Sr. Maria Grazia Israel, O.Carm.
5. Silence
Some of the apparitions of the Virgin Mary to Bernadette occurred in complete silence, without words, especially the first two and then that final one on July 16. Our rule regarding Mary also "silently" conveys this, and yet Mary is so close to the Carmelites!
From Lourdes:
The moment was approaching when the Virgin Mary would leave the cave and not appear again. Perhaps the kind Mother wanted at this moment to remind her of the promise that she would make her happy not in this world, but in another? None of this did the Virgin Mary say or do, but with a noble tenderness that only mothers of this earth can understand, she preferred silence rather than to sadden her little girl. Throughout the entire apparition, she smiled and left the little girl full of joy.
The apparition at dusk lasted less than a quarter of an hour and the farewell was wordless, but it stirred a longing in the girl's heart along with joy and inexpressible enchantment: I had never seen her so beautiful.
From Carmel:
“The distinguishing feature of Carmelite spirituality is the life-giving and profound influence of the presence of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God and ours. Therefore it is said: ‘Carmel is altogether Marian,’ meaning that Carmel is a fully Marian order. But it may surprise us that the Mother of God is not mentioned in the ‘Rule’ given by the Patriarch Albert of Jerusalem to a group of Latin hermits on Mount Carmel, from whom the Carmelite order descends.”1
“The pious devotion to the Blessed Virgin did not have to be imposed by legal stipulations – not even by the ‘Rule’ – since it blossomed in their minds in the warmth of faith: in their souls, naturally Christian and inseparably Marian.”2
6. Chapel
The Lady asks Bernadette to have a chapel built at the site where she appeared. The Carmelites, even before Mary asked for it, dedicate their first chapel to her.
From Lourdes:
(When Bernadette went to inform the local priest of Our Lady's request that a procession come to the cave, he threw her out of the rectory.)
- “Aunt Basila, we have to go back. I forgot to tell him about the chapel.”
- “Count me out! We'll get sick from you!”
Bernadette searched in vain for someone to accompany her. Everyone distanced themselves from it. In the end, Dominika Cazenavová is found. (...) She goes to the rectory alone and arranges a meeting for a little later. At seven o'clock in the evening, when the priest has calmed down a bit. (...) Bernadette conveys the second part of her mission: “Tell the priests to have a chapel built here.”
- “A chapel... as soon as possible, even if it's quite small.”
- “A chapel? Is it for the procession? Can you be sure of that?”
- “Yes, Father, I am sure!”3
From Carmel:
“Whoever wishes to go from this city of Acre to Egypt (...), may, if he wants, go through Mount Carmel (...). There lies a revered chapel, built in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. From this mountain and from this chapel – as they say – the brothers of the Carmelites have their origin and name, called the Brothers of the Blessed Mary of Mount Carmel.” (Testimony of a pilgrim about the chapel on Carmel, written around 1332).4
Another fact that has influenced the life of the Order from the very beginning, so much so that it is referred to in history as the Marian order, was the dedication of the oratory (small church) built in the midst of the monastic cells to the Most Holy Virgin Mary, who was later invoked as Our Lady of Mount Carmel (from Mount Carmel). It was not an accidental event, but a deliberate decision expressing the intimate devotion that the brothers displayed towards the Virgin Mary.
7. Secret
During the eighteen apparitions, the Virgin Mary entrusted three secrets to Bernadette. In Carmelite mysticism, it is very common that divine “secrets” are revealed in an intimate connection with God.
From Lourdes:
“During those fifteen days, she also revealed to me three secrets, but forbade me to tell anyone. I have faithfully kept that to this day.”5
These secrets concern “neither France, nor the world, nor the Church, nor the Pope, nor others”; they concern only Bernadette:
- “This secret concerns only me,” she told Father Sacareau.
- “Only me,” she told Father de Lajudie.
Secret of Massabielle
The Virgin Mary entrusted to Bernadette on the Gave River three secrets and one prayer with the command:
“I forbid you to tell anyone about it.”
Bernadette dutifully observed the command and kept everything to herself. To those who bothered her, she mostly replied:
- “You are too curious; you will find out nothing.”
