The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-09-20
SICK AND LAME CURED.
TIE SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF
IoURDES AND ITS MIRACLES.

sacred Spot-What Faith Has Done
and Can Do-Recent Most Miraculous
cures.
From the Ne,o York Sun.
PARIS. Sept. IL send you herewith a
A;av of the monumental church of
1ourdes, and of the miraculous grotto and
.nring beueath it, which are at this mo-
,rent. and have been since Aug. Is, the
.cane of the most extraordinary and thrill
ing events recorded during the last fifty
years. s.. A..
hoaven of Mary, the Mother OF Our Re-
5eemer. was chosen by the bishops and peo-
ME of France to begin series of national
nrIlrrimages to this spot, rendered famous
bv fine apparition of the Blessed Virgin to
Rernadette SPURIOUS on Feb. IL, 1858, and
sinca then the theater of innumerable well
attested cures.
The clergy of the various provinces of
France had arranged beforehand to group
fhe pilgrims into well-ordered bands 50 as
Ia find easy railroad, hotel and hospital ac-
rommodation at every station of their Jour
new. These groups have now succeeded
each other daily since Aug. Is, in numbers
carving from 10000 to 1900 persons.
There were $4,000 pilgrims at Lourdes on
Aug. Is, and an equal number yesterday
and the day before, the concourse of pill
Trims increasing rather than falling off as
the end of the appointed time drew near
With each group of pilgrims comes a
large percentage of the sick and infirm. On
Arg. Is these numbered more than 900,
many of them having come from Belgium,
Switzerland, Italy and Spain, and not a
few from America, The Empress of Brazil,
her grandson, and suite spent three days
near the shrine.
Ia the cities along the route of these
pilgrmages every measure Is taken by
pious sodalities, organized fer this special
purpose, to offer ample hospitality to the
newcomers, to the sick and intrm in par
ticular Thus, for instance, at Poitiers,
on Sunday, Aug 10, as train after
train arrived at the railway sta
tion, the members of the sodalities, chiefly
composed of mobiles, professional men, cler-
gymen, with the ladies belonging to these
classes respectively, were in waiting to
escort the pilgrims TO their resting places.
There were carriages for all who could not
walk, and stretchers and ambulance wagons
for those VINO could not ride in carriages.
This last mode of conveyance is managed
by pious ambulance corps called brGncar
dierS (stretcher carriers.
In the city itself, to quote the words of an
SJ0 Vl1hCoS, tAAC N<OiACoO "a Cus oOoOph, bho
Convent of the Visitation, the great estab-
lishment of the Holy Cross, the house Of the
Brothers of st. Gabriel and the Hospital
Sisters, the Carmelite monastery, that of
La Providence, together with the mansions
of the Misses Lestarg and Bsffinet, threw
open their doors to receive our 800 sick.
The halls in these houses were transformed
into chapels. Priests, religious communi-
ties and the Sodalities, all vie with each
4
So all along the various lines OF railroad
converging toward Lourdes, the resident
gentry and clergy laid aside every occupa-
ton during the last three weeks in order to
help forward this great national manifesto
ton of living faith in him who was born of
the Virgin Mary.
And what was happening at Lourdes
itselfs
The correspondent of pUniuerse writes
from the spot on Aug. 20: "At this very
moment two groups of southern pilgrims
are coming in. In the grotto and at the
church thevoice of the multitude is heard
singing the Farce. Domino, pdrce popULo
tuo (''Spare, o, Lord. spare thy people y
This voice of supplication will resound there
increasingly from this hour forward. The
great national group of pilgrims is now at
Poitiers Hencefor ward we shall hear the
mighty cry of public prayer of the mass of
sick and infirm. Lourdes draws to itself
the eyes of all chrlstendom. The brancar-
dierS are at their post, the hospitals are all
open and waiting. Charity everywhere
opens her heart and her arms. The mother
of the incarnate God will show at the grotto
her tender motherly love for all these suffer
ers. Miracles and mercy are about to come
down on our land"
am only quoting. And now, omltting
all the heart-stirTing descriptions of the
scenes which took place at Lourdes itself,
let me ask your readers to come back with
me to Paris, where the 10 900 pilgrims have
just arrived in unspeakable enthusiasm and
exultation.
Emotion was at its highest pitch yester-
day in Paris" says La Croi1 of Aug rs,
''when the pilgrims from Lourdes arrived
at the station, for more cures had been
effected than had been telegraphed from the
grotto. Several of the most wonderful of
these were not even formally examined into
and certified by the twenty physicians form
ing the commission of inquiry at Lourdes;
for 1t requires no small courage to face all
the questioning of these conscientious men,
whose duty it is to raise all kinds OF doubts
and objections. What do | care,' said one
of those who had been miraculously restored
to health. What care | whether you be-
lieve or not in the reality of my curea l
know that am cured, and that is enough
for me-
But these authenticated accounts are
necessary; and we detail some of them.
AT present we are only speaking of the
arrival of the pilgrims in Paris. After the
mass of thanksgiving at the Church of the
hue Francois l., a certain number of the
persons cured came to give utterance to
their Joy. Here is an echo of what they
said. We do not yet publish any names;
Tor there has been no authentic inquiry into
their cases; we only describe and narrate to
enable the reader to picture to himself the
scene
Here comes Miss P. To see her step
ping firmly forward, no one could imagine
That she had been completely paralyzed
curing the last twelve years. During the
procession of the blessed sacrament from
the church to the grotto) she started up and
followed it, and then went down to the
grotto to thank God for her cure. She
walked all the way with firm step, and
she walks so still"
This is one of the MANY cases which are
examined thoroughly in Paris by the eccle-
aastical authorities and the foremost ply
sicians.
Now listen to what the correspondent of
PUntrers writes from Lourdes on Aug. "a:
Never since Lourdes was known has the
pace beheld such spectacle. Ten thousand
pligrlms have just gone up the mountain
s sI1.e to the great cross, singing the hymn
we la Croix," and while they were up
mere five persons were cured at the grotto.
but when, after returning from the noun
Cain side, the pilgrims followed to the
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