can't find her." " It's too late." "It's better so." "You don't want your child to drag himself through life a hopeless cripple, do you?" "I want my child to live!" "No." "No!" "Croisine." "Croisine!" "Croisine, come back!" " Somebody's coming." " Who is it?" "Where?" "I don't see anything." "Croisine." "Croisine, please." " Croisine, be sensible." " Let me be." "Are you mad?" "Take him, Oh Lord, or give him back to me." "Well, Doctor?" "There can be no question of innervation." "I can find no reason to doubt the presence of muscular substance." "What does that mean, Doctor?" "That means that yesterday the baby's legs were completely paralyzed." "And today, they're as sound as yours." "I'm sure you can understand now my anxiety... for confirmation of my findings." "You're positive there's not a possibility of error in your previous diagnosis?" ""August 25." ""High temperature, violent convulsions... complete paralysis of the legs."" " Couldn't we assume a mere atrophy due to rickets?" " I couldn't." "Then the water at Massabielle must contain... an unknown and powerful therapeutic substance." "At any rate, I must report on this case to the medical journals." "Mmm, I'd hesitate to do that." "It might make you an object of ridicule." "It won't be an easy thing to write." "I'm not accustomed to believing things I can't see." "What about you, Father?" "You've been very silent." "What do you make of all this?" "Unlike a doctor... a religious must believe a great many things he cannot see." "Sometimes, I confess, it's extremely difficult." "Last night when I came here, it was very dark." "It's much lighter now." "Good morning, gentlemen." "And no longer are his legs like dishrags." "Now they're firm and strong." "And without Bernadette, it couldn't have been!" " Let me say a prayer by her bedside." " Heavenly Father, no!" "Save your prayers for mass." "Now go home to your wife." "Tonight you will all have dinner with us." "We will have an omelette ten-feet wide!" "Good morning, maman.!" "Good morning, Papa." "Morning, Bernadette." "Good morning, Bernadette." "Then she held him in that ice-cold water... and all of a sudden, the baby began to cry." "Not a weak, sickly cry, but a healthy one." "And both doctors agree a great change took place." "They confess they can't understand it." "It's left them wondering." "What do you think of it, Father?" "I too am wondering." "Do you know, the baby was never strong enough to cry before." "Then on the way home, the child went to sleep in his mother's arms." "When he woke up, he was smiling and hungry." "He was moving his legs." "Almost since he was born, his legs were as if they had no muscles." " Oh." " This is awful." "Yes, Commissioner." "At sunrise, that whole hillside will look like a sugar loaf crawling with ants." " It won't be so bad after tomorrow." " Why?" "The Lady only asked her to come for 15 times." "Tomorrow makes 15." "This is no longer a curiosity." "It's a disease!" "This crowd will come if she's here or not." " Where do you think you are going?" " No place, monsieur." " What have you got in that basket?" " My wife is very sick." " You've got your wife in the basket?" " No, monsieur, I..." "I thought maybe I could sell some hot chestnuts and wine." "There you are!" "Now it's started." "Pretty soon they'll be selling sausages." "You want sausage?" "I've got sausage too." "Go." "Go on." "Move." "#Santa Maria #" "#Mater dei #" "#Santa Maria #" "#Mater dei ##" "Who is this Lady?" "She must have a name." "Didn't you ask her her name?" " I've told you to time and time again." " Now it's too late." "I did ask her today." " Well?" " What she said I didn't understand." " Speak." "What was it?" " You haven't forgotten?" "No, I repeated it many times, so I wouldn't forget." "She said, "I am the Immaculate Conception."" "Immaculate Conception?" "Immaculate Conception." "Do you know what it means, "I am the Immaculate Conception"?" "Don't be afraid, my child." "I sent for you to help you, not to scold you." "Well?" "No, Your Reverence." "I do not know what it means." "Do you know the meaning of the word "immaculate"?" "Yes, I know that." "An immaculate thing is clean." "Good." "And "conception"?" "Well, we'll leave that for the moment." "Do you know what we mean when we speak of the Original Sin?" "Yes." "The Original Sin was committed by Adam and Eve... when they did not remain faithful to God, but broke His command." "Father Pomian taught you that, didn't he?" "Now, think hard." "Didn't he also speak of the Immaculate Conception?" "No, Father, I never mentioned that dogma." "It doesn't belong to the pedagogic material of the elementary class." " Perhaps Sister Vauzous discussed it." " I'm sure she didn't." "You must've heard the expression somewhere." "Now try to remember." "Maybe I've heard about it... but I don't remember." "Very well." "I'll try to explain it." "The Most Blessed Virgin Mary... was preserved free from all stain of Original Sin." "Even from the first instant of her presence in her mother's womb." "God did this for her because she was to be the mother ofJesus Christ... the most singular privilege of grace." "Do you understand that, Bernadette?" "No, Your Reverence." "Why should you?" "Great scholars have wracked their brains about it for centuries." "But perhaps you can grasp this one thing." "If the Most Blessed