The sick in Lourdes

The sick in Lourdes are taken care of in modern hospitals, by mostly volunteer staff: doctors, nurses and stretcher-bearers, who even pay for their own trip, lodgings and expenses. Faith and compassion are what draws people of all ages to give of their time each year.

Bernadette was a sickly child since the age of 10. She contracted cholera and suffered severe asthma, and later tuberculosis, for the rest of her life. In the convent, she was alternately a patient and a caregiver.

When sick, she used to say: "I am good for nothing. My prayer is my only weapon. I can only pray and suffer.” Bernadette let God tenderly take care of her, and she became a privileged witness of his tenderness towards the poor, the sick, the sinners, and all those who are ignored, despised, or excluded.

The sick liked the respectful care she gave and the quality time she allotted them. She said: "When you treat a patient, you have to leave before they thank you... We are sufficiently rewarded by the honor of caring for the sick."

Bernadette described the Virgin Mary's attitude during the apparitions: "She looked at me like a person looking at another person."

Adapted from an article by Sister Marzena Horszczaruk, member of the Notre Dame Pilgrims Center’s chaplaincy, "Un Autre regard sur la souffrance" (A Different Perspective on Suffering), Lourdes Magazine no. 137 /2005, p. 9-1