The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1922-09-23

New York Most Famous In MS
Country.
Although these be days of marvellous
medical therapeutics, the holy shrine
still holds its own as a healing agency.
Indeed, the belief in it's miraculous
power, like the belief in other super
natural phenomena, is evidently great
ly on the increase. New shrines are
s%pringing up all over the world, and
old ones are attracting greater num-
bers of patients than ever before.
The annual pilgrimage of the afflict-
ed to Lourdes this year, for instance,
has been exceptionally large. Patients,
many of whom are carried on stretch
ers or rolled In wheel chairs, have
been taken to the little French town
from points as far distant as Belfast
and Belgrade. In the past, most of
the pilgrims were practically without
hope of relief through medical assist
ance, but this year large number
suffering only minor ailments are
seeking the shrine, inspired by the
new theory of auto-suggestion and
other faith cures.
Lourdes, which contains the most
famous of the worlds healing shrines,
Is situated In a charming valley at the
entrance of that huge chain of noun
tains separating France from Spain,
known as the Pyrenees. Until 1858
it was a quiet, self-effacing little town,
visited only by sagacious tourists
searching for unusual rustic scenery
and quaint architecture, but in that
year it suddenly acquired widespread
fame, owing to the alleged miraculous
experience of a fourteen-year-old
shepherdess.
1t is recorded that one day while
this young lady, whose name was
Bernadette Soubirous, was out gather
ing firewood with her younger sister
near the now famous Massabielle Rock
she was suddenly confronted by a
vision. 1t appeared in the form of a
beautiful young woman, dressed all
in white with the exception of a blue
sash around the waist. The entire
figure was surrounded by a bright halo
VI llSll, Ut tilt SlSlll VI AllNh bClld-
dette fell down upon her knees and
remained in a state Of ecstasy until
the vision faded.
- Like Joan Of Arc.asMGas .
When TIE GIL sseturAeAk Nome and
rec0unted her experience, her family
received the storyfcoldly and decided
to have her treated fop hallucina-
tons. But as Bernadette continued
to see visions with great persistency,
in one of which appeared a figure
claiming to be the Virgin Mary, the
villagers began to place some credence
In her story. The thing had happened
to Jeanne dare, who was also a simple
peasant girl-why not to Bernadette?
Thus the tale spread rapidly from
town to town until the whole of
Europe was interested and people be-
gan to arrive by the thousands to see
the sacred spot where the visions had
invariably appeared to the shepherd
eSS.
Then, suddenly, the report went
forth hat miraculous cures were TAX
ing place In Lourdes, near The spring
in the grotto visited by the vision. A
blind boy had regained his eyesight;
another, who had been deaf, could
now heal plainly, n an old Wom-
an paralytic was able to walk after
having been a helpless invalid for
five years. At last a small statue of
the Virgin Mary was placed in the
grotto, which signified the church's Of
fetal acceptance of Bernadette Sou
birous' story.
Since then, hundreds of thousands of
individuals have knelt before Our Lady
of Lourdes, as the little statue is
called, and prayed that they might
be cured. And many marvellous cures
have actually taken place, If one may
believe the testimony of numerous
amazed spectators as well as that OF
various grateful pilgrims.
One of last years cases, for eX-
ample, was hat of a young woman
with a badly twisted ankle, resulting
from a fall. Several surgical opera
lions had failed to correct he trouble
and she was able to walk only with
the aid of a specially-made brace and
crutches. When she left Lourdes,
however, she left these aids to loco
motion behind her. In describing her
sensations while the cure was TAX
ing place the young said:
upon kissing the statue OF Our
Lady the second time / felt a severe
pain shoot through my crippled leg
and something seemed to crack be-
hind my knee. l then kissed the
statue a third time, after which the
ankle Strengthened out, all pain In
stantly vanished, and | walked for
ward unaided."
The French have another famous
shrine located in Brittany, known as
the shrine of Ste. Anne d'Auray, which
has peer steadily working similar
miracles ever since the year 1873.
Here the statue of Ste. Anne presides
oyer a fountain, the waters of which
are said to be marvelously nehcl
for diseased eyes and crippled limbs.
Along the road leading 10 the shrine
one finds the curious basin stones OF
If YOU WENT AWAY