Virgin were to speak... she could not say of herself, "I am the Immaculate Conception."" "All she could say would be, "I am the fruit of the Immaculate Conception."" "Birth and conception are events... but a person is not an event." "You can't say, "I am conception." "I am birth."" "Consequently, your lady is guilty of an inexcusable blunder." "You must admit that." "So next time I see her, I will tell her, Your Reverence." " Excuse me, Father." "I promised to look in on Madame Cenac." " Certainly." " Good-bye, Bernadette." " Good-bye, Father Pomian." "What am I to do with you, Bernadette?" "Your eyes seem honest, your words sincere." "Yet I cannot believe you." "Today less than ever." "As your confessor, I beseech you, renounce this falsehood." "Confess that your mother or your father or your aunt or someone... suggested that phrase that you might become important in men's eyes." "But I can't confess that." "It isn't true." "No one suggested anything to me." "Have you ever thought about your life?" "What your future would be like?" "Like the future of all the girls hereabout." "After First Communion, girls may indulge in proper pleasures." "They go to dances, to festivals, meet young men." "And after a time, to please God... they marry and have children." "Wouldn't you like to be such a girl?" "Oh, yes!" "I'd like to go to dances, have a husband someday." "Then wake up!" "Now!" "Otherwise life is at an end for you." "You are playing with fire, Bernadette." " Commissioner, that spring at the grotto..." " Yeah?" "The people are drinking quite a bit of that water, aren't they?" "By the bucketful." "What they don't drink, they carry away in pots and pans and bottles." "Well, they're still at it." "You thought it was bad before, you ought to take a look at it now." "Sick, lame, canes, crutches." "Some even look like lepers." "Listen to this, Commissioner." ""December 22, 1789." ""All waters contained in springs, wells, streams, rivers..." ""or any other source whatsoever, shall not be consumed by anyone whosoever... until the aforementioned waters have been thoroughly analyzed by a registered chemist."" "That's perfect!" "You know, I had a feeling that somewhere in all these books..." "I'd find one old law that would suit our purpose." "Shall I send my men out to close the grotto now?" "Not so fast, Commissioner." "First we'll take this to the mayor." "And he will issue a proclamation." "Come in." "Ah, come in, gentlemen.!" "Thank you." "I have good news." "The holocaust will spread no more." " I have found a way to stop it." " Our troubles are over." "And ironically enough, it's the waters of Massabielle that will quench this fire." "It's an old law. 1789." "Look there." "Read it." ""In the interest of public health..."" "Of course, with such an important analysis... we'll have to have the opinions of many chemists." "And that might take months and months and months." "I wonder..." "I wonder if we're not being a little too hasty in this." "Perhaps we're shortsighted... in dismissing the possibility of divine power in regard to Massabielle." "For after all, I'm sure that you gentlemen as well as I... do not want to oppose the will of God." "Your sudden religious fervor is most touching, Your Honor." "Could it be prompted by the fact that the devout masses... have brought with them a wave of prosperity to Lourdes?" "Monsieur!" "But now that you mention it, we shouldn't overlook that either." "Our hotels are filled, our cafes are crowded... and our shopkeepers have never known such business." "And the railroad is sure to take advantage of this influx of visitors to Lourdes... and extend its line here." "Yes, yes." "And in that case we shall need more hotels." "But aside from all that..." "I'm thinking mainly of the thousands of pilgrims... who come here daily with hope in their hearts." "If they derive any benefit from the water at Massabielle... who are we to deprive them of it?" "Then too, think of the vast number who cannot come to Lourdes." "For them, we could bottle the miraculous water... and it could be sold, at a nominal fee, all over the world!" "Your Honor, will you dictate the proclamation to close the grotto... or would you rather that I contact Baron Massy... and ask for permission to do it myself?" "Very well, I'll do it." "But I think you gentlemen are making a big mistake." "Why not think it over for a time?" "Courreges, take a proclamation." "Oh, come in, Commissioner." "Any trouble?" "Oh, no." "We finally wiped out this epidemic." "No, Commissioner." "To wipe out an epidemic you must eliminate the cause." "I'll have the grotto patrolled night and day." "Nothing can happen now." "Perhaps nothing can happen at the grotto." "However since the Lady is merely a figment of Bernadette's imagination... she can see her anyplace... beside the river, in the hovel where she lives... or if she wishes, on the very steps of the city hall." " What?" " The next fence we build must be around her imagination." "Have you ever heard of Dr. DeBoe?" " Yes!" " I've just written him asking him to come to Lourdes for a few days." "Just a moment." "Come along." "The imperial prosecutor wants to see you." " You can't take her!" "She's done nothing!" " Come on." "I'll go, maman." "Don't worry." "It won't be long." "Why must you keep plaguing her?" "She's tired and ill!" " Leave her