THE MIRACLES AT LOURDES.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2591, 7 December 1893, Page 4

THE MIRACLES AT LOURDES.

The following, which has been translated from the French by Mrs Dr Hayes, at the request or the Rev. Father Fanvel, has been handed to ns for publication :—Since the famous visit of the novelist Zola to Lourdes the incredulous press has not been able to refrain from sometimes mentioning' this town, and the extraordinary facts that happened there. It is not very uncommon to hear religion shamelessly denied or credited with calumnies, both unworthy and absurd. This is frequently done to bring under the eyes of readers interesting ■ and eur.ous details, enneavoring to explain by seientitic theories what should be attributed to supernatural intervention. Fnilosophic arguments are often of a specious nature, which we must be careful of valuing too highly. Facts are, however, convincing to the eyes of those who doubt or deny. Two years ago a doctor at Noumea, an ardent student of hypnotism, after having read the clever articles published under the title ‘ Lourdes before Science ” in the paper named Religious Studies, recognised the weakness of the pretended scientific explanations. He was, above all, astonished to learn that there was an Office of Enquiry at Lourdes, which fredy admits any doctors who desire it, whether they are indifferent or believing. He said next - time he was in France he would return through Lourdes to see for himself. If the facts related by Dr Boissarie had engaged his attention, the details of which we are now about to reproduce, we think he would have exclaimed aloud “It is the finger of God.” De Rudder and Joachime are the great instances of miracles in Belgium; their recovery is perhaps the most extraordinary that has ever been authenticated. No scientific theory could ever account for the recovery of De Rudder, nevertheless the facts themselves are very simple. To appreciate it it is not necessary to have any technical knowledge, eyes alone are sufficient. Without any medical knowledge any one can see a log that has been cut heal again; anyone can likewise see a leg that has been broken in the middle become instantaneously united. So an unaccountable deed becomes quite easy to prove. Moreover, this cure is produced by a process which overthrows all our preconceived ideas. A wound does not heal witiiout leaving a mark, and a broken bone leaves a luldp where it has united, which only becomes slowly effaced. A few hours after the cure of De Rudder if the fingers were slowly passed along the bone, not the slightest inequality could be felt, but a perfectly smooth surface from end to end. Evidently, his doctor exclaimed, the Holy Virgin does not heal in the same manner as Nature, even though Nature may be asa-ted by tae highest skill. De Rudder’s doctor was an unbeliever ; the cure of his patient opened his eyes and converted him. De Rudder had had his leg crushed by tree that had fallen upon him, and for eight y. ars the fracture had refused to unite. Left to his fate, and neglected by all, the man became uttely hopeless and despondent. The foot and lower portion of tue leg shook all ways, one could draw the heel to the i'rent, and the toes to the back, one could bend the leg in the middle and cause the broken bones to project so as to be seen and touched. Veter Rudder came back the very evening of his pilgrimage, without cratches and dancing for joy. The next day he travelled mmy miles on foot, rejoicing in the exercise ne had been deprived of for so long a time. Tuis long confinement, during 8 years, had absolutely wasted the muscles of his leg, and there was no trace of any calf. Instantaneously all was restored. Peter had been formerly a stout, thick-set man. A tew months ago, a Belgian doctor,by name Royer, wished to hold an enquiry over this cure. He gathered all the proofs which enabled him to as assign to each day and hour the details of the thH wonderful deed. Besides he also questioned the people that he met by chance in the public places, in the cafe’s, without distinction, -In. 1 ! did not ever meet with a single contradictory opinion. He asked if there were any people in the neighbourhood who disbelieved, and was told there were none since the cure of Deßu 1 er. Any disbelieving man who wishes indisputable proof of the miracle has only to read the cure of De Rudder. There, evidence is produced in proof of superuatnr 1 action. 'lndeed, !’■ would be impossible otherwise to explain £;)?■ instantaneous union of two bones, broken more than 8 years, and separated by a space of half an inch. Not otherwise could this union without visible join or hard lump be explained. Just imagine a leg that had been wasting and motionless for so many years, having instantly recovered its use, its function, and its former size ! So much for these insoluble problems. All the evidence gives to this fact, an historic value firmly establ shed. Rudder is still alive alive, and we hope to see him at Lourdes in the course of tke next month. Joachime arrived at Lourdes with a sore . tended frqrp the knee to the ankle, tha>. , h &s deep as the bone. You which wen. -ddas disclosed to view, could see the ten • nieces pf hope Joachime bad collected the —«nd in a cup that had come out of the wck._ and the cup was full of pieces. There were scraps of mortified flesh at the end of the leg, and before going to the Holy Well Joachime had pulled off several pieces and left them on the floor of her room. On leaving the well there was not a trace of the sore. Toe bone, the tendons, and the flesh were all in their places. All is remade, and one nr, gat almost say that a stocking of new skin had been drawn over her leg. On returning to her room she noticed the pieces of dead flesh she Lad pulled off. Thus she said, “I had a double portio ; of leg, as it were —that which lias just been i estored and that which is lying on the floor.” She had been bedridden for seven years, and had had the sore for twelve years altogether. On reading these cures one might easily imagine he was dreaming, notwithstanding the superabundant inquiries and proofs. Joachime was at Lourdes last month, where she made twenty-eight pilgrimages as acts of grace. Since her recovery she goes twice every year, in the months of May and September. All the theories based on hypnotic suggestions and effects on the nervous system are of no value here. One would not venture to attempt an explanation by such theories when simple common sense could so easily upset them. When unbelievers discuss the importance of the cures at Lourdes they don’t take these examples; they pretend to ignore them. With these well-established facts of such importance, however, all discussion becomes superfluous. Du. Boissauie.