A Letter Discovered in Bernadette’s Archives
From the Italian Montfort Magazine
Translated by Fr. Frank Setzer, SMM
Recently Discovered Letter
Recently there was discovered in the archives of the Convent of St. Gildard a letter of St. Bernadette that throws further light on the life of Bernadette of Lourdes.
This letter, recently found, was addressed to a sick nun. This letter which scholars tell us is a faithful reflection of Bernadette, takes up one page of an ordinary school-child’s copy book. On one side of the sheet is a letter to Madame Douville de Saint-Alire, written the 24th of February, 1865; on the other side is our present letter, which seems to be a draft of the letter which was sent but which we do not have; at least so it seems, judging from a couple of corrections added by someone else than Bernadette.
Who is the Sister? It is hard to identify her because she did not belong to the community of nuns at Lourdes. All we know is that she was sick and that she had sent a picture (what kind we do not know) to Bernadette for her to autograph and return. From the contents of the letter, it can be concluded that it was written in February or March of 1865, seven years after the apparitions.
Thus in the collection of Bernadette’s writings it will come between the two letters written to Madame Douville de Saint-Alire, numbered ESB 34 and 35, and would thus take the number “34 bis.”
This is the letter:
My dear Sister
I will have to count on your goodness and ask your forgiveness for having neglected for so long to send back the picture you asked me to autograph. To make up for the seeming forgetfulness, let me give you one of my own pictures which I am enclosing with yours. There were several reasons that explain my delay: first of all, I spent a month in the country; on my return (correction: two months) l was very sick for three months; now I am a little better. Dear Sister, I pray for you, and I continue asking for your cure; always have great confidence in Our Lady of Lourdes; it seems she likes to make us pray, no doubt to try our faith but in the end she always gives in. I recommend myself to your good prayers because I have great need of them; even though my own prayers don’t amount to much, I promise not to forget you.
Accept, dear Sister, sentiments of affection from your most devoted B(ernadette) S(oubirous).
Recherches sur Lourdes, 472, 1980
