This girl died 135 years ago. Now she lies in a glass coffin. The shadow of death did not touch her face. She seems to be asleep in a sound, restful sleep and, like a sleeping princess, is waiting for her prince to wake her up with a gentle kiss.
The phenomenon of the "white lady"
Maria Bernarda (or Bernadette) Soubirous was born on January 7, 1844 in a village near the French city of Lourdes into a poor family. Her father was a miller and her mother was a laundress. Bernadette was the eldest of five children who survived childhood. They lived in such poverty that the girl could not get any education, and at the age of 12 she was forced to hire a servant.
On February 11, 1858, Bernadette went with her sister and friend to fetch some brushwood. Suddenly, she heard a slight noise and saw that the nearby grotto was illuminated by a gentle, living light, and a rosehip bush at the entrance swayed, as if from the wind. In the lighted grotto, the girl saw "something white, like a young lady" (her companions did not notice anything).
Over the next six months, the "white lady" was shown to Bernadette 17 times. During 11 apparitions, she did not say anything, then called for repentance and prayer for sinners and ordered to build a chapel on this place.
After several persistent requests from Bernadette to give her name, the "young lady" finally answered: "I am the Immaculate Conception." This answer confused the local priest: an illiterate girl, who was not even given a catechism, could not know about the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, proclaimed by Pope Pius IX four years earlier, and, therefore, she did not invent anything.
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The "young lady" ordered Bernadette to dig a hole in the corner of the grotto, from which a spring with healing water then burst out. Crowds of pilgrims flocked to Lourdes, hungry for healing.
In 1868, Bernadette entered the convent in Nevers, where she looked after the sick and did needlework. She believed that there was no merit of her own in the fact that the Mother of God appeared to her: “I had no right to this mercy. The Most Holy Virgin took me as they raise a pebble from the road … If the Most Holy Virgin chose me, it is because I was the most ignorant. If she found someone even more ignorant than me, she would choose her."
The Miracle of Saint Bernadette
On April 16, 1879, Maria Bernarda died of tuberculosis at only 35 years old. On April 19, she was buried in a galvanized oak coffin.
Meanwhile, the rumor about the poor girl, to whom the Mother of God appeared, and about the miraculous power of the Lourdes spring, spread throughout France, and the question arose about the canonization of Mary Bernarda. For this it was necessary to carry out a canonical examination of the body of the deceased. The exhumation was carried out on September 22, 1909. A detailed official account of this is in the archives of the Monastery of Saint-Gildard. It says that at 8:30 am the coffin was opened in the presence of Monsignor Gaultier, Bishop of Nevers, and members of the diocesan tribunal.
Upon removing the lid of the coffin, the perfectly preserved body of Bernadette was found. Her face was radiant with maiden beauty, her eyes were closed, as if she were immersed in a peaceful sleep, and her lips were open. The head was slightly bent to the left, the arms were folded over the chest and entwined with strongly rusted rosary; her skin, from under which the veins were visible, adhered to the tissues in perfect condition; likewise, the nails on the hands and feet were in excellent condition.
A detailed examination of the body was performed by two doctors. After taking off the vestments, Bernadette's whole body looked like living, was elastic and intact in every part. After the investigation, a protocol was drawn up with the signatures of doctors and witnesses. The sisters-nuns washed and dressed the body in new robes, and then placed it in a new, double coffin, which was closed, sealed and placed back in the old tomb.
The exhumation was carried out twice more - in 1919 and in 1925, and again the body turned out to be incorrupt. After that, the remains were placed in a reliquary in the chapel of St. Bernadette in Ne-Faith. Beatification (rite of being blessed) took place on June 14, 1925, canonization - on December 8, 1933. Memorial Day Saint Bernadette - April 16. In France, her day is also celebrated on February 18.
The place of the appearance of the Virgin Mary to Saint Bernadette has become one of the main centers of Catholic pilgrimage. Up to five million pilgrims come to Lourdes every year. Sources in the Catholic Church claim that in the first 50 years of the pilgrimage, at least 4,000 people received a complete cure from a variety of diseases. On the site of the apparition grotto, the Notre Dame de Lourdes temple was erected.
Beautiful fairy tale
The state of the body of Saint Bernadette is contrary to all the laws of nature and science. 135 years after death, one skeleton should remain from the body. After cardiac arrest, blood stops circulating, body cells do not receive oxygen and die after a few minutes. The decomposition of the body largely depends on the conditions in which it is located, but usually this process begins after a few days.
After a few weeks, hair and nails are detached from the body. After a few months, body tissues take on a liquid form. After a year, one skeleton and teeth are usually left from the body, and only traces of tissue. The body of Saint Bernadette is not in the least exposed to the processes of decomposition - neither external nor internal - and to this day it retains amazing freshness and beauty.
Miracle? But what is a miracle? This is what we call what the human mind and science in its current state cannot give a clear explanation.
The relics - the remains of the saints of the Christian Church - have been the object of religious veneration in the Orthodox and Catholic Churches from time immemorial. But most of the relics are skeletal bones or dried bodies that have undergone natural mummification in special burial conditions (for example, in the dry and cold climate of the caves of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery).
There are two main positions that explain the excellent preservation of the human body after death. The Church believes that the bodies of the saints did not undergo decomposition according to the will of God, who preserved the relics incorrupt especially for the believers. In addition, it is believed that the remains of the saints of God contain the grace that can heal diseases.
Science believes that the safety of a corpse directly depends on the conditions in which it was kept. If it is dry soil, well absorbing liquid, and a cool climate, then the body has a better chance of being preserved (mummified) than if it was in a humid environment. In addition, there are a number of ways to slow down decomposition (for example, embalming, known since ancient times).
Of particular note is saponification - the process of converting human fat into wax (fat wax). In this case, the body after death completely retains its weight (in contrast to the process of mummification) and outwardly may look imperishable. Although, of course, it is not.
But Bernadette's body lay in a damp grave for 30 years. And there are no signs of decay or mummification on it. That is, it is incorruptible. Her facial features are completely preserved, her hands have not changed at all, even her nails look flawless. No doubt a miracle. But only for believers. For scientists, nothing is sacred. After conducting research, they found that the excellent preservation of the body is not due to a miracle, but to ordinary human intervention, namely, wax, which was applied in a thin layer to Bernadette's dry face during the second exhumation, completely repeating his features.
But what about hands and other parts of the body, which are also preserved in perfect condition? Pundits found an explanation here too. They believe that the relics of the real Saint Bernadette have long been stored in a nearby crypt (just in case), and only a wax figure is on display in a glass coffin. In this case, perhaps only the face and hands. Everything else is hidden by clothing. And now the pilgrims, from a respectful distance (since visitors are not allowed close to the glass coffin with Bernadette's "body"), are watching the wax figure.
If you look closely at two photographs of Bernadette (shortly before her death and today), you might even think that over the many years of "incorruptible" existence, our heroine has become even more prettier and transformed. In addition, the facial features of modern Bernadette do not coincide in any way with the facial features of the same saint, only 130 years ago.
It is noteworthy that all the saints were allowed to be filmed from different angles: without coffins, clothes, etc. Everyone except Bernadette. Why? The answer seems obvious - the Catholic Church is trying in every possible way to preserve a beautiful fairy tale about a young girl, whom the Mother of God herself appeared to during her lifetime and who, after death, was able to defeat the laws of nature, managed to preserve (and even transform) her body. It still attracts crowds of pilgrims from all over the world and brings popularity to the Catholic faith.
Mikhail YURIEV