- “Do you know what a secret means? I was commanded to be silent.”6
From Carmel:
From the writings of Carmelite mystics:
“My beloved sister! Would you like to hear the secrets that Jesus entrusts to your little daughter? He entrusts these secrets to you as well, I know, for you have taught me to receive God's teachings. But I will try to stammer a few words, even though I feel that it is impossible for human words to repeat things that the human heart can hardly hint at...
Do not believe that I abound in comforts! Oh no! My comfort is that I have none on earth. Jesus does not reveal Himself, does not make His voice heard, teaches in secret. (...)
Beloved sister, how happy we are to grasp the intimate secrets of our Bridegroom! If you wanted to write everything you know about them, we could read beautiful pages. But I know you prefer to keep “the secrets of the King” in your heart. You tell me that it is “honorable to make the works of the Most High public.” I find you are right in keeping silence. Just to please you, I write these lines. I feel that I am not capable of repeating heavenly secrets in earthly words.”7
“However, after this pleasant surrender of the bride and the Beloved, what follows immediately after is the bed of both, where she experiences much more intimately the mentioned delights of the Bridegroom. Thus, the following song deals with his and her bed, which is divine, chaste, and pure, and upon which even the soul is divine, chaste, and pure. Because the bed is nothing other than the Bridegroom himself, the Word, the Son of God, as it is further said, upon whom, through the mentioned union of love, she lies down. (...)”8
“By being united with Him and leaning on Him, she receives the breast and love of the Beloved, which means that wisdom, secrets, grace, virtues, and gifts of God are communicated to her...”9
“In this state of spiritual marriage, the Bridegroom easily and frequently reveals wonderful secrets to the soul as His faithful companion, for true and complete love cannot hide anything from the one whom it loves. He first shares the sweet secrets of His incarnation and the ways and likeness of human redemption, which is one of the most sublime Divine works; and so it becomes all the more pleasant for the soul.”10
“There He gave me His breast. – To give one’s breast to another means to give them one's love and friendship and to reveal secrets like a friend. Thus, the utterance of the soul that He gave her His breast there says that He shared with her His love and His secrets, which God does with the soul in this state.”11
8. Rose
The Immaculate Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette above the rose bushes and had two golden roses at her feet. But even before the apparitions in Lourdes, the Carmelites had invoked Mary with deep respect by the title “Rose of Carmel.”
From Lourdes:
- “Father Priest, the Lady still wants a chapel.”
- “Did you ask her for her name?”
- “Yes, but she just smiles.”
- “She's teasing you!”
The priest hesitates for a moment. Then he thinks of asking for a sign. “Alright, if she wants a chapel, let her say her name and cause the rose bush under the cave to bloom.” And he adds:
- “If she says her name and lets the roses bloom, then we will build her a chapel. But no small one, one that befits her; a large and majestic one!”12
- “What color were the roses at her feet?”
- “Like the rosary; yellow and shining like gold.”
- “Do you know what those roses mean?”
- “No, Father.”
From Carmel:
In Carmelite prayers, Mary is often called “rose.” I will provide a few examples from the Italian context, however translated into prose.
Rose of Carmel,
blooming Mary,
carry us in your womb
and bring us to heaven, O Mary.
(ancient antiphon)
Hail, flower of Carmel,
hail, flourishing vine,
you are the light of heaven,
Virgin and Mother, unique rose.
Ref. Sweet Mother and all beautiful,
lead your children, sea star,
drive away every storm
with your holy scapular.
(Carmelite Sibert de Beka, † 1332)
From the branch of the sinful first mother Eve, the blooming rose
unfolded, Mary.
She rises like a star among heavenly bodies,
beautiful as the moon.
Fragrant, surpassing balm, ointment, and perfume;
delicate as a violet, full of dew like a rose,
shining as a lily.
God’s child of the eternal Father, who chose her
to take upon Himself the most holy body from the unblemished body of the virgin.