alone!" " Please!" "I never felt that Dr. Dozous's examination of the girl was extensive enough." "Well, after all, Dr. Dozous is a general practitioner." "The advances in psychiatry have been so rapid... that only a specialist could hope to keep up with them." "Oh, do you think the girl is insane, monsieur?" "My dear Doctor, I am a great respecter of medical science." "Therefore I think that as a layman, I am not qualified to have an opinion." "However, I do think that the bare facts of the case... should be permitted to speak for themselves." "Day after day, she stood before a hole in a rock... and conversed with the Blessed Virgin." "Such delusions are a usual symptom of paranoia." "I have many paranoiacs in my clinic who claim visions... oftentimes followed by a tendency towards violence." "Has this girl been allowed to come and go as she pleases?" "Well, I had planned to put her under restraint... but of course Dr. Dozous's favorable diagnosis made that impossible." "Tiens.!" "I trust that your examination, Doctor, will not be a cursory one." "I can assure you, it will be most extensive." "It may even be necessary to place the child in an institution under observation." "And unfortunately, with paranoiacs, observation sometimes takes a long time." "After all, a psychiatrist is not an orthopedic surgeon... who can set a broken bone on the spot." "Yes, yes, I understand." "Come in." "Eyes closed." "Now the other foot." "Why are you so unsteady?" "Because I'm very tired, monsieur." "All right." "You may sit down now." " How many hours in the day?" " Twenty-four." " How many days in the week?" " Seven." "How much is seven times five?" "Thirty-five." "How much is 17 times 18?" "I do not know, monsieur." "Very well." "Would you know the answer, monsieur, if you hadn't figured it out before?" "Hmm?" "Not so fast, young lady." "Don't bother." "She'll go directly home." "We can take her from there." "Here we are, Doctor." "Father Peyramale." "Have I the honor of addressing the Dean of Lourdes?" "You have that honor." "How can I serve you?" "Hadn't we better go elsewhere and discuss this matter?" "It is you gentlemen who have chosen this place of action, not I. What do you want here?" "I'm here on behalf of the Medical Department of the Provincial Administration." "There are evidences of definite anomalies in this girl, Bernadette... and I wish to place her under observation." "I'm a professor of psychiatry and neurology at the clinic ofTarbes." "If the girl does not willingly submit to this examination... we will be placed in the unfortunate position of being forced... to invoke the law of 1838." "This is the most shameless piece of hypocrisy I have ever encountered." "I warn you." "I shall expose this hypocrisy." "And I shall raise such a voice throughout all France... the reverberations will send petty politicians toppling from their seats." "Come here, Bernadette." "I know this child." "So does the imperial prosecutor." "She is neither a maniac nor a menace to her fellowmen." "If you still intend to take her, gentlemen, well and good." "But rest assured, I shall not stir from this girl's side." "Now, call the police." "And when the police do come, what then?" "When they come, I shall say to them..." ""Load well your guns, for your path lies over my dead body."" "Well?" " I'm sorry." " Come, Bernadette." "Mother Superior has asked me to watch over you." "I'm sorry to have caused you this trouble." "I welcome the opportunity of talking to you before I leave Lourdes." " You're leaving?" " Tomorrow." "I've been recalled to the Mother House of our Lord of Nevers." "The Dean of Lourdes is on his way to speak to the Bishop ofTarbes in your behalf." "I want you to know that although you used your wiles successfully on a great many people... one person remains who does not believe you." "That person is myself." "I've never wanted you to believe me, Sister." "If that is one of those disarming answers of yours... that is supposed to strike one silent... you need not waste it on me." "You should be thankful, Bernadette, you did not live in former times." "Creatures who boasted of equivocal visions... and produced springs as if by magic... were burned at the stake." "I have prayed for you... night after night, and I shall continue... so that your soul may not be destroyed... by the frightful danger to which you are exposing it." " And now good night, Bernadette." " Good night, Sister." "However, above all that, I come in the cause of justice." "The authorities are scheming and plotting this girl's destruction." "It is not the practice of the Church to interfere with the authorities." "And particularly in the case of Bernadette Soubirous... we will rigidly adhere to our policy of remaining aloof." "In my opinion, a change in our policy is now necessary." "That opinion is not shared by an amazing number of equally worthy ecclesiastics." "I realize that." "I also realize that none but myself has talked to this child." "I've begun to wonder if she is not a true vessel of grace and a worker of miracles." "Oh, stop!" "My dear Dean... only the Congregation of Rights can determine whether a given phenomenon... is a genuine miracle or a deception." "True." "That's all I ask." "That an Episcopal Commission be set up to investigate." "Two or three questionable cures are not sufficient to cause