Miracles At Lourdes

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In 1858 the 14-year old peasant girl Bernadette Soubirous from Lourdes reported that she had Marian Apparitions 18 times, the first on 11 February while she was gathering firewood with her sister and a friend. The Catholic Church investigated these claims closely and believes - unlike in many other reputed apparitions - that the apparitions were of Supernatural origin though others dispute this.

Since the beginning, the Miracles connected with Lourdes has been the subject of a diverse and often heated debate. This dispute reflected the contemporary quarrelling in France between proponents of the Christian belief and proponents of the Enlightenment on the other hand. The latter often argued that Bernadette suffered from Mental Illness and/or had Hallucination s.

THE CASE FOR MIRACLES AT LOURDES

Apparitions and Miracles

On the 9th apparition Bernadette was told to drink from the spring that flowed under the rock. Although there was no known spring there, and the ground was hard and dry, Bernadette assumed the apparition meant that the spring was underground. She did as she was told and dug into the dirt, and a small puddle appeared. The spring began to flow a day later.

This is the spring with claimed healing properties. In the 145 years since then, 70 cures have been ''"verified"'' by the Lourdes Bureau as "inexplicable", but only after scientific and medical examinations commissioned by the Catholic Church failed to find any other explanations.
Until today there are claims that Miraculous healings happen at the pilgrimage site which is visited by millions of Catholics each year. Connected with this alleged healing is often the consumation of or bathing in the so called ''Lourdes Water'' which wells out of the Grotto - the cave in which the apparitions took place in 1858.

During her sixteenth vision, the second of two "miracles of the candle" occurred. Bernadette was holding a lighted candle; during the vision it burned down, and the flame was in direct contact with her skin for over 15 minutes but she showed no sign of experiencing any pain. This was witnessed by many people present, including a doctor who timed and later documented it. According to his report, there was no sign that her skin was in any way affected, so he monitored Bernadette closely but did not intervene. After the vision ended, the doctor examined her hand but found no evidence of any burning, and she was completely unaware of what had been happening. The doctor then briefly applied a lighted candle to her hand and she reacted immediately.

The preservation of a Dead Body

Bernadette Soubirous was first Exhumed on September 2 1909 , in the presence of representatives appointed by the postulators of the cause, two doctors, and a sister of the community. Although the Crucifix in her hand and the Rosary had both Oxidized , her Body was found to be "incorrupt" — preserved from Decomposition , perhaps by supernatural means. This was one of the miracles cited for support of her canonization. Her body was washed and reclothed before burial in a new double casket.

The corpse was exhumed a second time on April 3 1919 . The body was found to be still preserved. There was slight discoloration of the face which has been explained as being due to the washing process of the first exhumation.

In 1925 , Relics were taken from her body and her face was sprayed with a film of Wax . The remains were then placed in a gold and glass reliquary in the Chapel of Saint Bernadette at the motherhouse in Nevers .

THE CASE AGAINST ALLEGED MIRACLES AT LOURDES

There is no reason to assume that, "Scientific and medical examinations commissioned by the Catholic Church" are Impartial . Neither is there reason to assume examinations by doctors of the Medical Bureau, regardless of their religious persuasion, have any bias at all. Critics in many cases will not be convinced unless observations are done by agents guaranteed to be impartial. However if there was proof of everything there would be no need for Faith , which believers claim is the basis of religious teachings.

Possible natural explanations for the apparitions and the Candle

Hallucination s can happen for natural reasons. One possibility would be that Hallucinogenic Fungi were mistaken for edible field Mushrooms . Mouldy grain can also contain hallucinogenic material, see Ergotism . The poor family could not necessarily have afforded the best grain.

Another possibility would be that Bernadette was overworked and tired, possibly suffering from Sleep Deprivation . The unfortunate girl was doing paid work as a Shepherd ess. When she was not doing paid work she was at school trying to learn using an unfamiliar form of French. When she was doing neither she was out collecting firewood. If the girls rested she may have become drowsy. If the girls did not rest she may have been so tired that she was close to falling asleep on her feet. In that state same people can experience Hypnagogic Hallucinations and Hypnopompic Hallucination . These are considered normal phenomena. Hypnagogic hallucinations can occur as one is falling asleep and hypnopompic hallucinations occur when one is waking up.

