After Holy Mass this morning, we met at the Reading Club, and Father asked me to read the chapter summary.
Today’s chapter told how the doctors and scientific men of Lourdes could no longer deny that people were really being cured by the water from the Grotto.
At first, they had laughed at Bernadette and called her visions childish nonsense. Then, when the cures began, they tried to say that the sick people had been healed by their own imaginations. But as more cures took place and the evidence became harder to dismiss, that explanation no longer worked.
So they changed their argument.
Now they said that the water must contain some very powerful natural mineral. In that way, they could admit that the cures were real without admitting that God had anything to do with them.
The chapter included a letter written by Doctor Lary about a woman named Galop. Rheumatism had made her left hand almost useless. She could not spin, make her bed, draw water from the well, or safely carry glasses and dishes.
After one visit to Lourdes, where she used the water from the Grotto, she regained nearly all the use of her hand.
Doctor Lary honestly admitted that she had greatly improved, but he believed the water must contain alkali. Other medical men began using the same explanation for almost every cure, even those that happened so suddenly that ordinary mineral water could hardly account for them.
The believers then asked a very sensible question.
Why had this remarkable spring appeared at the exact moment Bernadette, while in ecstasy, heard the Lady tell her to drink and wash? Why had it come forth during the heavenly visions? And why were the sick going to it with prayer and faith rather than upon the advice of their doctors?
The unbelievers answered that it was all chance. They said Bernadette had accidentally uncovered the spring while digging in the earth during a hallucination.
But the faithful thought that explaining everything by chance did more violence to reason than believing that God had acted through Providence.
By the end of the chapter, the men who had first denied the spring, then denied the cures, and finally admitted both, began speaking of government control. They said the water ought to belong to the State or the town and that no one should be allowed to use it without a doctor’s permission.
Some even said that a bathing establishment would be more suitable at the Grotto than a chapel.
That was how matters stood when the Prefect’s measures against the Grotto began, along with the attempt to have Bernadette confined as insane. But Curé Peyramale unexpectedly stepped forward and prevented it.
When I finished reading, everyone was quiet for a moment.
Father said the chapter showed how error often retreats one step at a time. First it laughs at the truth. Then it denies the truth. Finally, when the truth can no longer be denied, it tries to explain it without acknowledging God.
Sister Mary Claire said that the doctors were right to examine the cures carefully. Faith does not ask anyone to be careless or foolish. But she said it was not reasonable to decide beforehand that no explanation involving God could ever be accepted.
Robert said, “They were willing to believe that the water could do almost anything, just so long as Heaven received no credit.”
That began a lively discussion.
Father reminded us that truth does not need to be frightened or hurried. It remains true even when people laugh at it, argue against it, or try to explain it away.
I liked that very much.
Before the meeting ended, Father led us in prayer. We thanked God for the gift of reason and asked Him to protect us from pride. We also prayed for doctors and scientists, that their learning might always be joined with humility and an honest love of truth.
It was another peaceful Reading Club meeting. The story of Lourdes becomes more interesting with every chapter, because the more the truth was resisted, the more clearly it seemed to shine.
Dear Blessed Mother, help me never to turn away from the truth merely because it leads me closer to God. Teach me to be humble, honest, and ready to accept whatever is true. Amen.
Good night, dear Diary.
Kathy
Today’s chapter told how the doctors and scientific men of Lourdes could no longer deny that people were really being cured by the water from the Grotto.
At first, they had laughed at Bernadette and called her visions childish nonsense. Then, when the cures began, they tried to say that the sick people had been healed by their own imaginations. But as more cures took place and the evidence became harder to dismiss, that explanation no longer worked.
So they changed their argument.
Now they said that the water must contain some very powerful natural mineral. In that way, they could admit that the cures were real without admitting that God had anything to do with them.
The chapter included a letter written by Doctor Lary about a woman named Galop. Rheumatism had made her left hand almost useless. She could not spin, make her bed, draw water from the well, or safely carry glasses and dishes.
After one visit to Lourdes, where she used the water from the Grotto, she regained nearly all the use of her hand.
Doctor Lary honestly admitted that she had greatly improved, but he believed the water must contain alkali. Other medical men began using the same explanation for almost every cure, even those that happened so suddenly that ordinary mineral water could hardly account for them.
The believers then asked a very sensible question.
Why had this remarkable spring appeared at the exact moment Bernadette, while in ecstasy, heard the Lady tell her to drink and wash? Why had it come forth during the heavenly visions? And why were the sick going to it with prayer and faith rather than upon the advice of their doctors?
The unbelievers answered that it was all chance. They said Bernadette had accidentally uncovered the spring while digging in the earth during a hallucination.
But the faithful thought that explaining everything by chance did more violence to reason than believing that God had acted through Providence.
By the end of the chapter, the men who had first denied the spring, then denied the cures, and finally admitted both, began speaking of government control. They said the water ought to belong to the State or the town and that no one should be allowed to use it without a doctor’s permission.
Some even said that a bathing establishment would be more suitable at the Grotto than a chapel.
That was how matters stood when the Prefect’s measures against the Grotto began, along with the attempt to have Bernadette confined as insane. But Curé Peyramale unexpectedly stepped forward and prevented it.
When I finished reading, everyone was quiet for a moment.
Father said the chapter showed how error often retreats one step at a time. First it laughs at the truth. Then it denies the truth. Finally, when the truth can no longer be denied, it tries to explain it without acknowledging God.
Sister Mary Claire said that the doctors were right to examine the cures carefully. Faith does not ask anyone to be careless or foolish. But she said it was not reasonable to decide beforehand that no explanation involving God could ever be accepted.
Robert said, “They were willing to believe that the water could do almost anything, just so long as Heaven received no credit.”
That began a lively discussion.
Father reminded us that truth does not need to be frightened or hurried. It remains true even when people laugh at it, argue against it, or try to explain it away.
I liked that very much.
Before the meeting ended, Father led us in prayer. We thanked God for the gift of reason and asked Him to protect us from pride. We also prayed for doctors and scientists, that their learning might always be joined with humility and an honest love of truth.
It was another peaceful Reading Club meeting. The story of Lourdes becomes more interesting with every chapter, because the more the truth was resisted, the more clearly it seemed to shine.
Dear Blessed Mother, help me never to turn away from the truth merely because it leads me closer to God. Teach me to be humble, honest, and ready to accept whatever is true. Amen.
Good night, dear Diary.
Kathy
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