an investigation." "One questionable cure was sufficient to cause a multitude to travel hundreds of miles." "Very well." " I will convoke such a commission." " Thank you." "Providing certain obstacles can be surmounted." "You fully realize, of course... just what this will mean?" "The commission can render only one of three decisions." "First, you're an impostor, little Soubirous." "Hence away with you to a prison for juvenile delinquents." "Second, you're a madwoman, little Soubirous." "Away with you to an asylum." " Third..." " You are the rarest of mortal beings, little Soubirous." "Just when do you think the commission will begin its work?" "The scientists, the chemists, the geologists... cannot possibly conduct their researches with the grotto boarded up." " A letter from you will force them to open it." " No." "The emperor must command that the grotto be opened." "Then the commission may assemble." "Not the other way around." " When will you ask the emperor?" " Never." "I've not the slightest intention of mentioning it." "He will not know that I even contemplate convoking the commission." " My attitude puzzles you, doesn't it?" " Frankly, yes." "I am giving your lady a chance to prove herself to me." "If she is the Blessed Virgin, then nothing is impossible for her... and she will overcome the emperor." "However, if she is overcome, then she's a fraud." "The grotto will remain boarded up... and she and any thought of the commission will vanish into thin air." "I wonder, my dear Dean, who will win... the emperor or the lady." "Stay where you are.!" "You're under arrest." "Go down." "I'll watch them from here." " Name, age, occupation." " Jacques Gozos, 46, carpenter." " Charge?" " Stealing water from Massabielle." " One franc and costs." " But I haven't got it, monsieur." "Two days in jail then." "Take him away." " Next case." " Bruat." "Woman." "Bruat!" "Woman." " Name, age and occupation." " Bruat, Leontine, 34, governess." "Commissioner." "Bruat?" "Madame, are you by any chance related to Admiral Bruat?" " He's my husband." " Oh." "I am Vital Dutour, the imperial prosecutor." " How do you do?" " Won't you come into my office and sit down?" "Please." "I was arrested and led through the streets, the same as the rest." "I do not wish to be treated differently now that I'm here." "Madame, this is most distressing." "You are the bearer of a great name." "When ladies of your station exhibit to the masses... their utter contempt for the law by breaking it... what is the poor civil servant to do?" " Punish them the same as you would the others." " Very well, madame." "I am forced to require you to pay a fine of one franc and costs." "Delighted, monsieur." "And here are a hundred more for my fellow criminals who are without funds." "And now, please, may I have the bottle?" "The bottle is confiscated." "But I don't believe it remains so, monsieur... for I filled it at the desire of a very high personage." "May I ask who this personage is, madame?" "Her Majesty, the empress Eugenie." "I have the honor to be the governess of His Highness, the prince imperial." "Take it, madame." "I begin to see the folly of being the only one to do one's duty in a feebleminded world." "Madame." "His temperature is quite normal now." "Oh, thank God." "I was right." "The water is miraculous." "I'm sure it is, madame." "Loulou, my darling." "You'll be well now, my sweet." "Louis." "Loulou is better." "The water from Lourdes made him well." "Let us say, sire, the waters did the prince no harm." "He had only a slight cold." "How can you say that?" "His forehead was on fire with fever." "Never more than two degrees, madame." "It was diphtheria or scarlet fever." "I know it." "I feel it." "Please, my dearest, don't excite yourself." "Come and sit down." "Loulou has had a number of attacks like this and he's always gotten well." "I tell you, Louis." "It was the water that saved him." "That's a very frivolous observation, darling." "You're doing a great injustice to the doctor's prescriptions." " You're an atheist, Louis." " That's the most stupid thing a sovereign could be." "Then you're worse than an atheist." "You haven't the humility to thank God for the grace he's accorded us." "By order of His Majesty, the emperor... the ordinance of May 10 is hereby revoked and nullified as of this date." "The grotto shall be opened." "Signed, Louis Napoleon." "I must say, my dear Dean... your lady wastes no time in accepting a challenge." "The lady has had sweet revenge." "I'm being, uh, transferred to Alais." "Perhaps I should say demoted to Alais." "Yes, I rather expected you would be." "I, too, received a letter this morning." "Yeah?" "What hole are you headed for?" "In my case, the lady wanted even sweeter revenge." "I'm to stay here..." "for a while at least." "Watch the thing I fought against blossom like a fruit tree." "It's the influenza again." "I can feel it." "Evidently her lady intends to leave me exactly as she found me." " Some hot wine, Duran." " Oui, monsieur." "And then I ran to the other side... and ate of the grass and the herbs, as the Lady had asked me to." "I can't understand the Lady demanding anything so repulsive of you." "It doesn't fit into the description that you gave of her... that she bade you act like an animal." "Do you act like an animal when you eat salad?" "Go on." "Then