Incredible it may seem--foolish, false, inconsistent with reason, or the
plain dictates of common sense, it certainly is--but we have before us
well-authenticated accounts of transactions in which the Romish priests
claimed powers quite as extraordinary, and palmed off upon a credulous,
superstitious people stories quite as silly and ridiculous as anything
recorded in these pages. Indeed, so barefaced and shameless were their
pretensions in some instances, that even their better-informed brethren
were ashamed of their folly, and their own archbishop publicly rebuked
their dishonesty, cupidity and chicanery. In proof of this we place
before our readers the following facts which we find in a letter from
Professor Similien, of the college of Angers, addressed to the Union de
l'Ouest:
"Some years ago a pretended miracle was reported as having occurred upon
a mountain called La Salette, in the southeastern part of France,
where the Virgin Mary appeared in a very miraculous manner to two young
shepherds. The story, however, was soon proved to be a despicable trick
of the priest, and as such was publicly exposed. But the Bishop of
Lucon, within whose diocese the sacred mountain stands, appears to have
been unwilling to relinquish the advantage which he expected to result
from a wide-spread belief in this infamous fable. Accordingly, in
July, 1852, it was again reported that no less than three miracles were
wrought there by the Holy Virgin. The details were as follows:
"A young pupil at the religious establishment of the visitation of
Valence, who had been for three months completely blind from an attack
of gutta-serena, arrived at La Salette on the first of July, in company
with some sisters of the community. The extreme fatigue which she had
undergone in order to reach the summit of the mountain, at the place of
the apparition, caused some anxiety to be felt that she could not remain
fasting until the conclusion of the mass, which had not yet commenced,
and the Abbe Sibilla, one of the missionaries of La Salette, was
requested to administer the sacrament to her before the service began.
She had scarcely received the sacred wafer, when, impelled by a sudden
inspiration, she raised her head and exclaimed, 'ma bonne mere, je vous
vois.' She had, in fact, her eyes fixed on the statue of the Virgin,
which she saw as clearly as any one present For more than an hour she
remained plunged in an ecstasy of gratitude and love, and afterward
retired from the place without requiring the assistance of those who
accompanied her. At the same moment a woman from Gap, nearly sixty years
of age, who for the last nineteen years had not had the use of her right
arm, in consequence of a dislocation, suddenly felt it restored to
its original state, and swinging round the once paralyzed limb, she
exclaimed, in a transport of joy and gratitude, 'And I also am cured!'
A third cure, although not instantaneous, is not the less striking.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account