The Apparition of the Blessed Virgin at Lourdes

In Apparitione Beatæ Mariae Virginis

The Apparition of the Blessed Virgin at Lourdes

 

Ste Bernadette in death. [Public Domain]

Sainte Bernadette Soubirous

7 January 1844 – 16 April 1879.  Canonized by Pope Pius XI on December 8 1933.

Jean Delannoy's films about Saint Bernadette are very moving and powerful:

La vie de Sainte Bernadette Soubirous (1988, French)

Bernadette Soubirous (1988, English)

La Passion de Bernadette (1990, French)

The Passion of Bernadette (1990, English)

On Thursday, February 11, 1858, fourteen-year-old Bernadette was sent with her younger sister and a friend to gather firewood, when a very beautiful lady appeared to her above a rose bush in a grotto called Massabielle. From the 11th of February until the 16th of July, the lady appeared 18 times. She revealed her identity to Bernadette in the words: Que soy era immaculada councepciou. (I am the Immaculate Conception). She caused a spring to pour forth water in the grotto which was to become a world-famous place of pilgrimage for the sick in soul and body from the lifetime of Bernadette until today.
  
Sa vie

Marie-Bernadette Soubirous est née le 4 janvier 1844 dans le bourg de Lourdes.  Ayant survécu à une épidémie de choléra, elle demeure de santé très précaire. Pour apprendre à lire et à écrire, elle est accueillie, en janvier 1858, dans la classe des petites filles pauvres de l’Hospice de Lourdes dirigé par les Sœurs de la Charité de Nevers.

Marie-Bernadette Soubirous was born on the 4th of January 1844 in the town of Lourdes. She survived a cholera epidemic but her health remained fragile. I order to lear to read and write.she was accepted in January 1858 into a class for poor little girls in a Home run by the Sisters of Charity from Nevers.

Entre le 11 février et le 16 juillet 1858, sur la grotte de Massabielle, la Vierge Marie lui apparut 18 fois. Comme Bernadette lui demandait avec insistance son nom, elle répondit: « Je suis l’Immaculée Conception. » Le 18 février 1858, la Vierge Marie dit à Bernadette : « Je ne vous promets pas de vous rendre heureuse en ce monde mais dans l’autre. »

Between the 11th of February and the 16th of July 1858, in a grotto of Massabielle, the Virgin Mary appeared to her 18 times. Bernadette asked several times for the lady's name and she replied: "I am the Immaculate Conception." On the 18th of February 1858, the Virgin Mary said to Bernadette: "I do not promise to make you happy in this world, but in the next." [Some say the dialect used is more accurately translated as : 'I do not promise you the happiness of this world, but of the next.']

Après avoir transmis aux prêtres l’affirmation solennelle d’identité et d’autres messages célestes, Bernadette, pour mieux échapper à la vue du monde, demanda son admission chez les Sœurs de la Charité et de l’Instruction chrétienne de Nevers. Elle arriva à Nevers en juillet 1866. Modèle de fidélité religieuse, supportant avec la plus grande patience toutes sortes de croix et des infirmités prolongées, elle se livrait fréquemment à l’oraison et à la méditation de la Parole du Seigneur. Elle avait un amour filial la Vierge Immaculée. Elle portait sur elle la Médaille Miraculeuse.  Dans l’infirmerie devenue aujourd’hui un oratoire, âgée de trente-cinq ans, elle rend le dernier soupir et s’endort dans le Seigneur à 3 heures de l'après-midi, le 16 avril 1879.

Having passed on to the priests this solemn affirmation of identity  and other heavenly messages, Bernadette, in order to flee from the prying eyes of the world, asked to be admitted into the Sisters of Charity and Christian Instruction in Nevers. She arrived in Nevers in July 1866. A model of religious fidelity, enduring with the greatest patience all sorts of crosses and extended perios of i;;ness, she gave herself over to frequent prayer  and meditation on the Word of the Lord. She had a daughter's love for the Immaculate Virgin. She wore the Miraculous Medal. Within the infirmary which is today a place of prayer, aged 35 years, she breathed her last and fell asleep in the Lord at 3.00 pm on the 16th of April 1879.

