| The Song Of Bernadette (novel) |
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A phantasmagoria – a very camp of chaos In his Personal Preface to ''The Song of Bernadette'', Franz Werfel takes up the story:- “In the last days of June 1940, in flight after the collapse of France, the two of us, my wife and I, had hoped to elude our mortal enemies in time to cross the Spanish frontier to Portugal, but had to flee back to the interior of France on the very night German troops occupied the frontier town of Hendaye. The Pyrenean départements had turned into a phantasmagoria – a very camp of chaos. “This strange migration of people wandered about on the roads in their thousands obstructing towns and villages: Frenchmen, Belgians, Dutchmen, Poles, Czechs, Austrians, exiled Germans; and, mingled with these, soldiers of the defeated armies. There was barely food enough to still the extreme pangs of hunger. There was no shelter to be had. Anyone who had obtained possession of an upholstered chair for his night’s rest was an object of envy. In endless lines, stood the cars of the fugitives, piled high with household gear, with mattresses and beds. There was no petrol to be had. “A family settled in Pau told us that Lourdes was the one place where, if luck were kind, one might find a roof. Since Lourdes was but thirty kilometres distant, we were advised to make the attempt and knock on its gates. We followed this advice and found refuge at last in the little town of Lourdes in the foothills of the Pyrenees.” The beautiful story of Bernadette and Lourdes -The Song of Bernadette It was there, in her native town, that Franz Werfel became acquainted with the strange and beautiful story of Bernadette Soubirous . Hunted by the Gestapo throughout this time¹, Franz Werfel and his wife experienced excruciating anxiety, not just for themselves but they were endangering their hosts who were running the risk of being caught harbouring them.In the Werfels’ desperate situation, a number of families courageously came forward, taking turns in giving them shelter, and from those families they heard for themselves the moving events and the miraculous healings of Lourdes . The Song of Bernadette One day in great distress, Franz Werfel vowed that, if he and his wife escaped from their desperate situation, he would put off all tasks and ‘sing’, as best he could, ‘the song of Bernadette’. After many tribulations, eased by stout hearts in France and Spain and sterling work by the British Embassy in Lisbon&2 (in persuading the Spanish Authorities not to return them to the Germans occupying France), the Werfels reached the safety of America and this moving and noble book is the result. In Franz Werfel’s own words: ''‘This book is the fulfilment of my vow.’'' He died in 1945 and the Cardinal Archbishop of Los Angeles, having obtained the family’s permission, gave him a Christian burial. After the war, Franz Werfel was re-buried in Vienna. It is probably for the reasons that Franz Werfel was able to stay with so many families in Lourdes that ''The Song of Bernadette'' is such a treasure – not only containing information that Franz Werfel obtained first-hand from those families whose parents were with Bernadette, but also because of the many gems that are not in any other literary work on those miraculous happenings in Lourdes. It is interesting that many who visit Lourdes would love to know more about Bernadette and our Blessed Lady, and are unaware of the sturdy and loving character of our Lady’s little friend Bernadette who, with Heaven-sent grace, fought such a fearless fight for the authenticity of her visions. An innocent and simple maiden, Bernadette was given the grace and strength to convince the sombre Church Authorities of the message of Lourdes and, with our Lady’s help in that Herculean task, she succeeded. In 1858, when those momentous events took place, Bernadette was 14. At 16 the ailing child was very beautiful. At 22 she entered the Convent in Nevers and, driven hard, nearly died the same year. Four years later, in tending the war wounded in the hospital in Nevers, she left behind a trail of laughter and of ease. Following the death of Sister Sophie, the grace to encourage and sustain the survivors passed to Bernadette, whose cell became the heart of the house. In the last two years of her life, Bernadette’s body became a mere shadow; she died at 35. Bernadette’s body remains incorrupt and is laid in a glass reliquary in the Convent of St. Gildarde in Nevers, where it can be seen today. Franz Werfel points out that death extinguishes a human face in the twinkling of an eye, but death illuminated the face of Bernadette. EXTERNAL LINKS
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