Two of my favorite feast days are happening this week. Our Lady of Guadalupe which is celebrated on December 12th is the one of them. I shall probably have to make some Mexican dish for dinner tonight in her honor.
But getting back to the other, to OL Lourdes, which was celebrated on December 11th and is of course the subject of this post, have you watched "Bernadette" and it's sequel "The Passion of Bernadette?" If not I highly recommend these two films staring Sydney Penny and directed by Jean Delanoy. I've been enjoying them this past week while sewing away all my Christmas orders.
The feast of The Immaculate Conception was the title that Our Lady gave to St. Bernadette at the Grotto in Lourdes. Our Lady prayed the Rosary with Bernadette, asked for penance, provided the
miraculous water, and asked that a chapel be built there in her honor.
Sydney Penny was 15 when they filmed Bernadette and 18 when they shot it's sequel. She gives a very honest and convincing portrayal of the simple, unassuming young saint who receives a message from The Blessed Virgin Mary.
Despite the fact that Bernadette was very poor, asthmatic, and struggled with what today would undoubtably be labeled as learning disabilities, she accepts everything with humility. She also accepts the ridicule of the townspeople and the threats of the government officials. The Blessed Mother had told her that she couldn't promise Bernadette happiness in this life, but only in the next.
Today her body lies incorrupt in a glass coffin at the convent in Nevers, France.
See how beautiful she is? It's as though she is only sleeping. The soul of Bernadette is now happy and in Heaven with Jesus and Mary forever. I hope to keep it in mind that my life is very short and will end very soon and then eternity awaits.