Elle se tint, des années durant, silencieuse près de Marie au pied de la Croix, jusqu’au dernier moment, où elle, en murmurant: 

Sainte Marie Mère de Dieu, priez pour moi, pauvre pécheresse

Year after year she stood silently next to Mary at the foot of the Cross, right up to her last moment, saying softly:

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for me a poor sinner.

*     *     *

Today is the anniversary of my consecration in 2019 to Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ through His Mother Mary, the Glorious and Blessed Virgin of Virgins, and our own dearest Mother.

Laudetur Jesus Christi et Maria Immaculata!

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam. 

Candlemas: Holy Infant Jesus - Bless and Protect Us

Today, we commemorate the feasts of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. 

On the occasion of these two feasts, I am renewing the installation carried out last year at Candlemas which enthroned the Holy Infant Jesus. 

I have prepared an expanded, illustrated version of the Devotion which can be viewed as a PDF by clicking on the link below:

👇

 The Holy Infant Jesus - A Devotion in Words and Images.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam. 

Puer natus est nobis!

The adoration of the shepherds. J-J Tissot.

Puer natus est nobis

A child is born to us [Isaias ix. 6]

Laudate Dominum, omnes Gentes: laudate eum omnes populi: Quoniam confirmata est super nos misericordia eius: et veritas Domini manet in aeternum.

O praise the Lord, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. 

Quoniam confirmata est super nos misericordia ejus, et veritas Domini manet in æternum. [Ps. cxvi]

Mirabile mysterium declaratur hodie,
innovantur naturæ; 
Deus homo factus est;
id quod fuit, permansit,
et quod non erat, assumpsit,
non commixtionem passus neque divisionem.

 

A wondrous mystery is this day declared,
New natures are delivered;
God is made man;
That which He was, He remains,
and that which He was not, He takes on,
yet suffering neither confusion nor division. 

[From the Antiphon sung before the Canticle of Zachary during Christmas Lauds in the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam. 

A Novena to St Joseph : Day 9 - Jesus is lost and found; the Hidden life

Today is the final day of this Novena to St. Joseph. It concludes on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and is offered as a present to Maria Immaculata. The Novena serves also to mark formally the inclusion of reverence for St. Joseph in our daily prayers, following the example of Santa Teresa of Jesus and Sainte Thérèse of the Child Jesus.

 

9) a) Jesus is lost and found

Jesus is lost. J-J Tissot

Whom once as lost thou didst deplore,

When from the Feast returning;

But in the Temple find once more,

'Midst doctors Him discerning. Hail Mary.

Quem ad festum transiens:

dolenter perdidisti:

sed mox templum adiens:

gaudenter repperisti. Ave Maria.

Thou didst notice with sorrow that Jesus was missing while returning from the Feast; but  returning swiftly to the Temple, there didst thou find Him with joy.

Gospel account

Jesus is found in the Temple. J-J Tissot

And his parents went every year to Jerusalem, at the solemn day of the pasch, and when He was twelve years old, they going up into Jerusalem, according to the custom of the feast, and having fulfilled the days, when they returned, the child Jesus remained in Jerusalem; and his parents knew it not. Thinking that he was in the company, they came a day's journey, and sought Him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. Not finding Him, they returned into Jerusalem, seeking Him.

It came to pass, that, after three days, they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them, and asking them questions. All that heard Him were astonished at His wisdom and his answers. Seeing Him, they wondered. And His mother said to him: ‘Son, why hast thou done so to us? behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.’ And He said to them: ‘How is it that you sought me? did you not know, that I must be about my father's business?’ And they understood not the word that he spoke unto them. [Luke ii]

Adoremus in æternum Sanctissimum Infantem!

9) b) The Hidden Life

The hidden life. J-J Tissot

Whom thou didst bring up at thy side,

Due care and toil expending;

And for His food and needs provide,

His holy childhood tending. Hail Mary.

Quem manuum per opera:

sollicite nutrivisti:

et in aetate tenera:

in omnibus providisti. Ave Maria.

Thou didst carefully rear Him by the labour of thy hands; and in His tender years thou didst provide for Him in all things.

Gospel account

Jesus went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them. His mother kept all these words in her heart. Jesus advanced in wisdom, and age, and grace with God and men. [Luke II]

Notes

Our Lord learned Joseph’s craft and worked with him until Joseph’s death. In the course of His work, Jesus would have handled hammers, nails and wood - the instruments of His Passion many years later. Here in his picture, Tissot shows Our Lord carrying wood on His shoulder, presaging the Via Crucis culminating in His redemptive death on the Cross. A seated Mary looks on; a close examination of the painting reveals Tissot has made the Holy Face of Jesus similar to that of His Mother.

