Mass of St. Bernadette – Arrival of the Relics: 07.10.24
Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, Mass at 10am, Cathedral of the Assumption, Carlow
Introduction:
We have waited for this day for months, since we knew that the Relics of St. Bernadette were to visit the dioceses of Ireland. Indeed the Pilgrimage of the Relics was to have taken place in 2020, but the Covid pandemic put paid to those plans. Bernadette has a special place in our hearts hasn’t she?. Maybe its because she remains ‘forever young’.
At 14, while gathering sticks for the fire with her friends along the River Gave, she was startled by a peculiar wind and rustling sound. Bernadette looked up towards the grotto and caves on the riverbank and saw Our Lady. The rest as they say is history. Bernadette’s seeing of Our Lady over those days and weeks and months has allowed millions since to meet Our Lady in Lourdes. At 22 Bernadette became a nun at Never and by 36 Bernadette had gone to God. Bernadette remains ‘forever young’ in all our hearts.
And today St. Bernadette has come to Carlow Cathedral; Lourdes has come to Carlow. And no more beautiful day to celebrate this than on the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. When we pray the Rosary devoutly, we have God on our side, and that’s a guarantee, in a feast that has its origin in 1571 around the Battle of Lepanto.
The repetitious nature of the Rosary prayer allows us to come closer to Our Lady and ultimately allow her to introduce us to her Son. Gathering in prayer, on a day that has many sacred moments scheduled here in the Cathedral and its environs, let’s take a moment to call to mind our sins …
Homily:
I remember bringing my mother to Lourdes. It was her first time on a plane in her life. Living with high blood pressure I was a little concerned but had no need to be, she made the journey perfectly and decided to travel again the following year. My dad who she minded 24/7 had to spend that week in respite care, that was the only niggle in the equation that didn’t sit right with her.
We hear huge debates on the payment of carers, on the provision for carers, as per the most recent budget. Carers, in my opinion are never paid enough. Support Grants may be increased by €150 as of last budget and the weekly rate increased from 2025, but it’s never enough. Carers save the State millions every year, by choosing to mind loved ones and family in their homes. I often think St. Bernadette should be patron saint of carers.
Bernadette Soubirous was born in Lourdes on January 7th, 1844 to Francois and Louise. She was baptised in Bartres two days later on January 9th. Her family were poor and many pilgrims to Lourdes will recall their visit to the cachot, the hovel where Bernadette and her family eked out a living. Bernadette was responsible for looking after and caring for her brothers and sisters. She was a good natured girl. The only schooling she had was her faith.
When she first met our Lady at the grotto at Lourdes, she continued to return to there eighteen times. Bernadette’s life and legacy continues to be deeply relevant in the lives of millions who visit Lourdes every year. Bernadette, a fragile, vulnerable young woman, who like the shepherds near Bethlehem was chosen to witness first hand that God’s grace is available to all. God speaks to all our vulnerabilities more than our strengths. This is what makes Lourdes and St. Bernadette so appealing.
The grotto in Lourdes became a school of evangelisation where Our Lady in 1858 taught an illiterate 14 year old her faith. The very things Our Lady asked her to do were laughed at by her peers. She became a spectacle who today is a Saint.
Some of the favourite quotes of St. Bernadette are “my job is to inform, not to convince” and “when you don’t want anything, you always have what you need”. Bernadette had all she needed. When she left Lourdes to go to Nevers, she was very clear, she would never return to Lourdes. The years in Nevers are known as “the hidden life”. As she said herself about Nevers, “I came here to hide myself”, in Lourdes she was the young visionary; in Nevers she became Sr. Marie Bernard.
Bernadette, like all saints suffered hugely. People didn’t believe her, Even her superiors in Nevers were severe with her. She had to shielded from curiosity and the community needed to be protected. While Bernadette never returned to Lourdes, she lived its message every day. And the relics of St. Bernadette remind us we don’t need to travel to Lourdes to live its message, praying for the conversion of sinners.
Bernadette died on 16th April, 1879, aged 35. She was beatified in 1925, one hundred years ago, and proclaimed a saint in December 1933. She wasn’t made a saint because of the apparitions, but in the way she responded to that grace.
Why God chose a vulnerable sickly child rather than a healthy adult, shows us management in heaven thinks differently! The unusual thing about Lourdes is that it’s a shrine without relics, the focus is on water, on healing, on the sick. As the late Fr. Eddie Lalor wrote some time back “Lourdes defies the laws of nature, candles that do not go out, water that’s not really wet. It brings out the best in human nature, kindness, gentleness, faith, hope and charity”. In other words Lourdes isn’t normal and what we are privileged to have this day with us, on the Feast of the Holy Rosary isn’t normal either, lets make the most of our time with the Saint, the patron of carers, who remains for all of us, forever young!
