Father John J. Lombardi

She once lived on earth, racked with disease and suffocating asthma; now her body is incorrupt and her soul is breathing the azure of Heaven. She was a French girl-gatherer of sticks. Presently before the Divine Presence, she gathers souls' prayers in mystical intercession. She is the saint to whom Our Lady appeared at Lourdes. She is St. Bernadette, and she prays for us! So, just what are the Messages of Lourdes?

Providential God: When Catholics celebrate holy days, it is for God's glory and their spiritual inspiration. This Wednesday is the Grotto's Feast Day, and also the World Day of the Sick and the celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception that declared Mary was conceived without stain of original sin. St Bernadette heard the Blessed Mother say at Lourdes. "Que soy era Immaculada Concepciou-I am the Immaculate Conception." This Dogma shows us a God who shows us an unstained humanity and what it means to say "Yes/Fiat" to God (Lk. 1:38), and what it is for a human to be "Full of Grace" (Lk. 1:28). God chose Mary "in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before Him in love" (Eph. 1:4). What graces do you need to become more favored? And how can we trust in Divine Providence more, like St Bernadette?

Illuminations: Bernadette was fourteen when, on Feb 11,1858, the "Lady" appeared to her, in a grotto: "We came down by the side which leads near the Cave and…I was alone…when suddenly I heard a great noise like the sound of a storm. Almost at the same time, there came out of the interior of the grotto a golden colored cloud, and soon after a Lady, young and beautiful, exceedingly beautiful, the like of whom I had never seen before…She smiled at me and signed to me to advance, as if She had been my Mother. All fear had left me…. The Lady made with Her head a sign of approval and Herself took into Her hands a Rosary. The Lady left me to pray all alone; She said nothing; only at the end of each decade did She say the Gloria with me. When the recitation of the Rosary was finished, the Lady returned to the interior of the rock and the golden colored cloud disappeared with Her…

She has the appearance of a young girl of sixteen or seventeen. She is dressed in a white robe, girded at the waist with a blue ribbon which flows down all along Her robe. She wears upon Her head a veil which is also white; this veil gives just a glimpse of Her hair and then falls down at the back below Her waist. Her feet are bare but covered by the last folds of Her robe except at the point where a yellow rose shines upon each of them." …How can we be pure like St. Bernadette and see miraculous things: "Blessed are the pure in heart-they shall see God"(Mt. 5:8).

Beauty and Holiness What does this description imply? Perhaps that Mary is the queen and apex of God's creation; that, as Mary is, persons-in-Christ (versus selfish sinners), are evocatively-ebullient, as are all the saints: "How beautiful are the feet that carry the good news"-Rm. (10:15). This description shows us the hope of the glorified body: the soul and body in perfect union is attractive, filled with claritas- radiant light, like Christ's: "His face shone like the sun…His clothes became as white as light" (Mt. 17:2). We are warned: "Take care, then, that the light in you not become darkness" (Lk. 11:35). Now our bodies and souls are in disharmony--i.e., in sickness and disease; the passions sometimes overtake our rational, spiritual nature, causing disequilibrium....So: How can you, like Bernadette, seek, embrace and practice purity to "see" God's Will for you "with the eyes of the heart" (Eph.1:18)? How can you practice the virtue of hope for eternal life and a glorified body? After the eighteen apparitions of Our Lady, Bernadette had to "come back down to earth" and live, like us, a daily existence. She became a nun and was a infirmarian for some time in a French convent. There she is known to have shown great compassion for the sick while she, herself, was very sick, and dying. Think: How can I, even though in trials, help others?- "By their fruits they will know them" (Mt. 7:20).

Selflessness: "We know that our old self was crucified with Him" (Rm. 6:6). Bernadette once described her calling: "The Blessed Virgin chose me because I was the most ignorant...The Blessed Virgin used me like a broom. What do you do with a broom when you have finished sweeping? You put it back in its place, behind a door." That's the embodiment of humility and loving detachment. She's now within the Doorway of Eternity--she strove to "enter in by way of the narrow door" (Lk. 13:24) by her sacrifices and great love, and the Savior answered that "the door will be opened for you" (Lk. 11:9)…

Repentance: When the Virgin appeared she asked Bernadette for "Penance, Penance, and Penance." The call of the Virgin is no different from that of Jesus': "Repent for the Kingdom is at hand" (Mt.4: 17). At a time when the world was changing rapidly, Darwin's "Evolution of the Species," in 1851, promised supreme knowledge of origins excluding God. At Lourdes God reminded mankind to follow the way of holiness and not self-righteousness. With Karl Marx's "Communist Manifesto," the glorification of man to create a utopia became prevalent. God was reminding us thru the Virgin against godless ideologies. So, then, the Apparitions of Lourdes are no maudlin message-they confront a world astray. Remember-there's a serpent below Our Lady's feet in many statues. What do we need to repent of and be freed from? For instance, American's can do penance for manipulative misogyny--men abusing women (with some women giving consent), esp. in areas of sexuality, in planned, systemic ways Last week at the Super Bowl an entertainer "was exposed" by another. This is the opposite of St Bernadette's purity and nobility. Now, think: Our Lady and St. Bernadette, even though under pressure in their lives (like some of today's women), allowed themselves to be used by God as instruments but not abused by others, showing women the call to purity and holiness is radical.