Standing by the arch, Joseph watches his foster-son with a keen and thoughtful gaze. In his portrayal of Joseph with a white beard, Tissot has followed a traditional belief that Joseph was much older than Mary. This might explain why there are no references to him in the Gospels after the extract from Luke above.

The tradition continues by inferring that Joseph died whilst consoled by the presence of both Jesus and Mary. For this reason, many pray to St Joseph for a holy death: 

Oratio, pro felici morte impetranda

Prayer asking for a happy death

O SAINT JOSEPH, thou left this life in the gentle embrace of thy sweet spouse Mary and thy adopted son Jesus. Help me, O holy Father, along with Jesus and Mary, that at the appointed time when death puts an end to my life; obtain for me the one thing I ask, that same solace, so that in those same arms of Jesus and Mary I may expire. Into your hands, O Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, living and dying I commend my spirit! Amen.

O S. IOSEPH! qui in suavissimo Iesu clientis tui, et dulcissimae sponsæ tuae Mariæ complexu ex hac vita emigrasti: succurre mihi, o S. Pater! cum Iesu et Maria, tunc potissimum, quando mors vitæ meæ finem imponet; illudque (quod unice peto) solatium mihi impetra, ut in iisdem sanctissimis Iesu et Mariæ brachiis exspirem. In manus vestras vivens et moriens commendo spiritum meum, Iesu, Maria, Ioseph! Amen.

Another prayer for the same end is the following one which I learned as a child. I have used the first person plural so as to offer the prayer on behalf of those souls whom the Lord committed to my charge:

Jesus, Mary and Joseph: we give you our hearts and our souls;

Jesus, Mary and Joseph: assist us in our last agonies;

Jesus, Mary and Joseph: may be breathe forth our souls in peace with you. Amen.

 

Conclusion

This post concludes with a further gift in honour Maria Immaculata and her spouse most chaste: a poem written by Ste Thérèse to St Joseph in 1894. I have attempted a translation into English, retaining the metre and rhyming scheme of the French original.

- 1 -

Joseph, votre admirable vie

Se passa dans l'humilité;

Mais de Jésus et de Marie

Vous contempliez la beauté!

Le Fils de Dieu dans son enfance,

Plus d'une fois, avec bonheur,

Soumis à votre obéissance

S'est reposé sur votre cœur!

Oh Joseph, how extraordinary,

Thy life was meek with humble duty

Yet Jesus and His mother Mary

Thou could'st admire in all their beauty.

The Son of God as child and youth

Full oftentimes with joy was bless'd

Obedient to thee in truth

Upon thy heart he'd gladly rest.

- 2 -

Comme vous dans la solitude

Nous servons Marie et Jésus;

Leur plaire est notre seule étude,

Nous ne désirons rien de plus.

Sainte Thérèse, Notre Mère,[1]

En vous se confiait toujours;

Elle assure que sa prière

Vous l'exauciez d'un prompt secours.

Like thee we too in solitude

Do serve the Lord and mother Mary;

Their pleasure our solicitude,

Our wish that we shall never vary.

Teresa, saint and founding Mother,1

Did ever place her trust in thee,

Assuring thou wouldst, like no other,

Bestow thine aid full speedily.

  

- 3 -

Quand l'épreuve sera finie,

Nous en avons le doux espoir,

Près de la divine Marie,

O Père, nous irons vous voir!

Alors nous lirons votre histoire

Inconnue au monde mortel;

Nous découvrirons votre gloire

Et la chanterons dans le ciel.

When trials of life at length subside

May tender hope our hearts enfold

And, keeping close by Mary’s side,

Oh Father, may we thee behold!

Then shall we learn thy secret story

Concealed while thou wast here below,

Discovering thy wondrous glory

The which to hymn for evermoe.

[1]  St Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582)

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.  

A Novena to St Joseph : Day 8 - The Flight into Egypt and Return to Nazareth

 

8) The Flight into Egypt and Return to Nazareth

The flight into Egypt. J-J Tissot

Whom safe to Egypt thou didst bear

Whilst Herod's rage was swelling;

But bring back with maternal care,

To Nazareth thy dwelling.