(Carmelite folk song)
9. Bernadette and Carmel, Carmel and Bernadette
From Lourdes:
In her desire to become a nun, Bernadette was mainly attracted to the contemplative life. Her godmother Bernarda Castérotová testifies: “Right after the apparition, she intended to become a religious sister; she wanted to be a Carmelite.” Another aunt, Basila Castérotová, confirms: “I understood that Bernadette wanted to become a religious sister. I also heard her say she couldn’t wait to go to the monastery; she never mentioned when this idea came to her. But I believe she longed for a more enclosed convent and a stricter order, and that it was Father Peyramale who advised her to join the Sisters of Nevers for her health.” Marteau du Rais told Bernadette that after her first holy communion (June 3, 1858), she was encouraged to make a decision for Carmel.
Carmel... Very soon, already in the spring of 1858, she heard about it from Antonie Tardhivailová, her caring teacher. On September 21, 1858, she then met the famous Carmelite Father Augustine (Hermann Cohen). This Jewish musician and convert, regarded as a saint, sparked great enthusiasm in Lourdes when he sang and lectured at the cave.
The Carmelite convent in Bagnères was also not far away, and Bernadette apparently visited it shortly after the apparitions. When, is unknown. Silence, the grille, passing objects through the revolving door, deciphering living persons behind a black veil, all this was a sign of a mysterious life, shielded from the world's curiosity. Carmel corresponded to her inclination towards hidden life, in contrast to her everyday trials. But this intention was immediately rejected.
They made it clear to her that her health does not permit her to become a Carmelite – explains godmother Bernarda.13
From Carmel:
An eye disease forced the barefoot Carmelite Father Augustine Mary of the Most Holy Sacrament (Hermann Cohen) by doctors' orders to take absolute rest. This was precisely when the Virgin Mary was appearing in Lourdes. Father Augustine was aware of the apparitions from his good friends. He decided to take this opportunity and go to Lourdes himself to ask the Immaculate Virgin Mary for the healing of his eyes. After a gradual improvement, his sight was suddenly completely restored.
Father Augustine later returned to Lourdes to celebrate Holy Mass there in thanksgiving.
That morning (September 21, 1858), commotion arose very early... The venerable Father Augustine and Doctor Dozous left the city together and descended to the cave. There, amid a crowd of onlookers drawn by Father Carmelite's presence, he sang in a clear voice the Magnificat and the psalm. His voice echoed far, along the road leading to Pau. On the same day, Father Augustine spoke at length with Bernadette. Bernadette was accustomed to the questions of church figures; she answered briefly and tried to avoid them politely; however, the meeting with Father Carmelite was long and cordial.
He, once a great sinner, saved by the Eucharist and now fully a child of the Virgin Mary, and the shepherdess of the Pyrenees understood each other perfectly. Bernadette remembered this meeting for a long time.
Pilgrims bl. Marie of Jesus Crucified (the little Arab girl)
On their way from Pau to Bethlehem, where they were to establish a convent, the sisters stopped in Lourdes. The expedition consisted of seven choir sisters, one novice, two serving sisters (one of them is Sister Mary), Monsignor Bordachar, Father Estrate, and the founder Berta Dartigaux. On August 20, 1875, they bid farewell to Carmel in Pau. Thanks to the travel diary kept by Father Estrate, we can trace the individual stops of these fortunate pilgrims to the Holy Land.
The first stop is Lourdes. On the return journey from Mangalore, Sister Marie of Jesus Crucified promised the Virgin Mary this visit. After Holy Mass in the cave, “the little Arab girl” must escape the intrusive attention of the crowd pressing around her. The reputation of the visions and the stigmata of the Sister from Pau had spread very far! They compared her to Bernadette. For example, one pilgrim turned to Sister Marie and (not knowing her) asked: “Sister, can you tell me where to find that saint?” She, with a kind smile, pointed to Sister Josephine, who was continuously praying the rosary: “That is she.” The lady immediately moved to her and recommended herself to her prayers.
Henri Lassarre, the famous author of the book “Notre-Dame de Lourdes,” managed to speak with the little Arab girl for five minutes, and after this short conversation, he was beaming and felt very pleased.14
And so, in conclusion of these thoughts, let us expressly and with satisfaction say of Sister Maria Grazia: love for Our Lady of Mount Carmel does not close our hearts to other aspects of Marian devotion! On the contrary. Through various paths and through different places and events, we draw closer together to the Mother of God and our Mother and, with her help, to her Son and through Him to the Father.
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