Title of the book: The Miracle of Lourdes

Year of publication: October 1957

Name of the author: Ruth Cranston
Genre of the book: Nonfiction literature
Main subject: A protestant who was the author herself went to Lourdes to make observations
and interviews who had been allegedly healed by Lourdes and to discuss the ambiance of the
shrine.
Theme of the book: Miracle, faith, religion, and adventure
Summary:
A protestant named Ruth Cranston went to Lourdes around 1935 to observe and
investigate the peoples who were allegedly cured by Lourdes. Even though most of her friends
opposed her from going to Lourdes, she continued her plan and she went to Lourdes. They
opposed her because she was a protestant. And according to them that the cures there were only
tales and fakes. But, some priests and nuns and a bishop agreed to her plan. And before she went
deeper to her observation, she gave a little background to this shrine. According to her study, the
shrine of Lourdes started when the Blessed Virgin appeared continuously to Bernadette in 1858
and in the following months. The virgin then commanded Bernadette to ask a priest to make a
chapel where the Virgin was found. However, the priest and her family and friends didn’t believe
her at first, not until cure started to happen. They built a chapel there. And a piscine started to
flow.
Many cures have happened since then. The blindmen were able to see; the paralyzed
person was able to walk; the persons who had cancer were healed, the fractured bone united with
each other, etc. Cures, on one hand, happened in many ways. Every person was cured after they
took a bath in the piscine or prayed the rosary or received the holy communion or went along
with the procession. And some people were cured amazingly even if they were away in the
Lourdes. That sometimes happened after they partook in the novena and they were splashed with
water that came from Lourdes to the part of the body were was wounded. Although some people
were cured, some came to their town uncured. Some people returned to their sick condition after
they were healed. But, the most important thing was, even if those uncured people were not
cured physically, they were cured spiritually. They saw the goodness of God. They saw the value
of life. As a result, they helped those people who were in need. They offered themselves as a
service to others.
Ruth interviewed some people who were cured despite their serious illness. They said
that they tried everything but they were not healed. So, they decided to go to Lourdes and they
asked to heal them. Some of them, although unbelievers and protestants, were cured. And they
converted to Christianity and lived their life according to the Christian ways. Most of the people
who were both cured and uncured came back to Lourdes every year to offer their service to
others. Furthermore, after they were cured, any sickness didn’t occur to them. They lived without
any maladies at all.
Some cures were declared as a miracle and some were not. Ruth gave the details of a cure
to be considered as a miracle. The church also carefully examined a cure to be regarded as a
miracle. And both the church and the medical organization didn’t declare a cure as a miracle
immediately. A cured person needed to show his or her documents about his or her sickness and
how he or she was cured. The church and the organization would examine them. Some cures
were miraculous and some were not.
Ruth described what Lourdes looked like nowadays. She said that many sick people
around the world came by to take a bath in the piscine and participate in the religious activities
(e.g. praying the rosary, attending the mass, going along with the procession, etc.). She also
described the conditions of the sick. She said that those people who were going there were in a
stretcher or in a chair who couldn’t move. They were all asking to be healed and some were
praying for their loved ones. Nevertheless, they were accompanied by their family or friends.
Ruth explained the service of the doctors, nurses, and brancardiers to the sick person. She
said that there was a medical organization there who was assisting, guiding, and instructing the
sick on what they needed to do. And there were clergymen there to help the sick and to preside
over the religious activities.
Some doctors didn’t believe the cures but some were. Some doctors said that the water in
the piscine was full of bacteria due to the fact that many people who had different diseases were
taking a bath there. They wanted to close the shrine. But, the doctors in Lourdes proved that the
bacteria in the piscine were not harmful. They made an experiment. They injected the infected
water into a pig. Although many harmful bacteria were found, that pig surprisingly didn’t die.
The germs were amazingly gone.
Ruth concluded that the cure of the Lourdes is true and not a fake one. According to her,
a miracle tells us that we are weak physically and spiritually. It also tells us that we need to rely
on a higher being because we can’t do and explain everything that is happening in our everyday
lives.

Lesson: Healing requires faith. If we are ill, whether it is serious or not, we should have faith in
God. We should believe in Him that He can heal us. Then after some time, we will be healed
certainly. And if we are not healed yet. Perhaps, God wants us to rely more on him, to believe
more on him, and to come back to Him.