I looked for the spring." "Since I couldn't see it, I supposed the Lady meant that it was below the ground." "So I began to scratch and dig with my fingers." "To be considered a miracle, a healing must be as sudden as a bolt of lightning." "It must be from one moment to the next." "Further proof is necessary." "When I looked for the spring, since I could not see it..." "I supposed the Lady meant that it was below the ground." "So I began to scratch and dig with my fingers." "Then I looked for the spring." "Since I could not see it..." "I supposed the Lady meant that it was below the ground." "So I began to scratch and dig with my fingers." "There is still the possibility of deception." "Further proof is necessary." "The evidence is insufficient." "Come in, Bernadette." "I'm sorry to be late, Your Reverence..." " but my brother came in with a frostbitten nose." " Come by the fire." " I had to rub snow on it." " March is coming in like a lion, isn't it?" " Sit down, Bernadette." " Oh, thank you, Father." "I'm sorry I was unable to attend your sister's wedding on Thursday." " Father Pomian tells me it was lovely." " Oh, yes." "We had lots of cakes." "One with figures on it." "It was ever so nice." "Now I suppose she'll be giving up her position with Madame Millet." "Yes, they're going to live on a farm." "But Madame Millet's going to take me as housemaid." "So I heard today." " That's why I wanted to talk to you." " Oh, it's not hard work." "And the pay is good." "You know... it's strange, Your Reverence." "The Lady once told me I could never be happy in this world... but I am." "Happier than I've ever been." "I've got a position." "And..." "And Monsieur Antoine is a splendid young man." "Bernadette... have you any idea of what the bishop's commission has been doing?" "Oh, yes." "The gentlemen have examined and tested..." " all the people who have been cured." " That's true." "What of yourself?" "Don't you think that you and your case are part of their task also?" "I've answered all the gentlemen's questions." "I hope they won't ask me any more." "The commission is now engaged in writing a very important report about you." "It admits the possibility that you were chosen by the Powers Above... and that your hand alone brought forth the spring responsible for miraculous cures." " Don't you understand what that means?" " No." "It means that the greatest and the wisest men in the Church... will be watching you for decades." "And then, perhaps long after the rest of us are dead and thought of no more..." " you will..." " This is dreadful." "I don't want it." "It can't be." "It's no small matter." "No, no." "No." "Tell me, aren't the sisters in the hospital and in the school good and kind?" "Yes." "Yes, they are." "They're very sweet." "Could you imagine yourself as one of them someday?" "Dear God, no." "That's far above me." "I just want to go and work for Madame Millet as housemaid." "Please." "My dear child." "To you, the Most Blessed Virgin condescended." "This places a responsibility on you." "You can't suddenly play truant and run away from your destiny... as though it were school and become an old widow's servant." "A long time ago I told you you were playing with fire, Bernadette." "Your Lady was heavenly fire." "Heaven chose you." "And now there's nothing left for you but to choose heaven." " Isn't that true?" " Yes." "You'll like the life with the sisters at Nevers." "Their order is beautiful and lofty... and very much involved in practical life." "Everything you have said is true, Your Reverence." "And I will do exactly as you say." "But..." "You're worried about your family?" "You needn't." "You may stay with them until summer." "It'll take that long before the report is fully complete." "And I've arranged for your father to be established in the mill on the upper Lapaca." "There he can practice the trade for which he was meant." "Your family can live without fear of poverty." "No, no, no, no, no." "Bernadette." "Just one moment." "I've something more to say." "Although, as a member of the commission, I shouldn't say it." "Now, mind you, I have full faith in you... but there's always been one small detail which I never could help but doubt." "It's the words "Immaculate Conception."" "If you could ever admit that this phrase... was not spoken by the Lady... things might be very different." "If you could retract this single incident... then there might be, somewhere in this world, a little corner... where you could hide and lead a normal life." "Would you like a little time to think it over?" "I don't need time, Your Reverence... because I've never lied to you." "Did I speak of lying?" "And..." "I don't want a little corner to hide in." "Good day, Your Reverence." "Bernadette." "May the patron saint of travelers watch over you." " Thank you." " A Saint Christopher." "That's what we gave her!" "Two will make my journey doubly safe." "Go along, junior." "Go along." "Go on, junior." "I don't want to say it." "It sounds silly." "You owe your life to Bernadette." "You say it exactly as I taught you." "We're going to miss you, Bernadette." " I'm going to miss you too." " Will the nuns..." "Bernadette, if I live to be a hundred, I shall never forget this hour." "For it was you who snatched me from the jaws of death and made all my..." "Here." "A Saint Christopher." "How