METUCHEN -— Though thousands held an audience with the young visionary, each private encounter was different and life-affirming.
Reverent and curious and filled with love for the Blessed Mother and the young French maiden who followed her instruction, hundreds flocked to the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi May 19 to venerate the relics of St. Bernadette Soubirous during their first pilgrimage to the United States. Organized in partnership with the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the North American Volunteers, Hospitalité of Miami and the Order of Malta, the U.S. tour of St. Bernadette’s relics, which began in April and will end in August.
The visit to the Cathedral, another to Saint Peter’s University Hospital, New Brunswick, and one to Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Milltown, were the reliquary’s only stops in New Jersey.
Throughout the day, schoolchildren and adults visited the relics during daily Mass, exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, the praying of the rosary and films of a virtual pilgrimage experience. Long lines of pilgrims waited patiently to approach the golden reliquary, inlaid with stones showing the Blessed Virgin in a grotto as a plainly dressed young maiden, Bernadette, knelt reverently before her heavenly mother. Ushers assisted the faithful by pressing their prayer cards or rosaries to the first-class relic to obtain a blessing.
Bishop James F. Checchio presided at an evening liturgy, which drew hundreds more to venerate the relics. Father Timothy A. Christy, Cathedral rector, gave the homily in which he said the Blessed Mother was entrusted to be the Mother of the Church as she and the disciple John stood at the foot of Jesus’ cross.
“A good mother never wants her children to go astray. She wants the best for them,” Father Christy said. “She shows up so we don’t lose our way. And so, it was in the 1850s, in a little village in southern France, Our Lady approached the little girl Bernadette, uncatechized but with a love for God. Our Lady spoke to her, entrusted to her nothing new, but to refresh the Church.”
Bernadette Soubirous was born Mary Bernard to a poor family in Lourdes, a small village in the south of France, in 1844. In 1858, a series of 18 apparitions of a lady calling herself the “Immaculate Conception” appeared to her in a grotto, requesting she drink of the water that flowed there and wash in it. Church officials and the French government vigorously interviewed the girl, and by 1862 confirmed she spoke the truth.
After the construction of a chapel at the site, and numerous miracles of healing for those who bathed in the spring, Bernadette withdrew from public life and joined the Sisters of Notre Dame in Nemours. She died at the age of 35 in 1879. In 1925, her incorrupt body was exhumed so that first-class relics could be retrieved. She was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1933. Her feast day is April 16.
Father Christy continued, “This little girl was visited by the Mother of God in a little backward town called Lourdes. God’s mysterious plan is that He picks someone that no one else thinks about, chooses unsuspecting people to do great things.
“Bernadette became a prophet for a renewed spirituality to come to the Church,” he said. “If you ever have woken up and said to yourself, ‘I’m a nobody. What can I do,’ you are exactly the candidate God wants to do something extraordinary.”
Father Christy called his three visits to Lourdes “transformational,” and had been one of the deciding factors to become a priest.
“I had one foot out of the seminary,” he said. “I believe Our Lady of Lourdes is the reason I am preaching to you tonight, because I believe she grabbed hold of me and became my mother... Never be discouraged: Our Lady is with us. It is no accident you are here tonight: Our Lady wants to touch your heart.”
The smiles and tears on the faces of the congregation showed they took Father Christy’s message to heart. Bishop Checchio concluded the liturgy with a reenactment of a Lourdes pilgrimage procession. Candlelight illuminated the clerical procession throughout the dimmed Cathedral as the faithful sang the hymn “Immaculate Mary” fervently. Echoing the refrain, which implored the Blessed Mother’s intercession, all raised their candles high as they repeated “Ave, ave, ave Maria.”
After the liturgy, numerous pilgrims from the area and beyond filed toward the reliquary with prayers to be collected and forwarded to Lourdes. Whispering as people slowly walked up the center aisle, some shared their petitions and messages to the Blessed Mother.
John and Kathleen Burke, members of the Cathedral parish, were inspired to come after Kathleen spotted her son on the church’s livestream earlier in the day at one of the school visits. John shared he was in attendance “to feel closer to Lourdes and pray for a family member.”
Stephen and Michelle Pieczatkowski, members of St. Peter Parish, Merchantville, drove more than an hour to see the relics and pray. Stephen said, “It will help me with some challenges,” while Michelle noted, “We need a lot of healing, and want to pray for my father.”
The Jude family, members of St. Helena Parish, Edison, smiled as they approached the reliquary with their petitions. Mother Sahaya said, “I am an ardent follower of Mother Mary,” and disclosed she had also visited the Blue Army Shrine in Asbury.
“I just rushed in from work in New York City. I knew I would be late, but I just had to come,” explained Joe Diaz of St. Ambrose Parish, Old Bridge. “My mom is a cancer survivor, and Mom and Dad have been to Lourdes. I felt the Holy Spirit calling me.”