Catholic convert GK Chesterton once said big government and big business are anti-family. Presently there are a bunch of "interlocking directorates" conspiring to attack the family and soul, as demonstrated and manifested in last week's football game: the liquor industry (esp. beer sector); sports (esp. football) media/ entertainment industries, and the music field. All these coalesced (in one way or another) in this sensualist situation, and so it is no wonder, after so many years of attack upon purity, temperance and God, that the proselytism of promiscuity was promoted (which is part of the Americanist misogyny). Wake up! Beware, from now on, for your soul, your family and your children are targeted. Today, we need a more substantial, prophetic response--True Catholicism amidst the "culture wars". How can you, like St Bernadette, seek and embrace a purer love and long for greater Beauty? The Bible says-"And put on forever the beauty of the glory from God" (Bar. 5:1).

"Victim Soul"-When someone once asked Bernadette how she, who saw the Blessed Virgin, would be so sick, she said the Blessed Mother said her happiness is not here on earth but in Heaven. Bernadette was a victim soul-meaning she took on suffering and the sinful effects of others, to assuage the Justice of God and implore His mercy (this is heroic holiness). Her example can help us do penance for others (called "vicarious atonement")-for pornographers, atheists, murderers, anyone--and thereby participate in the Redemption of the world). St Paul says about this help to Jesus: "Therefore I take joy in my sufferings for I fill up what was lacking in the sufferings of Jesus for the sake of the Body, the Church..."(Col. 1:24).

Darrin Diddier, a seminarian from South Dakota, recently went home for needed medical treatments, thus postponing his seminary training. What was his feeling?-- "This past June I was given an invitation to share more deeply in God's generous love. Diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, a type of cancer that begins in the lymphatic system, my summer plans quickly changed from spending eight weeks learning Spanish in Mexico to undergoing six cycles of chemotherapy from June through October. When I was given the diagnosis I was very much aware of God's presence because I immediately thought, "Well, I guess God does not want me to be in Mexico this summer," and I anticipated the blessings to come forth from this change of plans (that was certainly not my doing). I also felt an interior joy, recalling St. Therese of Lisieux's sentiments when she coughed up blood on her pillow, indicating the beginnings of her illness of tuberculosis. Like her, I felt chosen to suffer in a particular way, knowing that in doing so I would be drawn close to God and help in his plan of salvation by uniting my sufferings to His. I felt blessed to realize that God must have enough faith in me to know that He could give me this cross and that I would not lose my faith in Him."

Ecstasy: St Bernadette and Our Lady of Lourdes teach us to "listen to Heaven," to keep the "channels of our souls" open (pure receptivity without "communicative clogging"). Ecstasy means "to stand out of"-meaning a soul is so purified it is out of its "shell of self(ishness)". Because of her simplicity (inner and outer) St Bernadette was chosen to undergo these supernatural experiences. Today we have more technological-communicating devices and yet--it's difficult to communicate. While multiplying devices and complications for communicating, don't forget to be open to Grace from above (Jn. 3:27). The Voice of the Virgin calls us to pray and commune with the supernatural, as in the account from Lourdes: "After several minutes, the ecstasy was interrupted…the Lady had moved from the niche high in the rock, but had not disappeared; She had descended into the larger hollow at the base of the Grotto. Bernadette heard herself called and experienced the ecstasy resumed." …Are you listening (deeply),or are you blocking the connections? God's messages are from Eternity to help us thru temporality-so don't block Him or the way He wishes to speak to your soul -esp. in prayer: "This is the Voice of My Son-listen to Him" (Mt. 9:7). Listen as He communicates to you in daily life ("Consider the flowers of the field"-Mt. 6:28 ), and thru others-the poor, sick and dying (Mt. 25).But just why is the Blessed Virgin so exalted?--She sings the most Beautiful Song: "My soul magnifies the Lord..." (Lk. 1:46). This may be summarized in the following aspiration (a short, spiritual prayer to lovingly repeat within): Anima meum, magnficata Deum-My soul magnifies the Lord (the Latin is liberally translated here to fit the aspiration). Repeat this within your soul constantly and listen with her to Him, the Lord.

In conclusion: Let's celebrate this Feast day by:

1. Seeking the Beauty of the Lord and not banalities;
2. Becoming beautified by His graces in purity and holiness;
3. Listening more to Heaven, God's Voice and the Virgin's hearkening;
4. like Bernadette, challenging the world in its sinfulness; and
5. spreading the Good News wherever we go-Remember the "roses on the feet"!