thoughtful." "Well, well, well, Bernadette." "I shall be only a moment." "I'm sorry to be late, but it was unavoidable." "I was making a speech at the depot." "So my old and dear friend is leaving Lourdes." "Bernadette, never will I forget those first days of trial and tribulation... when practically we alone stood side by side, facing a doubting world." " Always will I remember..." " Pardon me, Your Honor... but the sisters in the carriage grow impatient." " Huh?" " And I've not yet said good-bye to my family." " Oh." " Will you excuse me?" "Certainly." "Certainly." "This is merely something to enjoy on your journey." " Oh, thank you, monsieur." " A-And this." "May the ever-watching patron saint of travel hover over your carriage..." " and guide you safely to your destination." " Thank you, monsieur." "I... wanted to say good-bye in here." "Keep well wrapped-up." "And remember that you..." "Maman, I don't need this shawl." "Nonsense." "It'll be very windy." "With your asthma..." "Louise... this is no time to talk about shawls." "There's so much to say and so little time to say it." "W-When the time comes, one can say nothing." "One can only feel." " Good-bye, Papa." " Good-bye, my child." "Good-bye, maman." "Good-bye, Bernadette." "Say good-bye to Madame Nicolau and... and her son." "Please, dear Sisters, I know you've waited so long... but may I have another moment?" " We must reach Toulouse before dark." " Oh, nothing can happen to us." "Look, I have enough protection for even the horses." "Very well, but hurry." "I said good-bye once this morning, I know." "But I have a little something for you." " Don't worry." "It's not a Saint Christopher." "You have only four." "I blessed five this morning." "Someone must be late." "Bernadette... sometimes to express certain things in a letter is difficult." "So, wherever you may go, if ever you should need me... just send me this." "I shall understand and come immediately." "Your Reverence... if only you knew how much this means to me." "Good-bye." "Good-bye, Bernadette, and God bless you." "For you, mademoiselle." "Oh, monsieur, they are so beautiful." "I didn't come to say good-bye with the others because... there was something I wanted to tell you." "What was it, Monsieur Antoine?" "Well, I, uh..." "I wanted to say..." "Well, my mother is getting old." "She and I are used to each other." "We get along very well." "So I've decided never to take a wife." "Because, uh, a mother-in-law and a daughter-in-law..." "Well, that doesn't work out so well." "I'm going to stay unmarried too." "Well, that's what I wanted to say to you." "Now I wish you luck on your journey, Bernadette." "Good-bye, Antoine." " You are the postulant from Lourdes?" " Yes, Mother Superior." "What is your name?" "Soubirous." "Bernadette Soubirous." " How old are you?" " Just past 20." "What can you do?" "Oh, nothing that amounts to much." "In the world, what would you have liked to have been?" "I always thought I could have been a good servant girl." " Is that you, Sister Marie-Therese?" " Yes, Mother Superior." "This is the mistress of the novices, to whose guidance you'll look." "This is Bernadette Soubirous, a new postulant." "We know each other." "The postulant will start in the kitchen tomorrow." "You will be asked to wash dishes... scrub floors, sweep corridors." "In brief, do all the lowly tasks that need to be done." "But please observe, I do not command you." "I am merely proposing this." "If you do not feel equal to it, or if such work is repellent to you... physically or spiritually, I wish you would say so now." "Oh, no, Mother Superior, I'm very happy to work in the kitchen." "Good." "Sister Marie-Therese will show you to your cell." "With your permission, Mother Superior... there is one other matter to be considered." "The postulant bears a name which has made a great noise in the world." "But, among us, great names have no meaning." "Although they may have been acquired through far greater effort... we disassociate ourselves from all we may have meant to the world... and all it has meant to us." "Moreover, the name Bernadette... is a childish and trivial diminutive." "Quite right." "Before actually entering upon your novitiate... you will want to choose another name." "Under the circumstances, it would be best to do so now." " Have you given the matter any thought?" " No, I haven't." " What was your godmother's name?" " Bernarde." "Then, surely, you'll be happy to bear the name of Marie-Bernarde, my child." "This way, Marie-Bernarde." "The cell is not to your liking, Marie-Bernarde?" "Oh, yes, Sister." "It is quite to my liking." "You will learn to be comfortable in it." "A convent is no prison." "No force is exercised here." "If you do not feel capable of our obedience... you will find the door is always open." "Good night, Marie-Bernarde." "Good night, Sister." " Marie-Bernarde." " Yes, Sister?" "What are you thinking about?" " About my family." " Worldly remembrances have no place in this house." "We're here for the purpose of concentration, not for reverie and woolgathering." "Yes, Sister." "You find this work repellent?" " Oh, no, Sister." " Then let's show our willingness to serve God..." " and not hesitate in our tasks." " Yes, Sister." " Sister Marie-Bernarde is limping." " Yes, I've noticed it." "I'm afraid it is a worldly desire to become