Quem Herodem fugiens

Aegypto adduxisti:

tandem inde rediens

ad Nazareth venisti. Ave Maria.

Fleeing from Herod, thou didst take Him to Egypt; returning thence after a time, thou didst come to Nazareth.

Gospel account

The return to Nazareth. J-J Tissot.

Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph, saying: ‘Arise, and take the child and His mother, and fly into Egypt: and be there until I shall tell thee. For it will come to pass that Herod will seek the child to destroy him.’ [14] Joseph arose, and took the child and His mother by night, and retired into Egypt: and he was there until the death of Herod, so that it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the prophet, saying: ‘Out of Egypt have I called my son.’

‘Then Herod, perceiving that he was deluded by the wise men, was exceeding angry; and sending killed all the men children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the borders thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremias the prophet, saying: ‘A voice in Rama was heard, lamentation and great mourning; Rachel bewailing her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.’ But when Herod was dead, behold an angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph in Egypt, saying: ‘Arise, and take the child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel. For they are dead that sought the life of the child.’

Joseph arose, and took the child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel; but hearing that Archelaus reigned in Judea in the room of Herod his father, he was afraid to go thither: and being warned in sleep retired into the quarters of Galilee,  and coming he dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was said by prophets: ‘That he shall be called a Nazarene.’ [Matthew ii 13-23]

Adoremus in æternum Sanctissimum Infantem!

Prayer asking St Joseph to be one's companion and guide in this life

Oratio, ut S. Ioseph in via vitae huius ducem et comitem impetremus.

 

O SAINT JOSEPH, just as thou as father and mentor didst most faithfully guide Jesus Christ during His boyhood and adolescence through His journeys in this life, I beseech thee to assist me in the wanderings of my life as just such a companion and guide. Never permit me to turn aside from the path of God's commandments. Be for me a protection in adversity, and a solace in hardship, until I finally arrive in the land of the living, where I may rejoice forever with thee, with the most holy spouse Mary, and with all the saints in my God Jesus. Amen.

O S. IOSEPH! qui tanquam pater et manuductor Christum Iesum in pueritia et iuventute per omnes peregrinationis humanæ vias fidelissime deduxisti: et mihi obsecro in vitae meæ peregrinatione tanquam comes et ductor assiste, nec unquam permitte me a via mandatorum Dei declinare; sis in adversis præsidium, in ærumnis solatium, donec tandem ad terram viventium perveniam, ubi tecum et sanctissima sponsa tua Maria, omnibusque Sanctis æternum in Deo Iesu meo exultem. Amen.

 

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam. 

A Novena to St Joseph : Day 7 - The Presentation in the Temple

 

7) The Presentation in the Temple

Whom thou upon the fortieth day

In His own house presenting,

Didst freewill offerings duly pay

To Moses' law consenting. Hail Mary.

Quem die quadragesima

in templo præsentasti:

ac Moysi legitima

spontanee subisti. Ave Maria.

On the fortieth day, in the Temple thou didst present Him, and thou didst freely comply with the law of Moses.

Gospel Account

After the days of her purification, according to the law of Moses, were accomplished, they carried him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord: as it is written in the law of the Lord: ‘Every male opening the womb shall be called holy to the Lord,’ and to offer a sacrifice, according as it is written in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle-doves, or two young pigeons. 

Behold there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Ghost was in him. He had received an answer from the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Christ of the Lord, and He came by the Spirit into the temple. When His parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, Simeon also took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said: 

‘Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word in peace; Because my eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples: a light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.’ 

His father and mother were wondering at those things which were spoken concerning Him. Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother: 

‘Behold this child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted; and thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed.’ 

And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser; she was far advanced in years, and had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity, and she was a widow until fourscore and four years; who departed not from the temple, by fastings and prayers serving night and day. Now she, at the same hour, coming in, confessed to the Lord; and spoke of him to all that looked for the redemption of Israel. [Luke ii 22-38]

Adoremus in æternum Sanctissimum Infantem!

Notes

Jesus is taken to the Temple by Joseph, His foster-father, and His Mother Mary. Jesus finds Himself in His Father’s house for the first time, forty days after His birth. Parents will testify that babies smile for the first time around this time (ie, six weeks).Did Joseph see this first smile? The first-born little boy is offered up as a sacrifice to His Father in heaven, in accordance with the Law, but God in His mercy allows the parents to buy back, or redeem, their Son. The Redeemer is redeemed, and Simeon makes a prophecy that gives Joseph and Mary much cause to reflect, wondering at those things which were spoken concerning their baby Son. 

