Cave ND de Lourdes in Bohan

It was at the foot of a steep slope called "Roche la Dame", right next to the Semois, that Abbot Jacoby, parish priest of Bohan, built his cave. On March 14, 1920, he asked to erect a cave of Our Lady of Lourdes on the mountainside along the canal between the Tellier shed and the Collard sawmill in order to be able to pray up close to Our Lady of Lourdes. Permission was granted.

Some volunteer parishioners, led by contractor Lucien Tellier, took turns marrying off the rock. On Sunday, June 12, 1921, "His Excellency Mgr. Heylen, Bishop of Namur, came to consecrate the cave and from that day on, the people of Bohann and the faithful of the neighboring parishes flocked to this grandiose setting to celebrate the humble Bernadette". Every day in May the rosary was prayed in the evening by a group of about ten people in front of the statue of Mary. Every year on August 16, a mass is celebrated there, attended by about fifty people.

In 2021, the cave's 100th anniversary was celebrated in the presence of the Bishop of Namur.

Bernadette Sourbirous

Everything we know about the apparitions and the message of Lourdes comes from Bernadette. Only she saw it. Who is she then? Three periods in her life can be distinguished: the years of her childhood in a poor family; a 'public' life at the time of the apparitions and the testimonies; and finally a 'hidden' life as a religious in Nevers.

BEFORE THE APPEARANCES

When told about the apparitions, Bernadette is often portrayed as a poor, sick and ignorant girl housed in the Cachot. Sure, but that hasn't always been the case. Born on 7 January 1844 in the Moulin de Boly mill, she was the first child and heiress of François Soubirous and Louise Castérot, who married for love. Bernadette grew up in a close-knit family where they love and pray. Those ten years of happiness in these decisive years of her youth have given her a strong personality and a beautiful balance. The ensuing decline into misery will not diminish her human wealth. Bernadette, 14 years old, is 1m 40 tall. She has asthma attacks. She has a lively, spontaneous, spontaneous and voluntary character unable to put away. She has a sense of self, and this has not gone unnoticed by Mother Vauzou in Nevers, who said of her: "A stiff, very sensitive character". Bernadette felt sorry for her weaknesses and fought them vigorously. A strong but uncultivated personality. No school for Bernadette: she had to serve in Aunt Bernarde's cabaret. No catechism: her rebellious memory contains no abstract formulas. At the age of 14 she cannot read or write and suffers from it, she feels left out. Then she responds. September 1857: She was sent to Bartrès. On January 21, 1858, Bernadette returns to Lourdes, where she plans to make her First Communion. She did so on June 3, 1858, during the apparitions.

"Public" life

The apparitions began on February 11, 1858. To help his parents, Bernadette was responsible for collecting dead wood on the banks of the Gave. Here she is confronted with the mystery. A sound "like a gust of wind", a light, a presence. His reaction? She shows remarkable common sense and discernment; believing that she believes wrongly, mobilizes all her human resources: she looks, rubs her eyes, tries to understand. Then she turns to her companions to check her impressions:"Have you seen anything? ». She then turns to God: she prays her rosary. She turns to the church and takes a confession advice from Father Pomian:"I saw something white in the shape of a lady". Asked by Commissioner Jacomet, she answers with certainty, caution and determination that surprises a young girl without education: "Aquero, I did not tell the Blessed Virgin... Sir, you have everything for changed me.” She says what she saw with a detachment, amazing freedom: “I'm in charge to tell you, not make you believe”.

It accurately narrates the apparitions, without adding or subtracting anything. Once, startled by the hardness of Father Peyramale, she adds a word:"Mr parish priest, the Lady always asks about the chapel... even if it is" very small ". In his Mandate on the apparitions, Archbishop Laurence emphasizes "the simplicity, frankness and modesty of this child... she tells us everything without affection, with touching ingenuity... and, in answer to the many questions addressed to her, she gives clear and precise answers without hesitation, imbued with with strong conviction. Insensitive to threats and advantageous offers: "Bernadette's sincerity is unquestionable: she did not want to cheat". But did she not make a mistake herself... a victim of a hallucination? asks the bishop. He then evokes Bernadette's composure, her sanity, the absence of any glorification in her house and also the fact that the apparitions do not depend on Bernadette: they take place when Bernadette did not expect them, and in the two weeks that Bernadette twice, when Bernadette went to the Grotto, the Lady was not there. To arrive at these conclusions, Bernadette had to respond to the curious admirers, journalists and others who appeared before civil and religious investigative committees. Here it is, pulled from the shadows and projected to the forefront of the news: "a media storm" hits it. It took patience and humor to resist him and preserve the purity of his testimony. She accepts nothing:"I want to remain poor. She does not bless the rosaries presented to her:"I do not carry the stable. She won't sell medals, "I'm not a merchant. And to the ten-cent statues that represent her, she says, "Ten cents is all I'm worth! †

In these circumstances, life in Cachot is no longer possible, it is necessary to protect Bernadette. Father Peyramale and Mayor Lacade agree: Bernadette is admitted as a "patient in need" to the hospital run by the Sisters of Nevers; she arrives there on 15 July 1860. At the age of 16 she learns to read and write. Later, she often wrote to her family and even to the Pope! She visits her parents who have moved to the "father's house". She treats some sick people, but mostly she finds her way: good for nothing and without dowry, how can you be religious? Finally she comes to the sisters of Nevers "because I was not attracted to them". From that moment on, a clarity came to her mind: "In Lourdes my mission is over". Now she has to make way to leave all the space for Maria.

HIDDEN LIFE IN MISTOS

She herself uses the expression "I came here to hide myself". In Lourdes she was Bernadette, the psychopath. In Nevers she becomes Sister Marie-Bernard, the Saint. We often talk about the severity of the superiors towards her, but it is important to understand that Bernadette was a special case: she had to be taken out of the news, protected and the community also had to be protected. Bernadette tells the story of the apparitions to the community of reunited sisters the day after her arrival and then she didn't have to talk about it anymore. She stayed in the mother's house, where she liked to take care of the sick. On the day she can start there is no job for her, so the bishop gives her "the prayer". Pray for sinners," the Lady said. She will remain faithful to it. "My weapons," she wrote to the Pope, "are prayer and sacrifice." The disease makes her a support leave of the infirmary, and then there are her endless lectures in the drawing room: "These poor bishops better stay at home". Lourdes is far away.... back to the Grotto, never again! But every day she makes her pilgrimage in her head. She will not speak of Lourdes, she will live in it". You must be the first to carry the message," said Father Douce, her confessor. And, in fact, after being an assistant nurse, she gradually becomes ill. She will make it "her job" and in an act of perfect love all accepting crosses, for the sinners: "After all, they are our brothers and sisters". During the long sleepless nights, united with the masses celebrated all over the world, she presents herself as "crucified alive" in the gigantic battle of darkness and light, associated with Mary with the mystery of redemption, with her eyes fixed on the crucifix: "This is where I find my strength".

She died on April 16, 1879 in Nevers, aged 35. The Church canonized her on December 8, 1933, not because she was favored by the apparitions, but because of the way she responded to them.

Willem Vandenameele