the center of attention." "I shall speak to her." "Sister Marie-Bernarde." " Come here, please." " Yes, Sister." "I wish to speak with you." "Certainly, Sister." "Would you have me finish prayers first?" "What I have to say to you is just as important for your soul." " We will speak in your cell." " Yes, Sister." "Excuse me, Mother Superior." "Sit down, Marie-Bernarde." "I've been wanting to talk to you for a long time." " Why do you limp?" " Oh, it's nothing, Sister." "Limping gains sympathy from the other sisters, is that it?" " But I never..." " You forget." "I've known you for many years." "In the outside world you were celebrated." "From all over France, people came just to gaze upon you." "Here, you are a nonentity." " You find that difficult to bear, don't you?" " Oh, no." "The temptation to cling to your eminence is undoubtedly too strong for you." "Truly, Sister... never have I said or done anything to attract attention." "I wish only to be one of the sisters here, nothing more." "Ten years ago, I was forced to doubt you." "I have not changed." "I have never told you an untruth." "I have tried to believe you." "Only God knows how hard I've tried, but I cannot." "What is it you don't believe?" "What everyone else is willing to believe." "The Lady?" "Oh, I did see her." "I did." "Many agree with you, even the Holy Father in Rome." "But I do not." "I cannot." "What do you know of suffering?" "Nothing." "In all our sacred history... the chosen ones have always been those who have suffered." "Why, then, should God choose you?" "Why not me?" "I cannot answer that." "I know what it is to suffer." "Look at my eyes." "They burn like the very fires of hell." "Why?" "Because they need sleep." "They need rest, which I will not give them." "My throat is parched from constant prayer." "My hands are gnarled from serving God in humiliation." "My body is pain-wracked from stone floors." "Yes, I have suffered because I know it is the only true road to heaven." "And if I, who have tortured myself, cannot glimpse the Blessed Virgin... how can you, who have never felt pain, dare to say you've seen her?" "I don't know why I was chosen." "You are a hundred times more worthy." "If only I could find evidence." "If only you could give me some proof." "Maybe then I could believe." "Maybe then these monsters of doubt and hate... would stop consuming my very soul." "For the love of God, Sister, give me some proof." "I wish I could help you... but I have never suffered." "I have never..." "Perhaps I can help you." "It may be there is proof for you." " Well, Doctor?" " Well, in addition to the large tumor on the knee... she has tuberculosis of the bone." "She has never complained of pain?" "No." " Has she?" " She never mentioned it." "I can't understand it." "She's had this affliction for a long time." "And the constant pain and suffering, which is so characteristic of this disease... is too horrible to describe." "Oh, God, I have tried to storm the gates ofheaven... by sacrificing myself." "I know now that we must be chosen... that we must be graced, as you have graced this child." "God, forgive me." "I have persecuted her, and I did not believe her... because I was filled with hate and envy." "God help me to serve this chosen soul for the rest of my days." "God help me." "God help me." "You seem a trifle stronger today, Sister." "Yes, thank you, Mother Superior, I am." "Sister Marie-Therese and I have been discussing the possibility of your taking a trip." "A trip?" "We could make the journey to our convent at Lourdes in easy stages." "Lourdes?" "Should not you, of all people, take advantage of the benefit... that's come to the whole world through you?" "That cannot be done." "And why not?" "The spring is not for me." "Why should not the spring work in your case, of all cases, Sister?" "The spring is not for me." "Did the Lady tell you that, my child?" "She said..." ""I cannot promise you happiness in this world... only in the next."" "The spring is not for me." "Thank you, Doctor." "In that case, Father, we must notify the bishop immediately." "He wants to hear from Marie-Bernarde's lips a final confirmation." "Sister Marie-Bernarde, we shall read to you the final protocol... of the Commission of Investigation, assembled in 1858." "It contains a record... of all the testimony which you offered at the time." "We ask nothing of you, except that you confirm that testimony." "Do you feel equal to that?" "Yes." ""On February 11, in the year of our Lord, 1858..." ""I, Bernadette Soubirous, was sent in the company of my sister Marie..." ""and my friend Jeanne Abadie... to fetch firewood in the forest."" "Do you confirm this?" "I did see her." ""At a location known as Massabielle, I rested... while my sister and friend crossed the River Gave. "" "Do you confirm this?" "I... did see her." ""For a time, nothing happened." " "Suddenly I noticed that the rosebush was shaking." " I did see her." ""I thought this strange..." " because there was no..."" " I did see her." "I did see her." "I... did... see... her." "You're not sorry you came back to visit us?" "No." "For five years I've been stationed in Languedoc." "A stinking hole, if ever there was one." "Now that I see this, I realize what a paradise I've been living in." "You see, my friend, how deeply hell reaches into human life." "Poor, ignorant