Notably the spring appeared, ‘a few days later’. An alternative explanation is that some people went to a place roughly where the vision occurred a few days later. They did not know the exact place. A spring that had previously been overlooked suddenly became important.

The alleged "miracle of the candle" is unclear. It is unclear if the observers were sufficiently close to observe if the candle was continuously in contact with Bernadette’s skin. It is also unclear if they were impartial observers or wanted to support the Roman Catholic Church.

Alleged Healings

Miracle cures at Lourdes are allegedly a Roman Catholic Hoax . Roman Catholics are not required to believe in the alleged miracles but even well educated Roman Catholics do. If the water has miraculous powers people could transport it to other countries and use it in Catholic hospitals. Blindness , Cancer , Paralysis and Tuberculosis are most frequently reported as cured. Countless Patient s suffer from these conditions outside Lourdes and are denied the supposedly miraculous water according a to Ed Babinski. {Link without Title}
Lourdes water is available on the Internet at 15.00 € or $ 18.15 for 10 cl and other prices. Cures are not guaranteed. {Link without Title}
55,000 Invalid s come daily to Lourdes. Very few are reported to be cured. Most patients leave as sick as they were on arrival. Critics maintain that some healings are incomplete, leaving the sufferer with disabilities or chronic illness, and that other claimed healings are likely to be the relatively rare but entirely unmiraculous Spontaneous Remission of illness or injury. Such remissions would be expected to occur in a few of the large numbers of ill (and perhaps credulous) people who visit such sites.

There is no discernable pattern showing the purpose of any hypothetical entity working miracles. Any such entity could prove its existence by, for example raising the dead or replacing Amputated limbs. In Mediaeval times when there were few doubters people claimed such dramatic miracles. Rationalists may fail to understand why an entity which wants to heal and can heal would help so few of the sick pilgrims. Therefore rationalists may assume no such entity exists. {Link without Title}

The proportion of patients allegedly cured has fallen over time. Before 1914 one in a hundred was allegedly cured. Between 1914 and 1928 there was one cure in seven hundred. Between 1928 and 1947 there was one cure in one thousand-six hundred. Between 1947 and 1990 there were only fifty-six recognized cures. There were 1.3 per year on average. There were 57 year before 1914. As medical knowledge increases the area where medical science cannot explain events diminishes. Despite this there are a few cases which present day medical science perhaps cannot explain according to the BMJ. {Link without Title}

According to Keith Parsons cures are more probably Psychosomatic or due to highly unusual coincidences of psychological and physiological causes. Some of the healings could be due to the Placebo Effect . Alleged miracles involve slow recoveries and questionable illnesses where proving Supernatural elements is hopeless. Mediaeval survivals and revivals are typically like that. {Link without Title}

Roman Catholic Priests and Roman Catholic doctors report alleged miracles.
Skeptics may wonder why no impartial outside observers are involved. There is always the possibility that important information is concealed. No reputable medical organisation endorses the so-called miracles. The BMJ has reported some but probably relied in Roman Catholic publications. Those with great faith are unlikely to recover. Bernadette Soubirous , allegedly remained chronically sick till she died. {Link without Title}

Natural explanations for the preservation of a Dead Body

Corpses, which appear not to decay may have been preserved artificially or Embalmed . This can apply to the corpse of Bernadette Soubhirous or other corpses. In other cultures Bernadette Soubirous could have been seen as a She-vampire rather than a saint. See, Incorruptibility In Other Cultures .

Burial in lime-impregnated Alkali soil can also preserve a corpse through Saponification of fat and soft tissue. Burial in anoxic Acid , wet conditions can Tan a dead body as with the famous Bog Bodies .

If a corpse is repeatedly dug up, examined and conserved this can also lead to apparent miraculous preservation. Wax masks may be used to conceal the poor condition of a corpse. {Link without Title}

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Miracles At Lourdes