THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
story of the apparitions, which were seen only by Bernadette, is as follows: On Thursday, Feb. 11, 1S5S, in company with her sister Marie and Jeanne Abadie, a playmate of about the same age, she went to gather sticks for fire- wood along the banks of the Gave in the suburbs of the town. Arriving at a mill-race near a grotto in the mountain side, the two companions crossed over, and Bernadette, intending to do the same, remained behind a few minutes in order to remove her shoes and stockings. While thus occupied she was startled by a noise as of a great wind, though the atmosphere was at the time quite calm. In a moment her attention was drawn to a briar-bush growing beneath a kind of natural niche at the opening of the grotto. The bush seemed agitated; a " golden cloud " appeared above it, and above tha cloud in front of the niche appeared the form of a woman. She was youthful and beautiful in appearance, robed in white with a blue sash around her waist. Her feet were bare but on each was a gold-colored rosette, and in her hands was a rosary of white beads strung on a golden chain. She smiled graciously and beckoned to Bernadette to approach. The latter obeyed and at the same time began instinctively to recite her beads. The lady then assumed an attitude of silent prayer, reciting, however, with Bernadette the Gloria Patri at the end of each decad. In the mean time the other two companions had returned. They were naturally surprised to find Bernadette on her knees praying in such a place, and seeing nothing themselves to account for her enraptured gaze, they laughed at her and brought her home. Here the experience was treated as an illusion and the girl was forbidden to return to the grotto. On the following Sunday, however (Feb. 14), she obtained permission to revisit the place in company with a few children of her own age. She again saw the same vision and soon went into an ecstasy from which she was aroused by a woman living near, who was attracted to the scene by the other girls who, though seeing nothing, were amazed and alarmed at the changed appearance of their companion. After this experience she was again restrained from going to the grotto, but a few ladies of the town moved by curiosity brought her back on Feb. 18. The mysterious lady appeared as before, and speaking to Bernadette asked her to return to the place daily for a fortnight. She promised to do so, and on the three following days (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) the same experiences were enacted at the grotto in the presence of an ever-increasing crowd of spectators. Nothing was seen by any of them, but they were all deeply impressed by the ecstatic expression on the features of the little girl. Indeed, so great had become the crowd of onlookers that the civil authorities saw fit to interfere, and the day following a couple of policemen were detailed to accompany Bernadette to the grotto, but on this occasion nothing was seen. The next day, however, the vision again appeared and also on the following day (Feb. 24) on which occasion Bernadette received a command from the lady to dig a hole in the ground at the entrance of the grotto. This she did with her hands, and at once
a stream of water appeared (the place had previously been perfectly dry) which gradually increased in volume until it became a settled perennial spring furnishing water in abundance for the piscinas and taps used by the pilgrims (about 33,000 gallons per day). The apparition was seen again on Feb. 26, and on the 27th, when Bernadette received the command to " go and tell the priests to build a chapel " at the spot. On Sunday, Feb. 28, the experience took place in the presence of more than 2,000 spectators. The phenomenon recurred on the two following days, but on Mar. 3 nothing was seen. Mar. 4 was the last of the fifteen days on which Bernadette had promised to visit the grotto. A multitude of 15,000 expectant persons crowded about the place; the vision came as usual, but nothing extraordinary occurred. Bernadette returned on the following days but nothing appeared until Mar. 25 (feast of the Annunciation), when in answer to Bernadette's request that the mysterious lady tell her name, she received the reply: " I am the Immaculate Conception." Twelve days passed without any further manifestation, but on Apr. 7 the vision was renewed, and still again three months later, July 16. This was the eighteenth and last apparition. From the outset the local ecclesiastical authorities held aloof and showed themselves scarcely less skeptical than the civil functionaries. Bernadette was put through long and trying interrogatory ordeals on the part of both, but she maintained her story even to its details without contradicting herself under severe cross-examination, and it remained the conviction of her examiners that she was truthful and sincere in relating her experiences. In this connection it is worth noting that she never sought notoriety or any pecuniary advantage as a result of the visions, and besides, it was freely admitted as inconceivable that one so young and so mentally deficient could concoct and successfully carry out a deceptive scheme of such magnitude. Shortly after the events above related she went to live with the Hospital Sisters established in the town, and it was only when she was eighteen years of age that she finished learning how to read and write. She later became a member of the order at the age of twenty-two and went to live in the convent of Nevers, where she died at the age of thirty-five. Apart from the apparitions at the grotto she never had any extraordinary psychic experience.
The great sensation produced by the apparitions, and the repeated assertion that miracles were being wrought at the grotto, made it necessary for the local church authorities to make an investigation, and an episcopal commission to that effect was appointed by Mgr. Laurence, bishop of Tarbes, in July, 1858. The inquiry referred not only to the apparitions, but also to the alleged miraculous occurrences, and the results were embodied in a report submitted to Mgr. Laurence four years later. It was favorable throughout to the miraculous and supernatural character of the episodes, and in Jan., 1862, the bishop issued a decision to the effect that: " these apparitions have all the characteristics of truth, and that the faithful are justified in believing them to be true. We humbly submit our