sheep." "Why do they come?" "Because they have faith." "Because they're desperate." "Because occasionally someone is cured." "And because some hypochondriac, due to emotional excitement... forgets a malady that never existed." "Oh, yes, we have hundreds of those." "But we have many, many other cases that aren't so easy to explain." "Yesterday there was a woman with lupus... tuberculosis of the face." "Suddenly she discovered a nose and a mouth... where only ten minutes before there was nothing but one large, decaying cavity." "Please, Doctor..." "I'm not a gullible sheepherder from the Pyrenees." "We have pictures in the office." "Would you care to come down?" "Gentlemen, what's the use?" "The same argument has been going on for a great many years... and I'm afraid will go on for a great many more." "For those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary." "For those who do not, no explanation will suffice." " Your Reverence..." " Yes, Adolar." "Here is a message." "Your housekeeper thought it was important." "Thank you." "This is the first." "You remember him, the Bouhouhorts child?" " Is that all, Your Reverence?" " Yes, thank you, Adolar." "You should have the doctor give you something for that cold, monsieur." "No." "It's just a little laryngitis I picked up... on the drafty train last night." "It will be gone by tomorrow." "Excuse me, gentlemen." "Good day." " Good day, Dean." " Good day, Dean." "And I give you full permission, dear Doctor... to write down in your big book... that my amazing recovery was due solely to the Lady of Lourdes." "If I kept such a book, I would write you down merely as a skeptic... who I promise will leave Lourdes at least... wondering." "Not I, Doctor." "Not I." "This place only succeeds in revolting me." "Once it was a dull but pleasing little village." "Now look at it." " A tremendous sponge sopping up all the infection of the world." " Good morning, Mr. Jones." " Morning, Dr. Dozous." " Good day, gentlemen." " Good day, Monsieur Dutour." " Good day, monsieur." " You look better today." " Oh, yes, Doctor." "I think I feel much better today." "MonsieurJones's voice has a lot in common with..." "Monsieur Dutour's." " Don't you think?" " Yes, now that you mention it." "MonsieurJones has cancer of the larynx." "#Ave, Ave #" "#Ave Maria #" " Holy Mary." " Pray for us." " Mother of God." " Pray for us." " Holy Virgin of virgins." " Pray for us." " Mother of Christ." " Pray for us." " Mother of Divine Grace." " Pray for us." " Mother most pure." " I am a stranger here." "I'm not like these thousands of souls... flickering brightly and hopefully in the darkness." "My pride has always stood between them and me." "The pride of being a superior human being." "But now I know that we're all a wretched animal species... distinguished from the insects only by nerve centers... thoughts, reasoning." "A hungry cancer is feeding at my throat." "Tomorrow I'll crawl back to Languedoc... hide in some hole of death and be heard of no more." "I'll be alone." "Alone and desolate." "And why not?" "It's logical." "I'll be alone because I have loved no one... no one and nothing." " Not even myself." " Pray for us." " Help of Christians." " Pray for us." "Nothing." " Queen of the patriarchs." " Pray for us." " Nothing." " Pray for us." " Queen of apostles." " Pray for us." " Queen of the martyrs." " Pray for us." " Queen of all saints." " Pray for me, Bernadette." " Queen conceived without original sin." " Pray for us." " Your Reverence." " My child." " I didn't lie to you." " God knows you didn't." "They questioned me... again and again." "I saw her." "Tell them I saw her." "They won't believe me." "Yes, my little one, you saw her." "And you will see her again." "I'm not so sure." "Maybe I haven't suffered enough." "You've suffered enough, my child, for the heaven of heavens." "Oh, no." "I know about sick people." "We all exaggerate a little." "Our pains aren't so terrible." "I believe..." "Sister." "Sister." "Are the pains worse?" "What day is this?" "Wednesday." "Wednesday?" "Tomorrow..." "Tomorrow will be Thursday." "The Lady..." "Madame..." "Madame..." "Madame..." "The Lady won't come here, Your Reverence." "I'll never see her again." "You will, my child." "No." "No, I was stupid and lazy." "I didn't even know what the Holy Trinity was." "Where are you, Madame?" "Where are you?" "She's gone." "Behold my beloved speaketh..." " Gone." " Arise." "Make haste, my love, my dove, my beautiful one." " I won't see her." " For winter is now past." "The rain is over and gone." "I'll never see her again." "The vines in flower yield their sweet smell." " Never." " Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come." " Never." " My dove in the clefts of the rock..." " in the hollow places of the wall." " I'll never see..." "Show me thy face." "Let thy voice sound in my ears." "For thy voice is sweet and thy face comely." "My beloved to me, and I to him who feedeth among the lilies... till the day breaks and the shadows retire." " Arise." "Make haste..." " I love you." "I love you." "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee." "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for me." "Pray for us sinners now... and at the hour of our death." "Amen." "You are now in heaven and on earth." "Your life begins, oh Bernadette." "#Hallelujah #"