Alcala 1958

up to pu bl ic rid icu leand trie d the terr ible spur of sar casm. Thi s gir l cou ld not lea rn eve n the litt le she needed to kno w in ord er to rea lize her on e lon gin g, to rec eiv e her First Communio n. An d, as a cea sel ess acc ompan ime nt to hunge r and co ld, to con tinued fail ure , to her pat ent inferior ityof mind and body, to her squ ali dsur rou ndi ngs , to her mot her' s sco ldi ngs and na gg in gs and bea tings, to the mo cke ry of he r bro ther and sist er and schoolm ates , bea t the harsh notes of that pit iles s ma lad y, ast hma, whi ch bou nd and cho ked her in its rele ntle ss,str ang linggr ip. Pover ty, squ alo r, con stan t hun ger , par­ enta l har shn ess , rep eat ed fai lur e, sib lin g mo cke ry, teac her con tempt,schoolm aterid i­ cule , na gg in ginf irm ity ,cri pp lin g lack of bre ath : ev er y eleme nt in the cla ssic al pic ­ ture is he re. It is the typ ica l ear ly his tor y of the juv en ile de linquent , of the adu lt crimi na l. In rea lity it ser ved inst ead to nurs e the san cti ty of St . Bern adet te Sou- bir ous an d to be gi n he r prep arat ion fo r can on iza tion .Yo u ha ve alre ady rec ogn ized the unm ark ed qu ota tio n 1 with wh ich thi s ess ay be gan. Wh y did Ber nad ette bec ome St . Bern a­ dett e ins tea d of No. 58 17 94in one of the big Fre nch pri son s, or an inmate in a hos pita l fo r the me nta lly ill ? Wha t did she ha ve wi thi nhe r that pro tecte dher from the inf lue nce sthat cou ldhave beenexp ected to drag her ov er the ed ge of the normal into the ab ys s ofthe abn ormal ? The answ er to the puz zle is the pre sen ceand the pow er of her wonde rfu lLa dy , Mar y, the Mot her of God . Mary bro ugh t int o Ber nad ette 'slife the satisfa ctio nof all tho se needs of the hum an hea rt wh ich can not be den ied with out dis­ ast er: lov e, under sta nd ing ,sec uri ty, all per hap s summe d up in one •— love . Th e bas ic ne ed of a per son is lov e, true lov e. Th is lov e is not se lfi sh ,tur nin g the per­ lic i le i l . is l l li i g, i e i n. , s les iment r , ued e, ity lid ro ndings, to her 's ings ings ti gs, ry hnates, il s l y, a, tl s , ling i . ty, l r, t , - l s es , ted e, li g ry, pt, s ate i- , ing ity, li g t : y t al - . i l l y ile ent, l inal. lit tity . te tion ization. ized ed tion n. et e . - 94 s s, t l t l y t l nces l e n l ss of t al? The l ce rful , , . t et e's ction i i - : , tanding, ity, s d - . s , . !I , i g - 1 Franz Werf el, The Song of Ber nadette (Ne w York : Vik ing, 19 42 ). de , f tt i , ). i :

son ali ty inward on itse lf, see kin g on ly to rec eiv e. It is a love that is out goi ng,liv in g to gi ve , a lov e that per vad es the who le be ing, supp orts it, ac ts as a shi eld in tim e of stre ss and dan ger . In spi te of all out­ war d app eara nce s,Ber nad ette could ne ver fee l that no one love d her , that she ma tter ed to no one , that she had no on e on whom to pou r out her ser vic e. Human be ing swear them selv esto shr eds fly ingfrom one thi ng to ano ther in sea rch of some mea sure of sat isfa ctio n,ne ver at­ tai nin git. Ambitio nis a goo d and nec ess ary th ing in its pla ce, but whe n the hea rt is set on sow ing the whi rlwind ,then on ly the hur ricanecan be reaped . Litt le wonde r that whe n bar rica des are rais ed aga ins t a pow ­ erf ul dri ve, a per sonality is inju red, ev en sha tter ed. The pers on doe s not know wh ere to turn in his fru stra tion . Ber nadette always kne w whe re to tur n. Sh e kne w that no matt er how thi ngs mi gh t look she was sur e of att aining her goa l wit h he r Lad y's hel p, for it wa s the true goal bles sed by God: her salvatio nand the salv a­ tio n of othe rs thr ough he r pra yer . Ev en tho ugh her own bro ther and sist er lau gh ed at her , and the town speo plelook ed upo n her as a dreamer and a see ker afte r no tor iet y, she did not falt er. Alw ays ther e wa s som e­ on e of who se lov e and pow er she cou ld ne ve rdoub t, som eon ewhose bri gh tnesswa s mo re rea l than the dark Cach ot that wa s her home . What would our nov elis tsof tod ay have don e with a gir l in Ber nad ette 'senviro n­ men t? Her e is a sic kly retarde d ch ild bro ugh tup on the wro ng sid e of the tra cks an d dep riv ed of all tha t gir lho od ho lds dea r. Sh e would cer tai nly be con sumed wit h lon gin g for the pre tty thi ngs be yond he r rea ch. Pe rhap s she wou ld do mo re than lon g for velv et softne ssand gli tte rin g lux ur y. She would take cri mi na lste ps to ac qu ire them. The end wou ld be tra ge dy . Wh at of Ber nad ette ? Her sur round ing s, her pri vat ion bot her ed her not at all. Sh e lity lf, g l ei e. ing, i g , es l i g, t e . - earances, et e l , e , i e. s selves t i g i ction, - i g i i n ry i g , i l , l ricane c . l r that ric des i t - l , ality e , t ed. tion. . t i i l 's , l : n - . ed , ple iety, . s - l t, e tne l er . li ts l et e's n- t? l d il t i ed l od . t inly i g tt . aps l s ring y. al ire . gedy. et e? ro ndings, tion e

31