“Reconnaissance éternelle à la toute puissante Notre Dame de Lourdes pour la grace qu’elle m’a obtenue.
Paris, 30 Juillet, 1872.
“M. M.”
“Amour et reconnaissance à Notre Dame de Lourdes. Deux cœurs guéris et consolés.”
“A Notre Dame de Lourdes, Colonel L. S.
“6 Aout, 1870.”
“Reconnaissance éternelle à Notre Dame de Lourdes qui a guèri notre fille.”
There is a countless number of similar inscriptions, which are so many leaves torn from domestic histories, extremely touching and suggestive to read. They are eternal expressions of gratitude, which are doubtless pleasing to the Divine Benefactor, who is not regardless of one who returns to give thanks.
Our last visit to the crypt will never be forgotten. We had arrived at Lourdes the evening before, in a pouring rain, which still continued when we went at half-past four in the morning to attend the Mass of a clerical friend. It was with difficulty we made our way into the nave, crammed with pilgrims from Bretagne and La Vendée. The five chapels were filled with priests waiting for their turn to say Mass. Our friend had been there since two o’clock, and it was nearly seven before he found a vacancy at the altar. Masses likewise had been continually succeeding each other since midnight in the fifteen chapels of the church above. The place, it will be seen, is one of perpetual prayer.
Our devotions over at a late hour, we ascended a flight of twenty-six steps, which brought us to a broad terrace before the upper church commanding a lovely view of the valley, with the picturesque old castle directly in front. The sun had come out after the rain, and nothing could be more fresh and enchanting. On the terrace stood the four bells given by the Prince of Viana, and not yet hung. They were baptized August 11, by Cardinal Donnet of Bordeaux, in presence of a numerous crowd, including Don Sebastian de Bourbon, Infante of Spain, the Duc de Nemours, and the Prince of Béarn and Viana.