Joseph, together with Mary, receives a blessing from Simeon and then they hear more mysterious words from Anna, the prophetess, speaking of the Redeemer and those who in Israel were looking for Redemption.

Prayer asking St Joseph to be one's companion and guide in this life

Oratio, ut S. Ioseph in via vitae huius ducem et comitem impetremus.

 

O SAINT JOSEPH, just as thou as father and mentor didst most faithfully guide Jesus Christ during His boyhood and adolescence through His journeys in this life, I beseech thee to assist me in the wanderings of my life as just such a companion and guide. Never permit me to turn aside from the path of God's commandments. Be for me a protection in adversity, and a solace in hardship, until I finally arrive in the land of the living, where I may rejoice forever with thee, with the most holy spouse Mary, and with all the saints in my God Jesus. Amen.

O S. IOSEPH! qui tanquam pater et manuductor Christum Iesum in pueritia et iuventute per omnes peregrinationis humanæ vias fidelissime deduxisti: et mihi obsecro in vitae meæ peregrinatione tanquam comes et ductor assiste, nec unquam permitte me a via mandatorum Dei declinare; sis in adversis præsidium, in ærumnis solatium, donec tandem ad terram viventium perveniam, ubi tecum et sanctissima sponsa tua Maria, omnibusque Sanctis æternum in Deo Iesu meo exultem. Amen.

 

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam. 

A Novena to St Joseph : Day 6 - The Adoration of the Magi

6) The Adoration of the Magi

Who was by Eastern kings adored,

As homage due they proffered;

When Him confessing for their Lord,

Their noblest gifts they offered. Hail Mary.

Qui a tribus regibus

ferventer adoratur;

magnisque muneribus

decenter venerant. Ave Maria.

Three kings fervently adored Him; and offered their veneration most fittingly, with magnificent gifts.

Gospel Account

Falling down, they adored Him. J-J Tissot

When Jesus therefore was born in Bethlehem of Juda, in the days of king Herod, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is he that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to adore him.’ King Herod hearing this, was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Assembling together all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where Christ should be born, and they said to him: ‘In Bethlehem of Juda. For so it is written by the prophet: “And thou Bethlehem the land of Juda art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come forth the captain that shall rule my people Israel.”’ 

Then Herod, privately calling the wise men, learned diligently of them the time of the star which appeared to them; and sending them into Bethlehem, said: ‘Go and diligently inquire after the child, and when you have found him, bring me word again, that I also may come to adore him.’ Having heard the king, they went their way; and behold the star which they had seen in the east, went before them, until it came and stood over where the child was. Seeing the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

Entering into the house, they found the child with Mary his mother, and falling down they adored Him; and opening their treasures, they offered Him gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Having received an answer in sleep that they should not return to Herod, they went back another way into their country. [Matthew ii 1-12]

Adoremus in æternum Sanctissimum Infantem!

Prayer asking St Joseph to be one's companion and guide in this life

Oratio, ut S. Ioseph in via vitae huius ducem et comitem impetremus.

 

O SAINT JOSEPH, just as thou as father and mentor didst most faithfully guide Jesus Christ during His boyhood and adolescence through His journeys in this life, I beseech thee to assist me in the wanderings of my life as just such a companion and guide. Never permit me to turn aside from the path of God's commandments. Be for me a protection in adversity, and a solace in hardship, until I finally arrive in the land of the living, where I may rejoice forever with thee, with the most holy spouse Mary, and with all the saints in my God Jesus. Amen.

O S. IOSEPH! qui tanquam pater et manuductor Christum Iesum in pueritia et iuventute per omnes peregrinationis humanæ vias fidelissime deduxisti: et mihi obsecro in vitae meæ peregrinatione tanquam comes et ductor assiste, nec unquam permitte me a via mandatorum Dei declinare; sis in adversis præsidium, in ærumnis solatium, donec tandem ad terram viventium perveniam, ubi tecum et sanctissima sponsa tua Maria, omnibusque Sanctis æternum in Deo Iesu meo exultem. Amen.

 

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.